RECRUIT AND THE RECRUITER
Asif, a poor young kashmiri lad from Anantnag, lived with his family in a typical small Kashmiri house alongwith his father, mother, and three sisters. His father used to earn living by working in the nearby bat factory, with a meagre wage which was barely enough to sustain the family of five. Asif’s family was barely making their ends meet. As Asif was in his teens and unemployed, he could not support his family financially. As days passed by and the worry of his family’s future became torturous, Asif’s father developed mental sickness. He became ill and no treatment could cure his ailments. The unrelenting mental trauma was more than his father could handle. Within a few days he left this world leaving his family helpless. They did not have any other source of income. The mother was too old to work in farms. Daughters were neither educated enough nor did they have any special skills that could get them a job. The family’s plight was noticed by Murtaza Mir, the owner of the bat factory in which Asif’s father used to work.
Murtaza uncle came to Asif’s house one day alongwith some rations and dry fruits. His words and gestures portrayed him as someone who would take care of the family after the death of Asif’s father. He offered Asif to work at the bat factory like his father did. With no other option at hand and family’s survival at stake, Asif readily accepted the offer and started his work from the very next day. Murtaza was a well off man. From his business, he had gathered decent wealth and his family enjoyed the luxuries which a normal Kashmiri could only dream of. Apart from owning a bat making factory, Murtaza Mir was an Islamic teacher as well. Being an Islamic teacher had garnered him respect from the public.
As the days passed by, Murtaza, started guiding and spending more & more time with Asif in the factory. For Asif, Murtaza was a saviour because of whom he could take care of his family. However, the ‘personal guidance sessions’ of Murtaza were aimed at manipulating the ignorant and gullible mind of Asif by feeding thoughts of hatred, vengeance & glamourising terrorism, justice and heroism. His mind was made to believe that ‘he’ can be the chosen person to achieve what thousands others could not and reach where hours were waiting for him. Money was indeed, the bait. The situation, in which Asif was and had lived for years, attracted such easy yet wrong solutions. Murtaza was successful in making Asif yet another pawn of the game of chess being played in the valley. This game involved money, politics, religion, guns, violence, terrorism, heaven, women, blood and poverty. Asif soon was earning enough and a lot more than what he needed for his family’s survival or what he otherwise would have gained from his bat making skills.
As Asif continued on the path that he was guided upon, he had come on the radar of the security forces. His mother, however, only came to know about this when the forces arrived on their doorsteps. Cordoning the surrounding locality, a thorough search of Asif’s house uncovered the hidden truths. In the stack of bats that he said he had made in the factory were hidden a stack of four AK-47 assault rifles with ammunition. His mother and sisters, were shocked to the core and devastated by the actions of Asif. Asif was arrested and sent to jail. On interrogation, Asif revealed about the involvement of his ‘boss’, Murtaza Mir. But as wealthy and powerful as he was, Murtaza exploited his connections with politicians, and the statements of Asif could prove to be nothing more than mere allegations due to lack of evidence. Murtaza continued to enjoy his flourishing business, as he used his clout to ‘recruit’ more poor, young and gullible boys from Kashmir into the ‘business of blood’. On the other hand, Asif’s family had been devastated yet again. His mother and three sisters were left alone to fight for their survival.
Asif’s body was lucky enough to see the darkness of the prison rather than witnessing the darkness inside the grave. Any ‘heroic’ act glamourized by people like Murtaza would have landed, Asif in a position where in he would be lying on his deathbed. But this luck is not enjoyed by many other young boys of Kashmir. They end up in graveyards, taking away nothing but the happiness of their families and giving nothing but tears and regret to their loved ones. ‘Recruiters’ like Murtaza Mir are feeding on the desperation and susceptibility of the poor youth who look for an easy way of earning for their family. This prevalent situation needs an end. The exploitation of the Kashmiri youth and destruction of their future cannot go on forever.
