The propensity of children exposed to violence to turn to violence themselves is sobering for it suggests that cycles of violence are being created in Kashmir. Unless present conflicts are resolved, yet more generations of children will become frustrated over the lack of progress and will feel compelled to fight to air their grievances. The legacy of today’s fighting will pass on. This alone justifies the need for further intervention in this area and engagement of young people in the process of peaceful rather than violent means of resolving political conflict.
On the ground in Kashmir, it is definitely not happening. Hemmed in by bunkers, curfews and frequent internet bans, people are searching for dignity and justice. The tragedy is that like in the past over two decades, neither Srinagar nor New Delhi is wising up to the new reality and looking beyond security perspectives. Consequently teenagers taking arms has started to rise and if the trend continues , we are sure to witness large and unabated cycle of violence and if this sequence is not put to an end .
The need to quell this self destructive cycle of violence is being felt in all quarters but the means to do so are alluding definition. This is because the root causes that are leading to the youth joining militancy have not been identified let alone addressed.
One big reason is broken promises, harassment and denied justice. Kashmiri youth resort to extremism mainly because of the oppression they face in Kashmir and outside. They are labelled as militants when they move outside Kashmir which hurts their sentiments. With each youth getting killed the sense of alienation only increases.
