Recently media pictures showcased apprehension of two Local militants of Al-Badr group in North Kashmir - Salim and Ikhlaq. Ikhlaq was like any youngster fond of snazzy outfits, selfies and fun. But his sense of ‘fun’ was dangerous and controlled by someone else.

Salim’s family described him as an impressionable child who was deeply influenced by events he witnessed since his childhood and apparent addiction to glamour of social media. His traits were identified by militant outfits and their network in 2018 when he was introduced to Al-Badr militant Abdul Ganai Khwaja ( killed in 2020). Salim’s traits for glamour and his innocence were exploited by the militants and they started slowly involving him in Al-Badr Tanzeem activities. Initially, Salim was being handled by a ‘controller’ named Anayatullah, who was arrested in 2020. Subsequently, Salim was introduced to the Pakistani handler Yousuf Baloch of Al-Badr group located in Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) and thereafter they were in regular touch through various apps. Throughout his contact with Yousuf, he was systematically brainwashed and lured to carryout various subversive activities on behalf of the group. At the behest of Yousuf, he befriended teenagers as potential tanzeem recruits and got them to do small scale terror support activities.
Salim while associating himself to the glamour of militancy was no daredevil, infact he was scared to carryout tasks given by Yousuf Baloch. So from his friend circle he identified Ikhlaq. Ikhlaq was barely 18 years old and belonged to a poor family. He was trying to support his family being the elder one, hence started carrying out small errands at the behest of Salim to earn some quick money. He knew how to drive and started doing various tasks of Al-Badr Tanzeem alongwith Salim without realizing that Salim was using and manipulating him. Ikhlaq was tech savvy and kept getting exposed to the propaganda on social media regarding Jihad, while Salim constantly brainwashed Ikhlaq about glorious death and subsequent reward by Almighty.
Yousuf Baloch in end 2020 assigned a grenade lobbying task to Salim and arranged for two grenades through another module from Sopore. However, Salim cunningly roped in Ikhlaq to carryout the grenade lobbying task and removed the detonator from his grenade beforehand and handed a live grenade to Ikhlaq. To gain confidence of young Ikhlaq, Salim threw in the grenade first to demonstrate to Ikhlaq that he is equal party to the crime / war but his grenade was a dud and did not blast. Seeing Salim, Ikhlaq also got motivated and threw his grenade which exploded at the SSB Camp at Watergam. Salim recorded this video of Ikhlaq lobbying the grenade on his mob to subsequently blackmail Ikhlaq. Salim took credit for the task and informed Yusuf Balooch accordingly and was paid for executing the task. Seeing the task completed, Yousuf Baloch later motivated Salim to carry out a Pulwama style fidayeen attack in North Kashmir in March 2021 and arranged for explosives from South Kashmir. Being a coward Salim had a different plan in mind, and did not have the heart to carry out the fidayeen attack. He blackmailed Ikhlaq for the fidayeen attack to which he finally agreed post assurance of martyrdom akin to Adil Ahmed Dar and Burhan Wani. However, due to timely intelligence input and swift action by Security Forces the offenders were nabbed and the entire game plan revealed before the intended strike.
Usually Ikhlaq is the front end of militancy in Kashmir called the ‘newly recruited militant ’ as part of Pakistan’s new strategy of showcasing ‘Indigenous Kashmiri Resistance’ movement. Mostly, this is where the Security Forces end their search. But there is more to it, the nexus which sustains the terror economy has the ‘recruiters’ and ‘controllers’ working in tandem as well. These are common people who control the finances, mastermind the recruitments, co-ordinate with Pakistan based terror handlers and stay as respected citizens in the society. They control the nexus of ‘recruiters’, social media Influencers, financial supporters and power (Political/Government) backers. They follow ‘His Masters Voice’ from Pakistan and are not concerned about the Kashmiri’s. They remain Hidden and behind the scene. Last few years, the ‘controllers’ have been identified and arrested in North Kashmir. The new ones are now-a-days neither from the Jamait-e-Islami or Hurriyat, thus making it difficult to target / identify. They also run the drug network to sustain the militant groups in their areas. One such ‘controller’ Andrabi was arrested in a drug case in 2020 and was responsible for the LeT network in North Kashmir. Since most of the ‘controller’ network has been busted in North Kashmir, ‘recruiters’ like Salim are doing makeshift work for the groups by ‘recruiting’ as well as ‘controlling’ the terror network. Recent announcement by Lt Gen DP Pandey GOC 15 Corps to break the ‘Cycle of Violence’ relates to targeting these ‘Recruiters’ and ‘Controllers’ who run the nexus and find frustrated gullible youth to pick up the gun.
Both the ‘Controllers’ (Anayatullah & Andrabi) and ‘Recruiters’ (Salim) are living a plush life with their own children/relatives studying outside the conflict zone of Kashmir. Some of them even have government jobs. They are making money through drugs and transactions made by the Launch Pad Commanders in PaK, like Yousuf Baloch. Their own families have never seen any deaths and are prospering from the terror economy. The last in the chain is the ‘recruit’ (poor Ikhlaq), who joins the groups, picks up the gun and is eventually killed within two days to six months. His family suffers and goes back by 10 – 15 years into poverty and grief. Security Forces have taken surrenders/apprehension of 22 newly ‘recruited local militants ’ to give them a new lease of life in the last few months. The ‘Cycle of Violence’ is being broken slowly and steadily by targeting the ‘recruiters/controllers’ and saving the ‘recruits’ in an effort to bring long lasting peace and prosperity in Kashmir.