Page 15 - Tehelka Issue 8&9

kashmir

How far trying to outreach J&K

militants will succeed? he is tracked down and cordoned off,” success when it comes to reaching out from Aligarh Muslim University joined

Vaid told a press conference.
to an estimate, few scores of the mili-
However, this was not the first time to the militants on the run. According militancy. He was pursuing his PhD
in applied geology. Recruits like Wani
that the security forces have brought tants have returned to their families lend militancy more allure which,
the parents to secure the surrender after the appeal by their parents, either in turn, drives more recruitment. In
of the trapped militants — albeit all of covertly or on social media. One such March, son of the top Hurriyat leader
them have proved unsuccessful. In 2017 high profile case was that of footballer Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai’s son Junaid
Lashkar-i-Toiba militant Mohammad turned militant Majid Khan, who re- Ashraf Khan, an MBA, also joined Hiz-
Shafi Sher Gujri had refused to give up turned home on his mother’s appeal a bul Mujahideen.
arms despite the desperate pleas of his week after joining Lashkar-i-Toiba in Besides militants, on their part,
wife who was brought to a village in November last. have tried to stonewall the easy exit
Pulwama along with their one year old To further facilitate the “homecom- from their ranks by recruiting only the
child. ing of militants”, J&K Police have even seemingly ideologically most moti-
And in 2016 only, an aged, frail father removed the need for them to report vated youth. They have developed their
failed to persuade his son Showkat Ah- to police should they wish to do so. This own rigorous rite of passage. A fresh
mad, a militant, to surrender in similar has made new surrender policy too recruit, said a police officer involved in
circumstances. He was brought to the tempting to be easily resisted. But the counter-insurgency, has to get most of
encounter site and despite his entreat- reality remains that such surrenders the basic things he would need as a mil-
ies on a megaphone lasting several have done little to setback the mili - itant. More often than not they are also
minutes, there was no response from tancy. On the contrary, militancy has asked to get weapons by snatching it
the son. Also, in case of Dujana, a Pa- from police men on security duty. They
kistani militant, who was contacted by are also required to announce their re-
an Army officer immediately before the cruitment on Facebook so that all their
encounter with an offer to surrender, This is not the ways of return are closed. This is what
too failed to do so. first time that the Mannan Wani did too. And so was done
But this hasn’t dissuaded the securi- by Junaid Ashraf Khan.
ty agencies to continue with the policy. security forces “It is to pre-empt these difficulties of
Sources in the police say they are going have brought the a militant to return to normal life that
to double down on the effort to try and a flexible surrender policy has been
secure the surrender of more militants parents to secure devised,” said a police officer. “A mili-
photos: faisal khan as they see it more demoralizing for the the surrender tant can return to his family without
militancy than killing them. feeling the need to report to police first.
Despite failing to convince the rebels several times, security agencies have stepped up their “Every funeral of a militant attracts of the militants Similarly, before every encounter we
effort to persuade local militants in the state to drop arms by engaging them either directly or thousands of mourners. This usually in- — albeit all of are giving them a chance to give them-
spires more local youth to join militan- selves up”.
through their families, writes riyaz wani cy,” said a police officer. “But a surrender them have proved But if the steady trajectory of the
will certainly be a dampener. And in the militancy over the past two years has
process we also help save a local boy”. unsuccessful underlined, the policy hasn’t made
n the night of March Anantnag Altaf Ahmad Khan soon Rouf was killed, twelve other mili- But the surrender offer is largely much of a redeeming difference.
31, J&K Police received brought his parents who lived sev- tants, four civilians and three secu- exclusive to the local youth. According Despite a small number of the militants
information about the en kilometres away to reason with rity personnel also lost their lives in to the strategy, there will be discrimi- only shown signs of getting stronger returning to their families, they are
presence of the two him. Parents went inside the house two simultaneous encounters in the nation in favour of the local militants: by the day, replenished by the local re- outnumbered by far by the fresh
O militants at Dialgam but after half an hour they came out neighbouring district of Shopian. While there will be no mercy for the cruitment and the infiltration. In 2017 recruitment. Overall, the militancy
in South Kashmir. The house in disappointed. Khanday had refused And there was no effort to persuade foreign militants who will be tracked alone, security forces killed 218 out of has only grown stronger and more
which they were holed up was im- to surrender. Thereafter Khan too them to surrender, most likely be- down and killed, security agencies will 282 militants — highest number in last motivated. “The security strategies
mediately cordoned off. But before tried to talk him out of his intransi- cause a large number of militants make a conscious effort to persuade seven years — but by the beginning of like surrender policy aren’t going to
the security forces could engage the gence but to no avail. An hour later were present at the same place. local militants to drop arms by engag- 2018, there were still 230 militants left. help much,” says the columnist Naseer
militants in an encounter which Khanday was killed and body hand- But the J&K DGP SP Vaid duly ing them either directly or through Around 117 local youth had taken up Ahmad. “This is just a tactical approach
inevitably leads to their death, they ed over to the parents. mentioned in an interview later the their families. the gun last year. And in the past three to the situation. Militancy in the Valley
tried to persuade them to surren- The story has since become a Khan’s efforts to ensure surrender Success, however, has been mod- months, around 30 more youth have needs a strategic response and which is
der. They succeeded with one, who part of the militancy folklore of of one militant at Dialgam and the est so far. Except for the one militant joined militancy, police data reveal, and a serious political initiative to address
walked out with his arms and gave the Valley. And also an advertise- unsuccessful attempt to persuade who surrendered at Dialgam on April many more have gone missing. the deeper historical and political fac-
himself up. But another, Rouf Khan- ment for the new security strategy another to do the same. “No other 1, no militant has given up arms when What is more, highly educated tors underpinning it”.
day stayed back. to tackle the growing militancy in country in the world will do it, give traced to his hide-out. But the security youth are also taking up gun. On Janu-
Senior Superintendent of Police, the state. But not quite. On the day, militant a chance to surrender once agencies have met with a reasonable ary 4, Manan Wani, a research scholar letters@tehelka.com

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14-15 Kashmir Riyaz.indd 2-3 02/05/18 5:27 PM