Amit Nain
Religious radicalization of Kashmiri youth has been taking place since last two decades in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. These Kashmiri youth are increasingly inclined towards extremist social, political and religious ideas repudiating and challenging status quo. These Kashmiri youth are taught that it is duty of Muslim to capture power and impose Sharia law which disapproves democracy and legitimizes Jihad as means of establishing an Islamic caliphate.
The idea of separate Islamic state of Kashmir based on complete Muslim majority has been drilled into head of these Kashmiri youth.
Social media is being misused by the jihadist to reach out maximum youth population of valley in order to spread their radical agenda thus posing more challenges to the security of state.
Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir
Amanullah Khan who established Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front(JKLF) was contacted by Lt Gen Akhtar Abdul Rehman (ISI chief) in 1984 to enlist support of JLKF in initiating insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. JLKF supported by Pakistani Army started training camps in Pakistan administered Jammu and Kashmir. Many Kashmiri youth crossed LOC in order to get weapon training and returned back to valley well prepared for an armed insurgency. Main motive of Pakistan was to cause huge unrest in the state. A hateful campaign was launched against Kashmiri pundits and they were asked to leave the valley. Community of about 350,000 Kashmiri Pundits was ethnically cleansed and they had to flee there ancestral homeland. Even few local Muslims who resisted this also had to face the atrocities by these Islamist terrorist. Huge propaganda was put up against Sufi Islam by calling it to be anti Islam practice and more radical Wahhabi Islam practice were put in place. In order for Wahhabi Islam to take its shape more than three thousand new mosque has been built across Kashmir valley since 1990. These Mosque are funded by Saudi money and they are very well designed and equipped in order attract Kashmiri youth.
By 1993 Pakistan army withdrew its support from JKLF as this organisation was pro toward independence of Jammu and Kashmir rather than its accession to Pakistan. Same support was given to Hizbul Mujahideen which was more of a Pro Pakistani Muslim terrorist group formed by Muhammad Ahsan Dar in 1989. This marked the beginning of second phase of insurgency in Kashmir. Not only Kashmiri Pundits but many Sufi shrines and Mosque was targeted by this group. In order to impose radical Islam, HM started using fear of gun in order to convert multi cultural Kashmiri society into hardcore Islamic one.
Radicalisation of Youth in Jammu and Kashmir
Most of the Kashmiri youth goes to Madarssas for primary and secondary education and this is where the radical ideas based on teaching of Wahhabi Islam are preached to youth of Kashmir. At this point we have a generation of Youngsters in age group of 20 to 40 who has been misguided from real preaching of Islam with purpose of spreading hate and anger. As per report 61% of the valley youth listens to religious sermons on their audio players and 25% percent are interested in Jihadi speeches. Large number of these youngster also has access to information from sermons and meeting at mosque, graveyards and television channels.
Provocations at these places are so impactful that youth have overlooked their career and educational institutions in order to join these radical organizations. Kashmiri youths are made to believe that Muslims all over the world are fighting for Kashmir independence and dying for Islam. The education system in the valley is in very bad shape and the youth eventually take route of Islamic teaching as an escape.
The arm conflict between security forces and the militants in last three decades also has had a huge psychological impact on mindset of these youngsters. The social network and web application are being widely misused in order to influence these youths. There was huge increase in use of social media in order to spread radical agenda following the death Burhan Wani who was militant commander of HM at that time. As per report there were more than three hundred group on Whatsapp which were used to mobilise the stone pelters. These youth are taught to believe in Sharia law which disapprove the idea of democracy because as per Wahhabi ideology there cannot be equality between man and woman, a believer and non believer, master and slave, a ruler and subject.
Way Forward
Hardcore militants attempt to become role model for the unemployed Kashmiri youth who are made to believe that Muslims across the world are dying for them as service to the Islam. These youth don’t realise that these hardcore militants are also misguided youth and are puppet in the hands of people with vested interests. There has been huge growth in the number of madrassas in valley and the youth are more attracted toward madrassas teaching rather than modern institutions of education. It is high time for government to put a check on what's being taught in these madrassas. Kashmiri society should motivate their children to study in the schools rather than sending them to madrassas. In last few year these radical group has been using social media as a tool to spread their agenda and reach out to unemployed youth of valley. Government should also find a way to monitor all these activities that are going on these web based applications. These unemployed youth are also paid in fake currency and electronic currency and the same need be monitored by concern authority.
The biggest instrument in attracting these youngster on the path of terrorism is the wrong teaching of Islam that are being drilled inside the brain of these people. Influential people among Muslim community should be brought forward in order to teach true meaning of Islam and the right way to go about it. Government should find some ways to create more job opportunities for these unemployed youths. Media will have to play an important role in educating the youth and discouraging them to hero worship militants. The law and order in the Valley need to be made stronger and also the role of police and security forces takes huge importance in doing so.
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