Tral: The scourge of terrorism is continuing to haunt Jammu and Kashmir with terror outfits based in Tral in South Kashmir seeking support by using the internet to attract recruits. Pages like Tral Tigers', 'Robin Hood of Tral' and 'Lovers of Rizwan Bhai' have cropped up on the web and those following them are the educated youth of Kashmir.
In Tral, Issac Ahmad Parrey was a brilliant student who scored 98 per cent in his class 10 and 88 per cent in his class 12th exams. He wanted him to be an engineer and was preparing for the Common Entrance Test and the All India Engineering and Architecture Entrance Examination. However, four months back, one day he suddenly left and joined a terror group. No one even in his family knows the reason why he joined the group. What is more worrying is that Issac's case is not an isolated one.
In the last two years, there is a surge in terror recruitment and surprisingly the numbers are being filled up by local and educated youngsters.
"Youth between the age of 18 to 21 years are joining terror outfits. We are ascertaining as to why this is happening," SSP Awantipora Irshad Ahmad said.
According to police sources, there are clear signs that home-grown terrorism is being revived. From merely 12 locals recruited by terror groups in 2012 to 17 in 2013, local recruitment has shot up to 70 in 2014 and 55 till the end of June 2015.
"It is a big concern. We are aware of this challenge," SSP Irshad Ahmad said.
Sources attribute the fallout of the 2010 unrest in the Kashmir valley as the main factor behind the rise in local recruitment. Moreover, major public demonstrations during funerals of slain terrorists and the rising presence of terror groups on social media have also been cited as major factors. For the security establishment, this poses another challenge which bullets and curfews cannot solve.
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