Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup
Burhan Wani, Kashmir's Terror Blue-boy and Robinhood Combined.
The 21-year-old Burhan Wani, one of Hizbul Mujahideen’s prominent commanders, was killed in an encounter with security forces on Friday in the Kokernag area of south Kashmir. Security forces regarded him as the brains behind several attacks on them while Wani himself had threatened to target them.
The son of a school principal and a high scoring student, Wani picked up arms when he was just 15 years old, spurred by the violent treatment meted out to his elder brother, Khalid. Khalid had been beaten up by security forces based on allegations that he was recruiting militant cadre during the 2010 unrest. He was killed last year while traveling to meet Wani in a forest hideout Photographs of him in military fatigues and brandishing rifles surfaced in 2014, seemingly firing the imagination of many. Burhan Wani, became a young Robin Hood-like figure a role model for Kashmiri youngsters like him. Naseer Ahmed Pandit, a young Jammu and Kashmir Police constable had seemed to be especially loyal to the government and army. One sudden day, Pandit disappeared and took his service weapons with him. His father realised he’d joined the ranks of terrorists after a press release issued by the Hizbul Mujahideen claimed him as a trophy.
The ground reality in Kashmir is changing slowly but surely and it can be gauged even from plain statistics. If in 2013, 31 local youths joined militancy, the number for 2015 (till September-end) jumped to 66, according to police records. Why are Kashmiri youth – who made way for Pakistani-trained terrorists – coming into the forefront once again? After the first rush in 1989, when insurgency took root, the locals are once again outnumbering what the security establishment refers to as ‘foreign terrorists’. According to official figures, north Kashmir has 66 local and 44 foreign terrorists and in south Kashmir, locals number 109 and foreign terrorists are a mere seven. The new strategy is to recruit locals because the Pakistan is not able to push terrorists across the line of control.
Almost 60% of the Valley’s population is below the age of 30 and we have to ensure engagement with the youth, especially with shrinking job avenues. The demographic bulge comprising the youth is hyperactive on social media which has become a fertile recruitment ground. The videos are affecting the psychology of Kashmiri youth who spend hours watching videos uploaded by local militants and by Islamic State. Their only role models are militants with guns like Burhan. A police survey found that the locality mosques were becoming congregation points in which Maulvis were holding animated discussions on the threat to Islam and Kashmiriyat. The ground beneath Kashmir’s feet is indeed slipping.
It is easy to get recruits to terror in Islam because of the belief that martyrdom in the cause of religion or Allah is not only noble but highly rewarding in one's life in the heaven and it is certain that they not only do not die but go to heaven to live a luxurious life in heaven without having to work. Burhan Wani's father says: "Yes, I do get a bit disturbed ( on the prospect of his son getting killed one day) but our Islam says that God, Quran and the Prophet are bigger than anything, even bigger and more important than our sons. It’s not the other way round. If our God is not happy with us then we don’t need our sons. Our God should be happy with us even if my son’s or my sacrifice is needed for that. Whosoever dies because of the oppression from India, or by an Indian bullet, doesn’t die. He goes from this world to the other world (as promised in the Quran); there will be no disease in that world, no oppression. This is what our Islam tells. That’s why Muslims don’t fear that".
It is very difficult to confront people who really believe that. The tragedy is that like in the past over two decades, neither Srinagar nor New Delhi is wising up to the new reality and looking beyond security perspectives
Burhan Wani, Kashmir's Terror Blue-boy and Robinhood Combined.
The 21-year-old Burhan Wani, one of Hizbul Mujahideen’s prominent commanders, was killed in an encounter with security forces on Friday in the Kokernag area of south Kashmir. Security forces regarded him as the brains behind several attacks on them while Wani himself had threatened to target them.
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| This viral Facebook photo shows Burhan Wani (in the middle) and Naseer Ahmed Pandit (second row, extreme left), posing with guns and other militants. The new militant brigade in the region is embracing the power of social media and is unafraid of revealing its identity. |
The ground reality in Kashmir is changing slowly but surely and it can be gauged even from plain statistics. If in 2013, 31 local youths joined militancy, the number for 2015 (till September-end) jumped to 66, according to police records. Why are Kashmiri youth – who made way for Pakistani-trained terrorists – coming into the forefront once again? After the first rush in 1989, when insurgency took root, the locals are once again outnumbering what the security establishment refers to as ‘foreign terrorists’. According to official figures, north Kashmir has 66 local and 44 foreign terrorists and in south Kashmir, locals number 109 and foreign terrorists are a mere seven. The new strategy is to recruit locals because the Pakistan is not able to push terrorists across the line of control.
Almost 60% of the Valley’s population is below the age of 30 and we have to ensure engagement with the youth, especially with shrinking job avenues. The demographic bulge comprising the youth is hyperactive on social media which has become a fertile recruitment ground. The videos are affecting the psychology of Kashmiri youth who spend hours watching videos uploaded by local militants and by Islamic State. Their only role models are militants with guns like Burhan. A police survey found that the locality mosques were becoming congregation points in which Maulvis were holding animated discussions on the threat to Islam and Kashmiriyat. The ground beneath Kashmir’s feet is indeed slipping.
It is easy to get recruits to terror in Islam because of the belief that martyrdom in the cause of religion or Allah is not only noble but highly rewarding in one's life in the heaven and it is certain that they not only do not die but go to heaven to live a luxurious life in heaven without having to work. Burhan Wani's father says: "Yes, I do get a bit disturbed ( on the prospect of his son getting killed one day) but our Islam says that God, Quran and the Prophet are bigger than anything, even bigger and more important than our sons. It’s not the other way round. If our God is not happy with us then we don’t need our sons. Our God should be happy with us even if my son’s or my sacrifice is needed for that. Whosoever dies because of the oppression from India, or by an Indian bullet, doesn’t die. He goes from this world to the other world (as promised in the Quran); there will be no disease in that world, no oppression. This is what our Islam tells. That’s why Muslims don’t fear that".
It is very difficult to confront people who really believe that. The tragedy is that like in the past over two decades, neither Srinagar nor New Delhi is wising up to the new reality and looking beyond security perspectives
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