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In and out of militancy in Reasi hills

Staff Reporter

— Photo: Handout

TACKLING TERROR: Residents of the militancy-infested Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir being trained in self-defence by the army. Such training has been intensified following the recent Samba encounter.

Reasi: They grew up together in the remote hills of Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir and then got involved in militancy. But while one bid goodbye to militancy, the other decided to stay on and paid the price.

This is the story of two young men smitten by militancy in the early 1990s. Abdul Haque alias Jehangir joined the Hizbul Mujahideen and rose to become battalion commander. A few years later, his friend Mohammad Aslam joined the ranks and was trained in various camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. It was in a militant camp in the Kotli area of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in 1998 that the two met again.

Disgusted after seeing children under 14 undergoing arms training, Mohammad Aslam decided to give up militancy. “I was afraid of discussing my plans with anyone there,” he recalled. “I met Abdul Haque in Kotli and confided in him. But Abdul Haque justified the training of young boys in the larger interest of militant movement.”

Aslam failed to convince Haque. “But he told me that I was free to decide my course. He would not tell anyone about this as it would put my life in danger.”

Aslam surrendered to the security forces on May 17, 1999. He went on to raise a group of locals who continue to defend his native village against militancy.

Abdul Haque later returned to Reasi hills and continued to be a loyal activist of his militant outfit. He was allegedly involved in more than 100 killings.

“After his return here, we sometimes talked on wireless sets. I tried to convince him to leave militancy as it would only bring death and destruction to our hamlet. But he told me that it was now impossible as he had made many enemies.”

Abdul Haque was killed on April 23 this year after security forces were tipped off about his movement, reportedly by a women whose brother he had killed.

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