The centre’s muscular offensive isn’t working, more and more youth are joining insurgent ranks.
On April 1, in one of the fiercest encounters in recent years, a joint army, paramilitary and police operation gunned down 13 militants 60 kilometres south of Srinagar in Shopian district. Not far from the encounter site, Padderp ora, a tiny hamlet of some 150 households, suffered the most casualties. Three of the slain militants were from the village.
The deaths should have ended Padderpora’s tryst with Kashmir’s three-decade-long insurgency. But 17 days later, Abid Nazir, a 20-year-old civil engineering student who had just returned from his college in Jalandhar (Punjab), went missing. Abid, who at one point was hoping to join the army (he had cleared the National Defence Academy or NDA qualifying exam in 2016), belongs to a family of staunch CPI(M) supporters. He had been to the funerals for the slain militants. A day after he disappeared, pictures posted on Facebook and WhatsApp showed him battle fatigues brandishing a rifle. They also put out Abid’s new address: the Hizbul Mujahideen.
“Only God knows what was going through his mind,” says Imran Nazir, Abid’s elder brother and also a CPI(M) activist. Insisting his brother had never shown the slightest inclination towards militancy, Imran describes how the family would routinely turn in early because of the threat from local insurgents. “Even our father often stayed away from home to avoid being targeted,” he says.
It’s a story that has become distressingly commonplace in the Kashmir Valley: young men, even boys, wilfully deserting their homes and families to sign up as militants. The numbers have been steadily rising since the killing of Burhan Wani, the widely admired Hizb commander, in July 2016. Local recruitment to militant tanzeems has swelled following Operation Allout, the muscular security force offensive—including night-time cordon-and-search operations—launched early last year.
この記事は India Today の May 28, 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は India Today の May 28, 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
ARTS AND THE MAN
In his centenary year, F.N. Souza: The Archetypal Artist tries to make sense of the recurring themes in the artist’s work
The Reluctant Art Critic
Advertising executive, art critic and possible catalyst of the modern Indian art movement, Rudolf von Leyden was an intriguing figure in pre-Independence Bombay
PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST & POET
ANINDYO ROY’S THE VICEROY’S ARTIST IS A FICTIONALISED ACCOUNT OF EDWARD LEAR’S TRAVELS IN INDIA
Lady of the Light
This artist has transformed the humble bulb into a thing of beauty
S'more to Think Of
Called Marshmallow, this penthouse in Gurgaon with soft curves and plush aesthetics stays true to its name
A Marvelous Melange
From stylish living quarters to multipurpose adaptive space, this home in Mumbai turns every nook into a showstopper
TECH MEETS TEXTURE
Smart fabrics and intelligent textiles are changing the way we view home furnishings
Refresh and Revive
That old table, those cabinets or even the console can be given a new lease of life, one that is tailor-made to the latest trends
Standout Spaces
Want dramatic interiors but don’t know how? This home in Mumbai becomes a lesson in learning the nuances of adding magic inside.
Vernacular Wise
Forget international brands and design, the beauty and simplicity of local materials and ancient techniques is gaining momentum