Army initiative to connect with J&K's 'stone-pelting' youth

Young educated youth chanting “anti-India” slogans and throwing stones at the security forces is a common sight in the trouble-torn Kashmir Valley. Once termed as a paradise on Earth, the Valley is slowly turning into a battlefield with the youth showing no signs of returning into the mainstream political discourse. 

As the attacks on the security forces are increasing with each passing day, the Army is in the process of launching a series of initiatives to integrate the youth into the country’s mainstream. The foremost task before the Armed Forces is to instil confidence among the youth that men in uniform are not their enemies, but they are there to protect them. And to reach out to the youth at the grassroots level, the Army is in the process of launching projects through which young blood can be empowered by providing them jobs in the defence services.

First, the Army is planning to open skill centres for young generation across the Valley. 

One such centre was recently opened in Patan area of Baramullah district. Secondly, the Army is planning to target schools and colleges in the state to make students aware about the career options they can chose in the defence forces. In 2017, the Army was successful in inducting 220 civilians in the force.

The fresh recruitment drive that the Army is planning to launch is expected to be on the lines of the project “Kashmir Top Guns” that it had initiated in 2013 to motivate youth to join the defence services. 

The project, led by Lieutenant Colonel Surender Singh, had helped the Army to connect with about 20,000 youth across the trouble-torn state.

Since the project had helped the Army change the mindset of the youth to take up career options in defence forces, there is now an increasing demand from some educational institutions to launch a similar project so that the youth can be roped into the Armed Forces.

When the two-year project was first launched in 2013, the Army had to face a lot of difficulty in convincing the locals to motivate their children to join the defence forces. It is learnt that Lt. Col Singh had single-handedly organised about 70 meetings in schools and colleges across the Valley to motivate students to join the defence forces. At times, he even had to make three to four visits to a particular institute to convince students about the positive implications of joining the defence forces.

A local teacher recalled that when Lt. Col Singh first visited their school, the students shouted slogans like “there is no place for traitors.” But during his subsequent visits, he was greeted with a lot of affection. 

He was even able to convince some locals to take up jobs in the defence services.

Reports suggest that the two-year project saw about 60 youth getting shortlisted for the Services Selection Board. The selected one’s were given free of cost training. Finally, six of them could  make up to various ranks of the Armed Forces. One of the officers is from  the family of a slain separatist leader. 

Even 70-odd jawans had also applied for jobs of officers in Army, Navy and Air Force.

About Lt. Col Singh’s role in making the project a success, one of the college principals had written to the defence ministry that the officer’s efforts to change the mindset of the students towards the Armed Forces would go a long way in building a healthy relationship between civilians and the defence personnel. The officer’s quote, “ A soldier has no religion and duty is his only religion,” had caught up well with the youth of the Valley. 

A similar project may once again help  the defence personnel to create a cordial relations with the locals of the Valley, which has been on a boil for a long time. But the need of the hour is to have a sustained engagement between the youth and the Armed forces at the grassroots level for a sustainable peaceful solution.