Army has a new action plan to curtail youths' indoctrination by terror outfits in Kashmir Valley

Proactive intervention by the Army will go a long way in assuring the youths of Kashmir to steer clear of terror recruiters and seek a fruitful life for self and their families. Here's how that is being done.

Key Highlights

• It has been noticed that after a terrorist who hails from the Valley is gunned down in an encounter, someone from his family picks up the gun

• To stop the family members and friends of slain terrorists from choosing the path of terror, the Army has devised a proactive plan

• The idea is to reach out to the families before terror outfits take them down the road to perdition and instead help them look ahead in life

According to a news report in Nav Bharat Times, the Army is working on a plan that will help the youth of the valley find a fruitful life even if a family member has met his end during an act of terrorism. The Army plans to create a database of surviving family members of the youths killed in encounters and to make a positive outreach to them so that they do not get poached by terror recruiters.

The NBT report says that the biggest challenge that the Army has faced in the Valley is that of influencing the family members of a gunned-down terrorist to steer clear of terrorist activities. 

It has been found that several surviving family members get emotional, vengeful, and pick up the gun to themselves follow the path of terrorism. It's a vicious circle and then they too go on to meet similar dates.

A new strategy:
The NBT reports says that under this new strategy, the Army now tracks down details of close friends, siblings, cousins and other family members of the slain terrorist. Then they reach out to them and try to explain the futility and perils of slipping down the path of terror. When there is information that certain youths may have picked up the gun and adopted the life of terrorism (which they may be given to believe by the sponsors as a holy rebellion), the Army tries to reach out to the immediate family to appeal to the misled youth to return to normal life.

Lt Gen BS Raju of the 15th Corps Kashmir believes that timely intervention and guidance can help such misled youth achieve course correction. In his tenure as the chief of the Victor Force, he has achieved remarkable success and a number of wings of the Army are involved in this operation of positivity.

Focus on 4 districts of South Kashmir:
Under this programme,  a lot of attention is being given to creatively engage with the youth of particularly 4 districts of Kashmir, esp. Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam.

Lt Gen BS Raju says that an analysis of encounters of terrorists and the process of recruitment of these youth by terror outfits is what helped them arrive at the interception plan.

He said that several youths who would have likely been misled by terror recruiters were counselled and the Army was able to stem the flow in a satisfactory manner. He, however, gave no figures or further details of the same.

BS Raju says statistics are not key, the idea is to stop these youths from bringing ruin upon themselves by adopting to live by the gun. 

Deputy inspector general (DIG), South Kashmir, Atul Kumar Goel, who is among Jammu and Kashmir Police officers who have been awarded the Police Medals for Gallantry (PMG) said that approximately 80 youths from the valley have turned to terror this year. 

Lt Gen Raju said that sometimes youths make decisions in the heat of the moment and regret it later. This is when family members' appeals on social media etc have helped some of them see the situation in the correct light and return. He says family members and relatives have a significant role to play in helping the youths return to the mainstream.

The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way represent those of Times Network.