It's anger for some, adventure for others and headache for poliice

It's anger for some, adventure for others and headache for poliice
MUZAMIL JALEEL

SRINAGAR, FEBRUARY 19: They are not trained militants, they don't carry Kalashnikovs but the police and security forces find it difficult to tackle them. They are the children of the Valley, who have taken to the streets grabbing the easiest available weapon -- stones.

The streets of Srinagar are littered with stones and bricks. The policemen are doing an additional duty -- picking up the stones which have been raining from all sides for the past four days.

This ``Intifada'' started when hundreds of youngsters came out on thestreets as an instant reaction to the Hygam killings, where the army hadopened fire on a protest rally killing five villagers including two women.The protests were random and the boys were pelting stones and bricks at the police and security force patrols. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range, A.K. Bhan said that the stone-pelting mob comprised boys in the age group of 15 to 18 years. Deputy Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range, K. Rajindra said that they had arrested around 100 teenagers from various city localities.

Sub-divisional Police officer, Shergarhi, Tanveer Jeelani said that they were tired of facing these stone-throwing boys. ``It is now four days of brick-batting. The match should now be called off now,'' he said.

There are many who feel the participation of youth in protests againstany security force atrocity has its ramifications. ``If these boys can taketo the streets today, they can easily pick up guns tomorrow,'' another police officer said. ``We do not operate in normal situation. The people don't normally dare to confront the forces. If youngsters start questioning this domination, they can do it in every way''.

Prof. A.G. Madhosh, psychologist and head, department of education,Kashmir University, feels that these boys are of two categories: Those whodo it as an adventure and those who use it as an expression of anger.

``It is not surprising at all,'' he said. ``First, it is the number, thephysical presence that matters. In Kashmir, the children in the age-groupof 6 to 14 years form around 35 per cent of the total population. Youcan't contain them. They have to go out and get engaged in whatever ishappening there,'' he said.

The motivation for the boys, who were in police custody, is a mixtureof adventure and real anger. ``We were very angry after we heard about the Hygam killings. And when we saw many boys from the neighbourhood throwing stones at the police, we too joined,'' said Sajjad Ahmad Bhat, 15, a resident of Nawabazaar.

Another boy, Irfan Ahmad, said that he joined the stone-pelting only after he saw the body of Javeed Ahmad Nath being taken out from the hospital. ``He had been shot at while protesting at Maisuma,'' he said. But Mohammad Saleem of Chinkral mohalla claimed that he pelted stones because his friends were doing so. ``I did it for fun. We were playing hide-and-seek with the police, who were chasing us and firing teargas shells to push us back,'' he said. ``This adventure is now getting costly. I am here in the police lock-up for past two days now''.

Prof Madhosh, who had also researched the plight of children during the peak of militancy, added: ``Over the past 10 to 12 years, the children here have been getting what we call negative feedback from their parents, siblings and even other people around them. They continuously hear about atrocities on innocent people. And this has to be expressed through a negative attitudeat some level.''

Such scenes of brick-batting were witnessed during the initial days ofinsurgency in 1989 and 1990, when guns were few and far between. Whenthe militancy spread, bullets replaced the stones and bricks.