Two separate incidents bring forth the dichotomy that plagues the youth in the restive Kashmir Valley, which has been prey to a prolonged spell of violence and terror. An expose by India TV now shows how youth of the Valley have been a prey to a deliberate ploy of terror outfits, most of them Pakistan-sponsored.
In India TV’s Aaj Ki Baat today, channel’s Editor-in-Chief and Chairman Rajat Sharma illustrated the two different sides of the coin.
The first side shows the youth who proved their brilliance with their exceptional performance in different fields, but are later indoctrinated by the terror outfits to join militancy.
One specific case is that of Aarif Ahmed Dar, an avid cricketer, who had been selected for the state’s zonal cricket team. However, one day, he unexpectedly left his home and never came back.
After about six months, his family saw his photograph which had gone viral on social media. Everyone was left shell-shocked when they found him standing beside Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abu Dujana.
In this period of time, he had become Dujana’s bodyguard and now has a reward of Rs 8 lakh on his head. He is also one of the accused in the bank robbery case in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
When India TV reporter visited Aarif’s family, everyone was immersed in grief.
Aarif’s brother Adil Dar spoke about the day when Aarif left the house.
“Aarif left home with Rs 70 to play cricket in Pulwama, but he never came back. It’s been two years now since he left, at that time he was 13 years old. When we saw his photo on social media, we got to know that he has become a terrorist,” said Adil.
“We tried a lot to search him. Even the police helped us a lot. But when we saw his photo with Abu Dujana, we stopped searching for him. But we are still trying to bring him back. Will be happy if he surrenders,” he added.
Another case is that of Liyakat who scored 92 per cent in graduation, but was later brainwashed by terrorists and joined militancy.
Liyakat, a bright student, was also a keen cricketer. His favourite team was Australia and favourite player Michale Clarke.
Suddenly one day he left his home and after 10-12 days, his family saw his photograph on social media, when they discovered that he has turned into a terrorist and was holding a rifle in his hand.
However, time and again, some other youngsters have defied all odds and hatred, making the state and the nation proud.
In contrast to this case, there is another picture that stands in complete contrast to the one mentioned above. Here, around 40 young students defied the path of terror and violence, and received training under the Army's Kashmir Super - 40 initiative for coaching the Jammu and Kashmir youth for Engineering Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE).
Breaking all previous records, nine of the 40 students of its 2016-17 batch cracked the highly competitive and prestigious IIT-JEE advance.
35 students appeared for the IIT JEE entrance exam, of which 24 cleared the JEE Mains and nine even cleared the IIT JEE Advanced exam. This means that these nine students will get admission in IITs whereas the rest 24 will get entry into NITs.
Twenty four successful students of Army's Kashmir Super 40 accompanied by Major General R. P. Kalita SM, VSM, GOC Dagger Division interacted with the Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat , UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, ADC at Army Headquarter, Delhi on June 13 wherein they thanked the Army for shaping their careers despite grave challenges in the valley.
The 'Kashmir Super-40' coaching program is conducted by the Army at Srinagar in coordination with its training partner Centre for Social Responsibility and Learning (CSRL) and Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) since 2013.
This program provides a platform for the underprivileged but talented students of the state to compete at nation level.
An 11-month free lodging, boarding and coaching programme is provided to the selected 40 students of Jammu and Kashmir at 'Zero Cost' to them.
For those who missed out watching this inspirational story at 9:00 pm, can watch it in Aaj Ki Baat’s repeat telecast at 11:30 pm.
