Srinagar: Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir is increasingly dependent on homegrown, educated fighters with the highest number of local youth joining in two decades, according to Indian army data seen on Tuesday.
The trend represents a new threat in the region where Muslim separatists have been fighting Indian forces since 1989.
At least 70 young Kashmiris joined the insurgency in the last year, army records showed, with most joining the banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was accused of carrying out attacks on Mumbai in 2008.
At least 14 of them have been killed, the army said.“Youth joining the militancy is disturbing,” Subrata Saha, the head of Indian army in Kashmir, said recently. “If educated youth are joining, it is more disturbing. It is certainly is a cause of concern for us.”
Two of the new recruits have doctorates and eight were post graduates, the army data showed. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since a war after independence from Britain in 1947. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars over the territory.
India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the rebels in the portion of Kashmir it controls and sending them to the Indian side. Pakistan denies that. For years terrorist groups had struggled to recruit fighters from Indian Kashmir, forcing them to rely on Pakistan-based fighters, the officer said.
To maintain control, the Indian army has a massive military presence in its northernmost and only Muslim-majority state famed for its snow-capped mountains and fertile valleys.
The trend of homegrown fighters joining the militancy started in 2010 after a summer of unrest when 112
people were killed in clashes between police and protesters, according to a senior army officer.
The decade before that had seen a lull in militancy, and numbers are still low compared with the 1990s.With the Indian army stepping up patrols on the border fewer Pakistani fighters have been able to cross in, forcing terrorist groups to recruit local youth, the officer said.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
Kashmiris need to realize that *azaadi *is not an option. No other state in erstwhile British ruled India got that option, and neither will Kashmir. That said, the only two options are to be part of India or Pakistan. Here again, POK will stay with Pak, and J&K will stay part of India - thats not going to change either.
These "misguided" youth can keep joining terrorists, and getting killed by the Indian forces or join the mainstream and let Kashmir grow as part of India. Thats not a very difficult choice to make.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
These "misguided" youths should make use of all mainstream media including international platforms to voice their grievances, considering that India aspires to become a PSC member, it would give India an opportunity to display its' democratic prowess by addressing the issue in a democratic manner on the world stage.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
These "misguided" youths should make use of all mainstream media including international platforms to voice their grievances, considering that India aspires to become a PSC member, it would give India an opportunity to display its' democratic prowess by addressing the issue in a democratic manner on the world stage.
You can keep shouting from the rooftops, but you know as well as I do thats not going to happen. The only losers in the process have been ordinary Kashmiris who have been cut off from the growth in main stream India. I visited Kashmir in '87 before the troubles started and the economy (tourism driven) was booming. You visit now and things are very different. Terrorism has kept tourists out of Kashmir and it shows.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
You can keep shouting from the rooftops, but you know as well as I do thats not going to happen. The only losers in the process have been ordinary Kashmiris who have been cut off from the growth in main stream India. I visited Kashmir in '87 before the troubles started and the economy (tourism driven) was booming. You visit now and things are very different. Terrorism has kept tourists out of Kashmir and it shows.
I'm actually not shouting at all; Pakistan is already an independent country (AlHamdulillah). Thank you very much.
Until India addresses the Kashmir issue in terms which are acceptable to Kashmir citizens, it will leave something to be desired from one of world's largest democracies.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
I'm actually not shouting at all; Pakistan is already an independent country. Thank you very much.
The shouting reference was figurative, not literal :D
Until India addresses the Kashmir issue in terms which are acceptable to Kashmir citizens, it will leave something to be desired from one of world's largest democracies.
Probably so. But you can't please everyone. India needs to do whats in its best interest.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
You can keep shouting from the rooftops, but you know as well as I do thats not going to happen. The only losers in the process have been ordinary Kashmiris who have been cut off from the growth in main stream India. I visited Kashmir in '87 before the troubles started and the economy (tourism driven) was booming. You visit now and things are very different. Terrorism has kept tourists out of Kashmir and it shows.
was economy booming in rest of india before 87??
I guess not.
In such areas Govt put extra resources to keep them happy.
Also if india is concerned about ordinary kashmiris, they should bring back 700000+ troops back from MOST militarized zone in the world, Kashmir.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
was economy booming in rest of india before 87??
I guess not.
No, the Indian economy picked up in the 90s after the Narasimha Rao/Manmohan Singh economic reforms. But Kashmir economy which was doing well pre-1989 due to a boom in tourism has declined because of terrorism in the state.
Also if india is concerned about ordinary kashmiris, they should bring back 700000+ troops back from MOST militarized zone in the world, Kashmir.
Its catch 22 - until Kashmir is peaceful, troops will stay. And troops will never go down to 0 - Kashmir is on the India-Pak border and there is a lot of infiltration, so there will always be significant troop presence there.
If Pakistan is concerned about Kashmir, it should stop supporting terrorism in Kashmir and then hopefully the lives of ordinary Kashmiris can normalize.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
Its catch 22 - until Kashmir is peaceful, troops will stay. And troops will never go down to 0 - Kashmir is on the India-Pak border and there is a lot of infiltration, so there will always be significant troop presence there.
but there is difference in guarding a border, and having 700000+ troops.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
but there is difference in guarding a border, and having 700000+ troops.
Maybe so, but like I said in my earlier post the Indian govt will decide whats best for it. Pakistan can help by not supporting terrorism in Kashmir and the situation might de-escalate to a point where troops are reduced.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
Maybe so, but like I said in my earlier post the Indian govt will decide whats best for it. Pakistan can help by not supporting terrorism in Kashmir and the situation might de-escalate to a point where troops are reduced.
We know.
Its big country so there is natural urge to be bully. That is just how things happen in the world.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
70 kashmiris joined the LeT last year? That is the high rate? Am i missing something?
On top of it LeT isn’t even a Kashmiri group, it is a Pakistan-based terrorist group run by prominent Punjabi jihadi mullah hafiz saeed based out of Lahore, and is banned by everyone from the US to Russia, but not Pakistan.
Monk pai - If you have urban guerilla warfare like what LeT employs in Kashmir, it does take a huge amount of soldiers to neutralize them effectively. Not fun for locals, not fun for soldiers. Much fun for Hafiz Saeed and his handlers.
Teggy pai - want peace in Kashmir? Stop lecturing India on democracy, and stop sponsoring jihadis like LeT. This much is common sense.
Re: Kashmiris join insurgency against India at highest rate in two decades
Awh, but My Good Sir we know how that argument goes whenever the talk of sponsoring comes up. There’s skeletons in both closets, and neither is willing to fess up.
Am i missing something?