The killing of Mujahideen’s Internet-savvy poster boy Burhan Muzaffar Wani and the resultant turbulence in Kashmir Valley has become a huge catalyst for the frontline indigenous militant outfit to attract local youth into joining it.
Over the past one month Hizb-ul-Mujahedin is recruiting heavily in the Valley, particularly in the southern districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian. The trend has set alarm bells ringing in the corridors of power in Srinagar and New Delhi and the security forces engaged in counterinsurgency assignment in the restive region are getting highly worried.
Acknowledging the ‘disquieting trend’, Let. Gen. D.S. Hooda, the Northern Army Commander, on Friday said, “Everyone is worried, be it the Central government, the state government, or the Army.” He added, “There are no easy answers that we will do this or that which will stop it.”
Not only are the youngsters turning to the gun in large numbers, the home-grown militants already in the ranks of the Hizb, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and other outfits are roaming freely in South Kashmir villages and have even appeared at protest rallies donning olive fatigues, jackets or camouflage clothing and holding firearms. Some of them also delivered fiery speeches at pro-azadi rallies including the one held in Redwani area of Kulgam on Friday, ignoring the directive issued earlier by the Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin that militants should avoid showing up at protests and rallies that have become a daily routine in the aftermath of Wani’s killing.
Police officials privately admit that since they and other security forces have been “overwhelmed” by the law and order task which is “swelling” with each passing day, they have not been able to focus on militants seizing the situation to “spread fast their tentacles”. One such laxity resulted into the killing of two Army soldiers and a J&K policeman and injuring three jawans and a special police officer in a militant ambush in Baramulla earlier this week. Sources said that police had learnt from locals about a small group of militants roaming freely in the congested old town of Baramulla, preparing to carry out an attack against the security forces but because of the prevailing situation on the ground no search-and-cordon operation could be launched to track it down.
Reports emanating from various parts of the Valley particularly the south say that the militants are enjoying full support and cooperation from the local population and that they are welcomed as “heroes” wherever they go. It is not just the charisma created by the Wani “martyrdom” that is pushing the youth to the militants’ ranks, the nearly 70 killings in firing by the security forces and other alleged atrocities being perpetuated on the Kashmiri people in the name of containing the unrest are enticing them to take up the gun.
“Hizb and other outfits are seizing the rage to their advantage,” said a police officer.
Lt. Gen. Hooda also admitted that the unrest has affected the counterinsurgency operations in the Valley. “The civil disturbance has affected the operations, particularly in South Kashmir. A deliberate decision has been taken to go after the terrorists. It will start in right earnest,” he said. He also said that the counterinsurgency grid in North Kashmir is, however, functioning properly as was witnessed during the operations near the Line of Control in which four militants were killed and one Pakistani resident Bahadur Ali was captured alive.
This newspaper had in the second week of May this year reported that the pro-Pakistan sentiment is rapidly spreading among the Kashmiri population, particularly the youth. The report pointed out that in recent past not only have the people in the Valley routinely turned up in huge numbers at pro-Pakistan shows including funerals of local or Pakistani militants slain in fire fights with security forces, they have even risked their own lives by relocating to encounter sites to make conscious attempts to help the militants to break the security forces’ dragnet.
