SRINAGAR: The condition of hundreds of Kashmiri youths in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is pathetic and most of them want to lead a normal life back home, said a group of militants which recently returned from Muzaffarabad and surrendered to the Army in Baramulla.

Ill treatment by ISI

Fed up with the "ill treatment by Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence," these 12 young men found a novel method of running away and asked their sponsors to launch them for fighting against the Indian security forces. "We got information about the ground realities in Kashmir from those who came to Muzaffarabad by the trans-LoC bus, though the realisation of leading a normal life and eschewing violence dawned on us much earlier," they said without disclosing their identity.

The Army paraded before the media the 12 young men, of whom only three spoke to reporters. The "ISI is using Kashmiri youth as scapegoats for its own nefarious aims and objectives. They don't believe in any jihad. They only want us to spread terror here so that we will be slaughtered by the Indian Army later," said one of them.

To a question about the number of Kashmiris in the PoK camps, he said: "I can't tell you the exact number but they are in thousands."

"We owe apology to parents"

Said another militant, who had crossed over to Muzaffarabad in 1999 when he was studying in standard VIII: "The first jihad is to obey parents. We owe an apology to them. And we ruined our future by taking to the violent path. Had we not done this, we would also have become doctors, journalists and engineers."

Peaceful life

All three had almost the same story to tell.

They crossed over after having been convinced from this sidethat they would be allowed to live a peaceful life after surrender.

"We put pressure on our commanders to launch us. They did. And we did turn ourselves in before 19 infantry division of the Army."

According to the Army, the surrendered militants belonged to the Hizbullah, the Hizb-e-Islami and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Healthy development

Lt. Col. Sunil Dutt Nautiyal of 9 GR told reporters that the surrender was a healthy development. "Things are changing fast. More and more people are coming back to the mainstream and willing to shun militancy."

In the recent past, 62 persons surrendered in Baramulla district alone.

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