YOUTH ENGAGEMENT
Information age is the age of youth. There is a comparatively enormous youth population today, both in numerary and proportional terms as part of the entire population fabric. Approx. 1.8 billion of the world population falls in the age bracket of 14 to 24 years of which 1.5 billion belongs to the developing nations. According to 2011 census, the population of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is 1.25 Cr and over 70 percent of them are below 35 years. With these statistics, youth related matters have assumed prime importance for Jammu and Kashmir. With the terrorism being fed for long to the youth of Kashmir, it is pertinent to understand that civic involvement of youth can be a boon and a positive agent and on the contrary if not engaged diligently, could lead to a simmering internal conflict.
Kashmir has suffered immense pain due to the three decade long conflict. A feeling persists that Kashmiri youth have opted for the path of using weapons as an instrument of political bargaining for transforming the fate of Kashmiri society. Youth of Kashmir take the center stage in comprehensively understanding Kashmir’s dynamics. Presently, nearly half of Kashmir’s population is in the age group of 15 to 30 years. Since the inception of the conflict in the late eighties, youth of Kashmir have been at the receiving end of the violence and Pakistan has exploited and manipulated them extensively. The core of terrorism is given strength with an effective support network radicalised on social media. Plethora of apprehensions and arrests in the past decade to break this support network have brought the involvement of youth into limelight.
One of the major cause of this has been unemployment and lack of support to small and medium entrepreneurs. Unemployment has historically been a grave concern in Kashmir. According to a national news report of October 2020, at 16.2%, Jammu and Kashmir has the second worst unemployment rate in the country. This unemployment raises questions on the role of the education sector. The primary reason for this setback in education system stems out from the following:
- Mismatch between skill set and available jobs.
- Lack of basic awareness of outside avenues.
- Education framework not developed up to the mark.
- The mainstream educational system does not allow students to engage with traditional and family profession such as carpentry, handicraft or farming, nor any form of innovation in these fields.
- Calls for Bandhs and lockdowns by inimical elements resulting in frequent closure of schools and colleges.
An important issue being tackled currently by Jammu and Kashmir is radicalization, which has seen a massive increase amongst the youth, since the advent of smartphones & 4G. The LG and DGP have stressed that it would be a “good sign” if de – radicalisation camps come up in J & K and claimed Pakistan had been spreading radicalisation through all possible means in Kashmir. Radical Islamist outfits have been spreading their ideology through hateful speeches, network of mosques, through Madarsas and pushing their roots to the already uprooted educational system in the valley. Extent of radicalization can never be quantified and certainly, not all are radicalized.
A sense of dissent and anguish have crept into the minds of youth in Kashmir. It was hard to decipher as to what was making even schoolgirls indulge in stone pelting on SFs. With the colossal involvement of youth, the new war in Kashmir is not only being fought on the streets, but through smartphones as well. Readily available material on internet and the effect of social media have added fuel to radicalization even more. The most appalling fact is the glorification of terrorists and acts of violence on social media. If not nipped in the bud, we will have a generation of Kashmiris growing up with terrorists and separatists as their role models.
The recent “Confluence of Religious Leaders in Kashmir” held in March at the SKICC wherein the LG, called upon religious and spiritual heads, besides families and community influencers in Jammu and Kashmir to counter the radicalization process, which is being made from across the border to incite communal hatred in the society. It witnessed a participation of around 550 Moulvis & Muftis, as many as 200 women and 200 youth, the LG appreciated the efforts being made to discuss the role of religious leaders and women in creating violence-free society, counter-radicalization and modernization of Madrassa education.
On social media based propaganda, the LG called upon all the stakeholders to make collaborative efforts to check the violent ideology being spread on social media by certain groups in radicalizing our young population. The LG also underlined the important role of mainstream media to counter such elements and extremist ideologies. Many people have distorted the message of Islam and apart from Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, there are many clerics and khatibs who have raised voice against deliberate distortion and misinterpretation of the selected portions of Islamic texts. There is a need to check propagation and wrong interpretation of texts from holy books, besides realizing our responsibilities to show the right way and direction to the one who is treading a wrong path.
Launched with the aim of de-radicalization of youth, their rehabilitation and making them stakeholders in development of Jammu and Kashmir, the “Mission Youth” has got a shot in the arm with approval of Rs 200 crore worth funds from the Central Government for 2021-22, taking total funding to Rs 300 crore as the UT will be contributing Rs 100 crore in the Mission. Headed by the LG, common initiatives of the Mission include de-radicalization of youth, their rehabilitation, focus on fostering positive social experience, opening District Youth Centres and engaging youth in cultural, recreational events, sports and ‘Bharat Darshan’ tours. The mission has been asked to provide post-reintegration rehabilitation, synchronization of drug de-addiction programmes and social recognition to youth through Programmed Interventions. To enhance skill and employability of the youth, the Mission has partnered with institutions such as ICICI Foundation, BSE Institute and Ashok Leyland among many other Corporate houses. Self employment is a key pillar of the Mission and the Government intends to reach out to 80 per cent youth under it in an organized way. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, two CIIIT centers have been set up in Baramulla and Jammu in collaboration with Tata Technologies. Under the Himayat program, young boys and girls are being provided employment. During the last 6 months, 17,800 young boys and girls from all panchayats of Jammu and Kashmir have become entrepreneurs and are also providing employment to other people of the villages. An unprecedented Rs 28,400 crore New Industrial development scheme was announced that will provide employment avenues and opportunities to around 5 lakh youth.
Creation of employment opportunities and ramping up recruitment drives, especially within the UT of J&K can provide a productive avenue to the youth in channelizing their energy. The abrogation of Article 370 is expected to generate the employment prospects for the local youth in the coming decade. An administrative outreach by the civic bodies coupled with the efforts from Security Forces to the citizens not to give in to the radical ideology and rhetoric of the extremists can play a pivotal role in fostering peace in the region. If the regional population is under the perennial hold of structural violence for prolonged periods, a part of it becomes dependent, either directly or indirectly, on this ecosystem of violence. Hence, recent initiatives by the government to strongly tackle the Pakistan sponsored jihadi ecosystem in J&K by creating a better education system and providing a healing hand to the youth of Kashmir, are a step in the right direction.
