Dangerous distraction in the Valley of anger

Majid Jahangir in Srinagar

The Army has woken up to the reality that increasing public support to militants in the Valley poses a greater threat to its objective of establishing and maintaining peace in Kashmir. On Feb 14, when the Army lost four soldiers, including a Major, in two separate encounters in north Kashmir’s Bandipora and Kupwara districts, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat termed the militant supporters as “over-ground workers”.

More baffling is the fact that public support is visible in areas where the anti-insurgency campaign has been most effective. In Hajin area of Bandipora, which was the home of counterinsurgency king Kuka Parray, hundreds of youngsters came on streets during the raging gun-battle to help the holed-up Pakistani militants escape. This was not the first time -- at least five times, militants were helped by local supporters to escape the cordon.

“It (the people gathering at the encounter sites) is a difficult situation for us,” admits J&K Police Director General of Police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid.

This trend began much before the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8 last year. In the much highlighted Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) encounter in Pampore on Srinagar outskirts last year, which left three commandos, including two officers, dead, people gathered around the encounter site, played songs in mosques and tried to hamper the 3-day-long operation.

Such crowd behaviour started from south Kashmir -- a virtual breeding ground for militants: youth would march towards the gunfight sites to help militants escape. In many cases they succeeded. The trend is gaining ground in north Kashmir districts, the region that lies close to the Line of Control.

All this is despite curbs of people’s movement – such as imposing prohibitory orders -- before an encounter begins. In reality, such measures yield little. “They throw stones to distract the forces,” says Inspector General (IG) Operations of the CRPF in Kashmir, Zulfiqar Hassan. “In recent two encounters -- Frisal Kulgam and Hajin Bandipore -- even though we killed five militants, the mob helped the militants to escape.” Hassan, however, says militants pressure people to help them to escape. “These days forces want to wind up anti- militancy operations as quickly as possible to avoid law and order situation. Besides, it is the hiding militant that keeps an eye on forces’ movement and it is he who has the initial initiative. That’s the reason forces are suffering casualties in the first push during the operation,” the officer said. “In a few cases civilians are used as human shields by militants to escape.” 

The villagers have their own version. A resident of Arwani Anantnag, Riyaz Ahmed, says people facing frequent clampdowns have become immune to the fear of security forces. “There is a lot of anger among the youth. There is no political dialogue. All this causes frustration, which leads people to help the militants. Also, most militants are locals, so, they enjoy support and sympathy,” he said. 

Whatever is happening is in sharp contrast to the initial anti-militancy campaign launched by the Army. During the early years of 1990s, militants when trapped in a house, were all for themselves. The people would either flee or submit to the orders the men in olive green, till the encounter was over.

Another trend is picking up: youngsters go live on social media during their attempt to reach out to militants. The social media, officials said, help militants and separatists to garner support. In Kashmir, the power of social media became evident, after Burhan Wani’s death that triggered a five-month-long unrest and left nearly 90 people dead.