Why Kashmiri youth support terrorists

A majority of the youth in Jammu and Kashmir support terrorists. This is why:

Talking tough on Kashmir, Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that anyone supporting terrorists is anti-national. It was just a few days ago, that terror sympathisers at Hajin, Bandipora come out on the road and had thrown stones at security forces so that terrorists in the midst of an ongoing encounter could escape.

A similar incident took place at Nagbal in Frisal, south Kashmir on Sunday when locals attacked the security forces so that militants could escape. This has been a growing trend in Kashmir and youth have been assisting terrorists to escape.

The Burhan Wani effect

The trend set into motion just before the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
Intelligence Bureau officials say that there are several youth in Kashmir who subscribe to the ideology of the Hizbul Mujahideen. The problem is that the number of local militants has been growing steadily and most of them are known to the locals. This prompts the locals to come out in their support and disrupt the operations carried out by the Indian Army.

[Burhan Wani killing: Here is what he did before his death]

According to an estimate by the Intelligence Bureau, there are 226 terrorists inside the valley. Out of this 175, are locals while 51 are foreign. Sixty-six locals are from north Kashmir, while 109 are from the southern part of the state. Among the foreign terrorists, 44 are in the north, while 7 are in south Kashmir.

IB officials say that Wani had managed to lure in several local youth into the Hizbul Mujahideen. In his social media posts he would speak about how the locals must fight the Indian Army and local police. "These youth appear to be following what Wani said, and hence come out in such large numbers to disrupt operations," an official says.

The force meanwhile complain that the state government too allows public funerals to take place which only gives these youth the encouragement. Allowing a public funeral for Wani was a mistake and this had set a trend, officials say.

OneIndia News