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One-time militants paint the 'real picture' of J&K

A few self-styled ''reformed militants'' from Kashmir have alleged that Kashmiri youth from the interior of the valley are being coerced by pro-Pakistani elements to cross over to Pakistan for arms training.

Papa Kishtwari, Umar Mukhtar, Samad Khan and Javed Shah, the four ''reformed militants'' (one-time anti-India activists now disappointed with Pakistan-sponsored militancy), are in New Delhi to meet with central leaders including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani. They said Kashmir is slipping back to the 1989 situation. Things are deteriorating and might become worse if the government does not act, they said.

They said they had turned their guns on Hizbul Mujahideen and other pro-Pakistan militant outfits to create an atmosphere conducive to restoration of democracy.

''A survey of far- flung villages will reveal that several youths are missing from their homes. Where have they gone? Has the state government ever tried to find out?'' they asked.

Asked if they feared that the youth were killed by militants or arrested by security forces, the ''reformed militants'' denied any knowledge and added that even family members did not know, or did not disclose information even if they had any.

Despite strict vigil along the borders, there are still some unmanned points, they said. The border between India and Pakistan is highly porous and it is practically impossible to guard the entire border.

They further said Kashmiri youth are for restoration of normalcy but are disillusioned. Instead of rehabilitating them, they say the authorities are treating them as criminals. False FIRs are registered against them and they are arrested on flimsy grounds, they said.

Moreover, political and bureaucratic apathy and corruption were alienating the youth in particular and people in general. Many of them are taking to militancy in sheer desperation, they lamented.

Kishtwari, a former security force sepoy who claims to have served in the North-East, said though there was no public support to militancy in the valley as in 1989, pro- Pakistan militants, mostly foreigners, still employ locals as guides to carry out their terrorist activities. He said about 4,000 to 5,000 foreign mercenaries, mainly from PoK and Afghanistan, are operating in the valley. ''Without a local as guide and with pressure from security forces, the foreign mercenaries cannot last for more than a month.''

When he was a militant, he said he knew exactly how many others were there in his area of operation and who was a militant. Now the situation was different and nobody knew who was a militant.

He said the militants were following a ''very clever strategy'' of attacking soft targets and peripheral areas before striking at the Centre.

The four reformed militants said they were in the capital to apprise central leaders of the actual situation in the valley. Central leaders are not being given the real picture in Kashmir. Whenever a central delegation arrives in the valley for assessment of the situation, it is taken to places where it does not get the correct picture, they alleged.

UNI

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