Srinagar, Dec 10: Teenagers’ quitting their studies mid-way, joining militancy and not even agreeing to surrender when caught in encounters has triggered a fresh worry for the security grid across Kashmir. The police believes, it is not that alarming as only couple of cases have come to fore in the recent past but still serious efforts will be in put in to prevent “new thing from becoming a trend.”
A source said that police and the other security agencies have sought the feedback from the its district heads about the fresh trend of teenagers joining the militant ranks so that appropriate measures are taken to plug it before “situation goes out of hand.”
“We are checking what has actually happened. I have sought the report (in this regard),” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, told reporters here on the sidelines of a function here.
On Sunday, in an 18-hour-long gunfight, two teenagers—Mudassir Parray, 14 and Saqib Bilal, 17, both residents of Hajin Bandipora area of north Kashmir were killed along with a Pakistani militant Ali Bhai in a fierce encounter at Mujgund area on Srinagar outskirts. The killing of Muddasir and Saqib triggered a fresh debate as to whether teenagers joining militancy was a dangerous trend in Kashmir though it was not for the first time.
A Police officer told Kashmir In-depth that they are looking into the things that push the youth, especially the teenagers into the militancy. “We need to plug it sooner the better though it has not taken a serious turn yet,” he said wishing not to be named. “We will assess all the past cases as to what pushes the youth to militancy.”
On the social network, the pictures of Mudassir, who had joined Lashkar-e-Toiba in August this year along with his friend and neighbour Saqib, have gone viral. “This is dangerous trend, what has happened to Kashmir…14 year old boy, who should have been holding pen in his hand, died fighting forces,” wrote Shahzad Ahmed, a netizen.
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