Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 28

Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmed Bhat’s killing has triggered fear of another unrest, forcing the authorities to impose restrictions at various places today, for Sabzar had a criminal past before he joined militancy.It is being said Sabzar also had a failed love affair. His offer to marry a girl was reportedly spurned by her parents, thus he took refuge in religion for some time.Later, he met Burhan Wani, his mentor and commander, and joined the militant ranks. He joined militancy on the same day when Burhan’s brother, Khalid Muzzaffar, was killed in an alleged encounter and Sabzar snatched a rifle from a CRPF man in Tral and joined militants.His close association with Burhan had catapulted Sabzar to the ranks of top Hizb commander over the years even as his death triggered spontaneous protests and valley-wide shutdown on Saturday.The J&K Police records say before joining the militancy, there were many criminal cases registered against Sabzar, alias Sahab Don, and some of them were even challaned.“He was known in the area as Sahab Don and there were cases of theft, jungle smuggling and abduction registered against him. There was also a case against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,” a police officer in south Kashmir said.A resident of Rathsuna Tral, Sabzar was involved in many stone-throwing protests in the area. He operated mostly in and around Tral.However, after joining the militancy in 2015, Sabzar became a close confidant of Burhan and in most of the social media images and videos, that emerged over the year, Sabzar was seen accompanying him.There are fears that his killing may push more youth to join militancy. However, a senior Army officer said Sabzar’s death would not make more militants.“Sabzar’s death won’t attract youth to militants and there will be no spurt in violence,” General Officer Commanding of Army’s counter-insurgency unit Kilo Force, Major General AK Singh, said on the sidelines of a function in north Kashmir.

Many criminal cases against him

• Sabzar Bhat’s offer to marry a girl was reportedly spurned by her parents, thus he took refuge in religion for some time Later, he met Burhan Wani and joined the militant ranks
• His close association with Burhan had catapulted Sabzar to the ranks of top Hizb commander over the years
• The J&K Police records say before joining the militancy, there were many criminal cases registered against Sabzar, alias Sahab Don

J-K DIARY

Political leadership has brought Kashmir to this dangerous pass

Arun Joshi

Over the past three decades, Jammu and Kashmir has not seen a spell of complete peace.

Here it’s why?

After the transition of power from monarchy to “popular” government, people found little difference between the two. The common themes were autocracy and arrogance of rulers.Things deteriorated to the extent that to retain power and autocracy, elections were not about fair play all the time. The year 1987 was the worst example when democracy lost all its meaning for the younger generation in Kashmir. The Congress and National Conference were equally responsible for the sorry state of affairs that followed after they managed to gain power.The militancy was a direct result of these power games, where the rulers checkmated their constituents instead of dealing with the basic problems of poverty and illiteracy.The most threatening feature of the current situation – unemployment – is rooted in this indifference of rulers towards the yearning for education and dignity.The influential got everything while the men and women with degrees were left in the lurch. This injustice became unbearable at some point of time and they clinched onto the political issue to justify their violence. Vested interests stepped in from all sides and they relished the fast-moving cycle of conflict. Pakistan’s role was a given, but the worst role was played by the vested interests in Kashmir.Today’s situation is far more dangerous than what it was in the 1990s, which is recorded in the history as the period of peak militancy. In the 1990s, anyone with a gun was a militant. His power used to flow from the gun and grenades. Some got the gun to create a balance of power, to save themselves from the gunmen who started militancy. Militancy also opened doors to criminals.Militants then were vulnerable to offers of surrender. They had a weakness for their families. During cordon and search operations, they would meekly surrender.This time around, the number of militants is not more than 200, but they are hardboiled young men. Their number is far less than what it used to be in 1990s, when thousands of them were part of the 180 outfits from Allah Tigers to Hizbul Mujahideen. For the fresh crop, the word “surrender” doesn’t exist in their dictionary. Their commitment is to fighting and dying.Nothing works on them, not even the entreaties of their family members, including wives and children. They fight and die sending out the message that their rigid love for “jihad” is unbreakable.They are perceived in two ways. They emerge as heroes for those seeking “azadi” or freedom through the “sacrifices and martyrdom” of the new generation of militants. Their support to them is unqualified.They are also viewed as destroyers of the “Kashmiri dream” of peace and normalcy. The death and destruction that has visited and peeled the values of the Valley hurts most of the people. At times, they use uncharitable language towards militants.These whispers have started getting louder.But the stone-throwing protests, which have been linked to the “freedom struggle”, have created a new scare. Stones are available in plenty, and there are hundreds of hands ready to pick them and hurl them at the security forces. They create better visuals for their supporters.No individual or collective leadership exercises any control over them. These militants and stone-throwers have their own groups and they have categorically refused to be the followers of any traditional leadership. This is a situation where the self-proclaimed stakeholders are shy of going in for any collision with the new generation of militants.The leaders know that no one listens to them. They are preserving their brand of politics and individual identities by not opposing the destructive interruption in the normalcy and education. This suits them. And these leaders also seek their relevance by acknowledging them as “our boys” after they die in encounters — be it Burhan Wani or Sabzar Bhat. That is the way they run their politics, and as a result chaos flourishes and violence is accepted grudgingly. The real victim is peace. It is being hit both by bullets and stones.When violence is relished, the peace-seekers become vulnerable. That is precisely what is happening in Kashmir in the holy month of Ramazan in 2017.