Nearly 20 of our brothers and sisters have been killed in police and CRPF firing over the past one year during street protests in various parts of Kashmir. Why are we Kashmiri youth taking to streets despite knowing that our stones are no match to the bullets of the so-called security forces?

The present stone-pelting agitation has to be seen in the backdrop of the events that have taken place in the past 25 years, which have
denied the people of Kashmir, especially the youth, an opportunity to express their choice in a democratic manner.

Though I was only 13 years old when the state assembly elections were held in 1987, these polls are considered to be the worst ever in the history of the state; they were rigged to the extent that winners were declared losers in a matter of minutes.  Syed Salahuddin, the Hizbul Mujahideen supremo, is a victim of that electoral rigging as he was one of those candidates who were leading the polls by a handsome margin, but were declared losers by a similar margin.

With the promise of plebiscite made by first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the United Nations unfulfilled and the electoral outcomes getting rigged, the youth of Kashmir picked up the guns – obviously with support from across the Line of Control.

Despite introduction of gun in the valley in 1989, peaceful protests remained the most common form of expression for the next three to four months before the then governor Jagmohan decided to impose indefinite curfew.

The sentiment for azaadi kept getting stronger each passing day as oppression across the valley reached its peak. Women were raped,
innocents were shot dead in fake encounters, and hundreds were killed during peaceful protests. Massacres took place at Gawkadal,
Hawal, Bijbhera, Sopore and many other parts of the valley in the early 1990s.

I wanted to be a part of the armed struggle but was denied a chance by village elders due to my tender age. They told me that it would be some years before I would get an opportunity to join the armed struggle, but that chance never came as the situation in the valley changed. The creation of the counter-insurgent force Ikhwan comprising the surrendered militants let loose a reign of terror in Kashmir.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, the resistance leaders changed tack as there were few takers for an armed struggle. New Delhi was successful in convincing the global community that violence in Kashmir was Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and there was little local support for it.

Keeping the popular sentiment in mind, the leaders, who at various times headed one militant organisation or the other like JKLF
chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and Zaffar Akbar Bhat of Hizbul Mujahideen decided to launch a peaceful agitation to press for their
demand for resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the wishes and aspirations of the people.

The government of India, however, reacted to the new strategy in the same way as it did to the eruption of militancy in the state in 1990. Resistance leaders were jailed and a large number of youth arrested. They were booked under the Public Safety Act, which provides for detention of a person without trial for two years.

Street protests happen all over the world, but do you get to see people being shot in the head and heart during such protests?

What generally prompts protests in other parts of the world – such as lack of basic amenities like water, electricity, roads, schools and hospitals – are non-issues for people of Kashmir. The valley erupts only when innocents – and I count stone throwers among them – are killed or the honour of our sisters is attacked. I do not think any civilised person will turn a blind eye to such acts committed by those who are supposedly here to protect us.

The officials and ministers in the government of India blame Lashkar-e-Toiba and Pakistan for the stone-pelting. They claim that the youth get paid Rs 500 for throwing stones and have no belief in the cause. All I can say is that they only insult their soldiers who get killed in action. Are they dying for the monthly salary and pension they get or they have a commitment to protecting the interests of their country?

Farooq Ahmad Ganaie, 36, participated in the street protests in Kashmir in the early 1990s.

(As told to Mohammad Inayat Jehangir.)