By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar: On Tuesday, January 2, Mannan Bashir Wani, pursuing Ph.D. in earth science-Geology from Aligarh Muslim University marked his presence in the roll calls for the last time before heading home to Tekipora village in Lolab of Kupwara district in north Kashmir.
Three days after his departure, a young man of fair white complexion and with a black bread holding AK-47 in his hands went viral on social networking websites in Kashmir. The young man was 25-year-old Manan who had joined the ranks of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
The news comes in the backdrop of the state government’s plan to formulate a new surrender policy seeking rehabilitation of local militants with more focus on their education and skill development.
Mannan comes from a well-educated family with the father working as a lecturer and brother an engineer in state government. He completed his MPhil and enrolled in the Ph.D. course last year.
The family came to know about the incident only on Sunday, January 7 after his gun-wielding picture went viral on social networking websites.
The involvement of educated youth taking up arms is not new in Kashmir – example, even Syed Salahuddin, the Hizbul Mujahideen chief had a Masters in Political Science – but for last few years, there have been instances where militants joining the ranks were found to have high professional degrees with a potential of very bright careers.
According to reports, harassment by the security forces is being seen as the primary reason for him taking up the arms.
A look at his Twitter account gives an insight how Mannan who called himself the ‘prisoner of the paradise’ was concerned about the continuing human rights violations across the valley.
“On an average, one Kashmiri gets killed every day- Genocide is already going on. Where are we heading?” he tweeted from his Twitter account on March 28, 2017.
In another tweet on internet ban in Kashmir, he wrote, “By Banning Internet services in #kashmir, What options is Indian Democracy leaving for #Kashmiris especially Youth?”
The news has shocked his friends, who are yet to believe that he has taken such an extreme step. “I remember him as an easy-going, fun-loving guy. During my Bachelors in Aligarh, I’d see him every once in a while especially in and around Maulana Azad Library,” wrote his friend Irfan Mir on Facebook.
He was awarded the ‘Best Paper Presentation Award’ in an international conference on ‘Water, Environment, Energy and Society’ (ICWEES) for his paper ‘Flood Risk Assessment of Lolab Valley’ from watershed analysis using remote sensing and GIS Techniques held at AISECT University, Bhopal, in 2016.
The AMU authorities have expelled him from the university and set up an inquiry commission and his hostel room has been ceased.
“AMU has a zero tolerance for the national security issues. The student had last signed the rolls on January 2,” Omar Saleem Peerzada, PRO AMU told TwoCircles.net. “The student has been expelled with immediate effect and an inquiry has been set up to investigate the whole issue,” he added.
When asked if the university has been contacted by the local police authorizes, Peerzada said, “We are cooperating and coordinating with the local police.”
According to a report in The Times of India, the Uttar Pradesh ATS has launched a full-scale investigation into the case.
Even as both the state and central government claim that there has been a decrease in youth taking up the arms, the problem has been becoming graver as more and more educated youths are getting inclined to resistance movement instead of clamoring for white collar jobs.
According to police, 117 youths joined militant ranks in Kashmir in 2017 and more than 200 were killed, the highest figure in the last seven years. The trend has been increasing after the bloody summer of 2010 when more than a hundred youth fell to the security force bullets under the watch of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who now, after losing out to rival PDP, claims hegemony over fighting for the rights of people.
In recent years, many cases of youths with bright careers, with some of them having professional degrees, joining militancy have come to the forefront. They included Rafiq Ahmad Ahangar, 23, alias Saifullah killed in an encounter in May 2013 in Pulwama. He had completed B Tech from a local engineering college. Another militant Masiullah Khan from south Kashmir, killed in 2011, had a degree in mechanical engineering. Sajad Yousuf, a Hizbul Mujahideen militant from Pulwama district, had a post-graduate degree in Islamic Studies.
Others include Omar Ahsan, 22, who was undergoing post-graduation in Physics and Lashkar-e-Toiba militants Muzamil Amin and Hilal Ahmad Rather, both of whom were qualified in Islamic teachings.
In February 2015, Ashiq Hussain Dar, who was killed in an encounter in Heff Shermal, had MA (English) and BEd degrees to his credit besides a government job.
In November 2017, Majid Khan, a footballer who had passed his 12th with distinction took up the arms only to return back home after an appeal by his parents.
Most often, analysts say, what leads to young men disappearing and joining militants’ ranks is the killings, human rights violations, and intolerance of dissent in Kashmir. What slowly translates into anger finally leads towards the path of militancy. Militant hardcore areas still exist, particularly in southern Kashmir areas such as Tral. And even if less in numbers, the new militants appear highly motivated.
“It is not a new phenomenon in Kashmir. The first batch of Kashmiris who had crossed over the border was educated and from the different socio-economic background,” Kashmir-based journalist and political commentator Gowhar Geelani told TwoCircles.net.
“The trend is more prevalent post-2010 and Burhan Wani taking up the arms. It is a sign of collective anxiety in the new generation.There is a sense of hopelessness and despair among youths both from the pro-India parties and resistance camps. The 1990’s style cordon and search operations are back in full swing. There is lack of political engagement. So the youth has no escape.”
The Jammu and Kashmir police are yet to issue any statement on the latest youth joining militancy.