Is there a new militant in Kashmir?

There are a lot of disappointed educated young persons who have money, the social media and sense a vacuum in the political mindspace

The story dates back to 2010, the year of stone-throwing in Kashmir. Those who were children then, took part in the incidents, maybe also threw a few clods. Some were taken into custody. The parents of some were put in jail. Many were tortured, brutalized and eventually, released.

Parents sent away their children outside Kashmir to study. As they grew up, they learnt the truth about 2010 and why stones were thrown at forces representing India. They also found that a ‘martyr’ was right there, next door, a boy who had sat next to you in class.

Although Burhan Wani was not picked up then – his radicalization happened after his brother was picked up by the police – there were many others like him who are – relatively – cosmopolitan, having seen life outside Kashmir and are in the grips of despondency, because they see the prospects of justice in Kashmir from the Indian state receding.

Yasin Malik of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) is considered one of the most iconic faces of Kashmir militancy. He was not particularly educated, from a humble family background but crossed over to Pakistan and when he returned, became Kashmir’s most famous militant. He eventually joined politics, restoring the primacy of elections.

When he spoke, it was the poor Kashmiri speaking. But he was an aberration. Because of Kashmir’s land reforms programme, the ruling elite – whether on the right side of the law or the wrong one – has been from the middle class, usually quite well educated. Apart from Yasin Malik, the rest of the JKLF leadership has comprised doctors, lawyers and engineers.

What sets the new militant in Kashmir apart from earlier versions is his familiarity with the world via the social media. When the beef lynching happened in Dadri, twitter was aflame with young Kashmiris asking when ‘they’ were going to come for them.

South Kashmir is Mehbooba Mufti’s area. It is a testimony to her political helplessness that after Wani’s killing the Cabinet had to appeal to the All Party Hurriyat Conference among others, to help restore peace and calm.

The insurgency in Kashmir is not about Islam, it is not about poverty or prosperity. It is about the Indian state and how it relates to young people.