[Reader-list] Young Kashmiris are being misled

[Sanjay Khak]

*Young Kashmiris are being misled*

*Shoib Hasan*
*The Daily Pioneer*

Treason can also be lucrative business. That is what we are witnessing in
the Kashmir Valley for the last several months. Paid stone-pelting has
become a new form of agitation for the unemployed and misguided youth of the
State who could otherwise have contributed to nation-building in so many
constructive ways.

Nearly 70 per cent of the population of the Kashmir Valley is below 35 years
of age. They have grown up with their elders drilling into their minds the
existence of a mirage called azadi, that will rid them of all the troubles
that they are facing. They never received the benefit of any guidance with
regard to education and jobs. Tourism — which had been the mainstay of
thousands in the State — has also suffered a setback when this mindset gave
way to militancy in the early 1990s.

But after fighting a guerrilla war for almost two decades with the
Establishment of their own country, many young militants have realised that
they are no match to the state apparatus and that forces in the neighbouring
country that covertly financed the militancy are motivated by their own
vested interests. So they began to give up violence and life in the Valley
inched back to normal. When Dr Shah Faisal from Kupwara topped the
prestigious civil services examination, it was hoped that the youth of
Kashmir would be inspired by the example set by him to enter the national
mainstream. But what has since happened is extremely unfortunate.

Extremists are back at work and are creating a no-escape situation for their
young targets who are being drawn into a vortex of violence. The energy of
these youth is being harnessed by anti-nationals, some from across the LoC,
for their own dangerous interests. Hefty sums of money — to the tune of Rs 5
lakh — sourced from Pakistan is being paid to every group of boys in order
to pelt stones at security forces. Certain local political parties are also
involved in this heinous business which has claimed at least a dozen lives
till date. Those sponsoring the stone-pelting are affiliated to terrorist
organisations like Hizb-ul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayyeba. The whole
exercise is harming the livelihood of ordinary Kashmiris who have by now
understood that there is no substitute to peace in the State.