In J&K, over 130 youth choose Indian Army's 'Sahi Rasta' over radicalisation

New Delhi, Oct 29: The Indian Army's 'Sahi Rasta' initiative, which was designed to keep the local youths away from terrorism, is getting results as over 130 youngsters from the Valley participated in a 21-day-long programme.

The Army has been running the initiative with the Jammu and Kashmir administration for the past year. The main objective of the initiative is to control the radicalisation of youths and bring them back to the mainstream.

According to an India Today report, six batches of about 25 youths having age 16-25 have attended the initiative so far.

Sahi Rasta initiative is reportedly a personality and skill development programme. After enrollment, the participants are taught lessons about life. They interact with experts belonging to the police, security and, industrial sector.

They are also taught about the history and ethos of Kashmir.

According to Indian Army officials, the initiative is gaining the trust of locals. They are appreciating it. The participants have shown significant signs of de-radicalisation.

The security forces have changed their strategy to combat terrorism in the valley and they are now focusing to eliminate the root huse of radicalisation. The report citing senior officials said that their strategy earlier was to eliminate the terrorists and now the shift is on these youths who are often radicalised by the terror outfits.

Meanwhile, some of the participants of the initiative have started to attend Agnipath recruitment drives, said Indian Army.