HVK Archives: J&K militants recruiting women
J&K militants recruiting women - The Hindu
PTI
()
5 May 1997
Title : J&K militants recruiting women
Author : PTI
Publication : The Hindu
Date : May 5, 1997
Militant groups in Kashmir. under instructions from Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) have hit upon a novel idea of recruiting women in their ranks
in a bid to sustain militancy in the border State.
"The fresh offensive of the ISI comes in the wake of increasing pressure from the
security forces and the difficulty in finding new recruits," senior Army officers
stationed in south Kashmir said.
At least 10 women are reported to have been Armed with silencer-fitted pistols in
South Kashmir alone, Brig S.S. Allawat, Sector Commander of Rashtriya Rifles. told
visiting newsmen at Kulgam town of Anantnag district, 70 km from here, yesterday.
He said the Army had been examining the authenticity of intelligence and police
reports and would chalk out a strategy to foil the militants, designs.
Pakistan was trying to push additional militants into the State in order to raise
the level of violence and "destabilise and discredit" the popular Government which
came into being after elections last year.
He said people should not unduly get perturbed by such reports as authorities had
taken adequate measures to cheek it.
The present strength of militants in the Valley, could not bring about any
material change It the situation which was improving day by day.
The officers said a positive feeling was growing among the people that the Army
was for their protection and that the flow of information about the activities of
the militants was pouring in on regular basis.
With a sharp drop in local recruitment, the bulk of militants were now being drawn
from Afghan refugee camps and Islamic madrases run by several fundamentalist
organisations which continued to flourish in Pakistan, despite protests by the
international community.
As several militants had openly denounced violence and surrendered, the ISI now
relied mainly on foreign mercenaries, including Pakistani and Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir nationals to step up militancy, they said.
After their training and religious indoctrination, the mercenaries are divided
into small groups, the number being kept small for guerrilla warfare, they said.
adding each individual is provided with a weapon and ammunition besides Indian
currency.
Each group is equipped with a wireless set operated by a trained militant to
enable it to communicate with other groups as well as the central command in the
Valley.
Each group is given its own secret code to be used for communication purposes.
They enter the Valley with the help of "guides" who are aware of the movement of
Border Security Force and Army patrols and choose the right time to sneak them in.
The mercenaries are generally in the age group of 20 to 30 and are religiously
inspired to wage "Jehad" against "infidels" and to "liberate Kashmir from India."
They were more desperate and fanatical than recruits from the Valley, the officers
said.
New strategy
The ISI had drawn up a comprehensive strategy to step up violence and involve the
people in rising against the Government, according to official sources.
The sources told PTI that documents seized from the infiltrating militants and the
interrogation reports, had revealed that ISI agents were working to involve
non-political leaders and groups and were pressuring them to raise issues of
alleged human rights violations.
These leaders or groups would be force to holds demonstrations and issue bandh
calls against the so-called atrocities of the security forces So that credibility
was lent to the issue of human rights with greater involvement of the general
public, they said.
The ISI had already sent Rs. 10 crore through various channels for the purpose,
the sources said, adding more money was expected to reach the Valley from ISI
quarters to rouse passions of the people and incite them to rise against the
government.
Simultaneously, the Pakistan-backed militant outfits have been directed by the ISI
to restructure their operational plans.
For this purpose, the command of most of the outfits had been entrusted to foreign
mercenaries whose number was stated to be about 500 in different parts of the
Valley and Doda district of Jammu.
Reports also indicated that in next two to three months, militants would mostly
concentrate on attacks and killings of political leaders and soft targets
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