August 12
In the corner of his three storey house, Nazir Ahmed Khan welcomes people who visit him as his son Tariq has recently joined Militancy. On July 25, bullets and grenades ripped through the building, walls damaged by the explosions, ceilings cracked, the windows and doors and glasses smashed to pieces. The house is one of the few testimonies left to a gunfight that raged in the South Kashmir township of Islamabad after a tranquil gap of 13 years.
According to Official data, at least 5,368 shops, houses and other privately-owned structures in Kashmir suffered damage from 1989 to 2001. No such data is available for the last 17 years but the number can be reasonably estimated to have increased manifold.
Credible Sources informed The Kashmiriyat that forces had raided the house of Nazir Ahmed Khan around 1230 in the night looking for his son, Tariq. However upon conducting search inside the house, they surprisingly found two Militants inside the house post which a four-tier cordon was put in place. A gunfight of nearly six hours ended with the killing of two Local Militants, the initial exchange of fire had reverberated in the air at 4:25 am.
Nazir Ahmed Khan was first arrested in 1977 for his involvement in ‘Anti India Activities.’ “Those Days,” Nazir Remembers, “people would not even speak to us, we were outcasts, just four of us, Freedom was a less popular sentiment those days.” Nazir remembers his initial days in jail when he says political prisoners were treated with humiliation and even at times left naked in the Bazaars of Jammu by the Law Enforcers and then the locals of Jammu were asked to throw stones on them. “We ran and ran, naked and bare feet in the humid Jammu weather and they all followed us, aiming us with stones, shouting at us, Pagal Pagal.”
Nazir, a staunch disciple of political struggle has spent more than 12 years in various jails, in Kashmir and outside Kashmir. He has played a pivotal role in shaping up many Political amalgams including People’s League and Geelani’s Hurriyat, but left both. His elder son is the General Secretary of Ummat e Islami led by the Mirwaiz of South Kashmir, Qazi Ahmed Yasir.
On the encounter day, one of his son Tariq went missing, the family soon filed a missing report in the Local Police Station. “We looked for him everywhere after initially suspecting that he had been arrested from the house on the encounter day,” Nazir Ahmed told The Kashmiriyat. He said that he feared for the life of Tariq and some relatives had told him that Tariq had been arrested and is in Army custody.
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However, on the 7th of August, almost two weeks post the encounter, a photograph of Tariq went viral, But it was not a normal photograph. It was a photo that put an end to hundreds of speculations and rumours cycling around the South Kashmir town. Tariq posing with an AK 47 Rifle announced that he has joined the Militant outfit Lashkar e Taiba.
The fillip in militant recruitment began in July 2016 after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani. His death triggered a massive public outrage that crippled the State machinery for more than five months. The uprising was quelled with force that left scores dead and thousands injured.
Tariq, as his parents remember him was a covert boy. “He spent most of his time at his maternal home in Shopian, he rarely came to the town,” his younger brother, Abid recalls. He says that Tariq was a driver by profession and would spend most of his time in work. He would rarely speak to anyone in the locality and had no distant affiliation with the Militant, Tariq told The Kashmiriyat.
Stats reveal that this year the militant recruitment has increased manifold. This year more than 125 boys have turned to the path of Militancy. Educated youngsters, too, are joining the ranks. A quick look at the profiles of the slain militants indicates that most of them were in the age group of 18 to 25 years and come from well-to-do families.
Yawar Ahmad Yatoo killed in the encounter of April 01, this year was 25, a resident of Safnagri village, he was a militant for nine months. He had pursued religious education in various seminaries and belonged to a well-to-do family of orchardists.
Nazir believes that the state has shrunk the space for political or peaceful dissent. “The harassment of young boys is pushing them to pick up Arms, at times they have no choice left but to Join Militancy,” he thinks.
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Nazir says that may be Tariq’s decision too to join Militants too came out of the fear of prosecution. “May be he did not want to go to jail or be tortured in there,” he told The Kashmiriyat. Though committed to peaceful struggle, Nazir feels that the aggressive Policy will produce more and more Militants. “Educated youth are now picking up Arms, that is a statement in itself, the rulers should not avoid,” Nazir feels.
Two Ph.D Scholars, Rafi and Manan also joined Militant ranks, Zubair Ahmed, an M.Phil scholar from Dehruna Islamabad (Anantnag) also joined Militant ranks. The active involvement of teenage boys in militancy, the disturbing trend for the security establishment is the support of people to militants.
Nazir’s wife at a lonely corner broken, perhaps she feels she should be silent in a family of firm political stalwarts. Suddenly she murmurs, “I am terrified at what might happen to my son, perhaps the same that happened to the Militants who were killed in our house.” She says that Kashmiri women have been the worst sufferers of the violence over the decades
Even though the Shelf life of a Kashmiri Militant has reduced from 2 years to three months, Young boys continue flooding the Militant ranks. As per official records more than 250 Militants are active, more than 70 per cent are locals.
“It is because of people’s support that the militants are surviving. They are given heroic send-off when they are killed. People risk their lives to attempt their safe passage should they fall into security dragnet,” Nazir Ahmed Khan believes.