Plans are on the anvil to bring in a shift in the counter-insurgency strategy in Kashmir in which “false” propaganda inspiring youth to take up arms will be targeted rather than individuals alone, says new Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat.
He is also concerned at the rising number of Kashmiri youth joining militancy.
Gen Rawat, who has experience in handling the Kashmir militancy, said that unlike naxalism in which locals are joining due to feeling of deprivation, it is not the case in Kashmir which has been under the siege from Pakistan-backed insurgency since late 1980s.
In an interview to PTI, he emphasised that the “false propaganda” and developments in the Middle East has affected some of the local youth and that is why one finds “more and more educated youth” getting driven towards militancy.
