Why February grips Kashmir in 9/11 paranoia

While the Supreme Court of India observed that the death penalty should be imposed only in "the rarest of rare cases", the number of executions are much rarer. In the last ten years, courts handed down at least 1,303 death sentences, but only four were sent to gallows.

Parliament attack convict Muhammad Afzal Guru was one of them. He was hanged on February 9, 2013, after over a decade-long trial.

Guru was the second Kashmiri, after Muhammad Maqbool Bhat to be sent to the gallows since February 11, 1984, when noose silenced the co-founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

While Guru’s mercy petition was rejected to "satisfy the collective conscience of the society", Bhat was hanged after his conviction on two murder charges, including that of Amar Chand, an inspector in Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Despite a gap of three decades in the executions, the twin cases share similarities, which stretch beyond their execution anniversaries falling in the same month, on 9 and 11 February, giving it a 9/11 reference.

Both the convicts, nurtured by the separatist ideology, were secretly hanged in Tihar jail. Both were buried there.

And, both the cases triggered a typical sympathy-wave, back home in Muslim-majority Kashmir: Two terrorists hanged, two heroes born.

Five years after Maqbool Bhat’s hanging, the JKLF launched a militant movement for Azadi. Soon thereafter, Pakistan floated Hizbul Mujahideen as JKLF’s competitor, and to equally send a new message: "Kashmir Banayga Pakistan".

And then, it was a crowd of armed outfits. Militancy peaked for over a decade.

But then, the dust started to settle. The number of militants drastically declined for multiple reasons, including their killings, arrests, custodial disappearances, surrenders and strategic switchover to politics.

The handful of armed guerillas, mostly foreign mercenaries, who continued to be active were seen as leftovers. The police termed it as "residual militancy".

But then, history repeats itself. Within a year of Guru’s execution, militancy revived. This time it was more a case of educated youth taking up arms.

On August 9, 2014, the Indian Army said that reports about educated Kashmiri youth joining militant ranks were "very disturbing and a cause of concern." .

The then General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt General Subrata Saha said: "If educated youth are joining militancy, it is more disturbing. It is certainly a cause of concern for us. It encourages us to take initiatives to keep the youth meaningfully engaged."

By 2015, there came another alarm. The police said that for the first time in a decade, local militants had outnumbered foreigners. They said Kashmir Valley has at least 142 active militants. Of them, 88 are local and only 54 foreigners. "Militancy spike in Jammu and Kashmir after 15 years,” reads an Economic Times headline of July 28.

Tension continued to mount. On October 12, a PTI report said at least 60 Kashmiri youth have joined terror groups, mainly the Hizbul Mujahideen. In its latest report, on February 7, 2016, the news agency said eight militants have been killed in the last two weeks. But more continue to join the ranks.

Amid this spurt in militancy, security agencies have been on tenterhooks. The fast-approaching execution anniversaries of the executed duo have only furthered security concerns.

While separatists have given the ritualistic call for a strike, and reiterated the demand for return of the duo’s mortal remains (almost a copy and paste of previous year statements), security has been beefed up.

But these separatist leaders are not a real threat at this time. Every year around this time, when Kashmir faces biting cold, most of them including Syed Ali Geelani happen to be basking in the warmth of north Indian plains.

The anniversaries have equally emerged as an ideal time for many Kashmiri families to enjoy vacations away from home. Newspapers like Deccan Herald have been reporting this unusual trend since Guru’s hanging, when curfew was clamped in Kashmir but many managed to flee for "quick weeklong vacations" elsewhere.

Then again, it is not about the strike calls or vacations alone. Revival of militancy at the hands of educated youth is a bigger challenge, which finds roots in 9/11. And, this is what needs to be addressed!