YouTube generation defines new struggle

SRINAGAR: For six weeks, in scenes reminiscent of Palestinian intifadas, hundreds of young Kashmiris like 17-year-old Amjad Khan have taken to the streets to pelt stones at Indian security forces.

Government forces have struggled to contain the outpouring of anger triggered by the killing of a schoolboy by police in early June. Protests began in Srinagar and have spread widely.

The unrest marks a new phase in resistance to Indian rule in the disputed territory, some observers believe, revealing the deep frustration of the new generation in the 12-million-strong mostly Muslim local population.

In the violence, in which security forces are accused of killing 17 young locals, others see a danger of radicalisation in a region that was beginning to emerge from an insurgency that has claimed an estimated 47,000 lives.

“I have taken to stone-throwing to show my anger, my hatred at the present state of affairs,” says the softly spoken Khan (name changed), as he stands in one of Srinagar’s narrow back streets.

The son of a government employee father, who disapproves of his behaviour, Khan is dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt and has his hair gelled in a style familiar from Indian Bollywood films.

He says he is not a particularly devout Muslim and attends Friday prayers only to be able to join the regular protests that take place afterwards, denouncing Indian rule in the territory.

Born during the insurgency like most of the under-20 protestors - tech-savvy internet users who are harnessing Facebook and YouTube to highlight their struggle - he has known nothing but violence and turmoil in Kashmir.

“Why should this problem linger on if so many other problems have been resolved?” he asks.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2010.