The outcry raised by her alerted the Army and resulted in the 18 boys being rescued from the four villages in the Rajwar forests while three motivators and a guide were apprehended. The Rajwar forests of North Kashmir's Kupwara district is the hub of foreign militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the local militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

In the `Operation Rescue' launched after midnight on Wednesday by the 21 Rashtriya Rifles (Guards), the first batch of boys was picked up from Bakhiakar village and subsequently the rest of the boys were rescued from hideouts in the villages of Chalpur, Badrahar and Nagradanar.

But a progressive woman like her has been forced to don a burqa after the militants launched a hunt forher. Her voice quivered as she spoke of the dangers to her life. ``Militants are after my blood and have come to my house six times, making it impossible to supervise work in the family's agricultural fields. A section of my relatives have publicly stoned me and heaped abuse and insult on me for daring to have raised an outcry over the recruitment,'' she said.

Born in the most of humble of households, this village woman hailing from the backward Rajwar area has an M Phil. ``It was my realisation of the futility of militancy and the fact that my brother would have been pitted into the killing fields of Kashmir that made me raise my voice even though it was an isolated voice and the people in the villages were entirely at the mercy of the militants,'' she told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity.

At a ceremony to hand the rescued boys to their parents, the guardians minced no words in denouncing the administration. ``These poor children cannot hope for jobs as only the voice of the rich andinfluential people is heard in the Government circles,'' said Mohammad Yusuf Mir.

Col R S Chauhan, CO, 21 RR, was subjected to a barrage of requests for electricity transformers, bridges and good roads. ``Where is the Government in our area? Where are our bridges and our roads for which funds are sanctioned? It is unemployment and poverty which is exploited by the militants to lure our children,'' said Mohammad Yousuf Lone.

Local people are no longer willing to share their meagre possessions with foreign militants, whose exfiltration this year has been higher than in the past. ``The Army has destroyed most of the hideouts. Local people feel that foreign militants are not concerned about their lives and property and are reluctant to shelter them,'' said Brig R K Karwal, Commander, 7 Sector RR.