Wani joining militant ranks fans concern among security experts

NEW DELHI: An Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) research scholar’s decision to join militancy has left security experts concerned, who said the 26-year-old did not appear to be in touch with radical elements before becoming a part of Hizbul Mujahideen.

Two security officials, one from Jammu & Kashmir police and another from the Intelligence Bureau, said at present they did not have enough leads to confirm what pushed Mannan Wani to join the militant ranks.

“He was not educated at a madrasa and had not been in touch with any radicalised elements,” said a Jammu & Kashmir police officer, adding that Wani’s family too had no record of being involved in militancy or separatist politics.

The officer said Wani’s twitter account showed that he closely followed political and social issues that were not exclusive to his home state.

An IB officer said they were examining whether the research scholar had indeed been hassled and humiliated during security checks on his way back home last month, as was claimed by his friends on social media

“It’s definitely not a trend but the fact is radicalism feeds off radicalism. The political atmosphere outside Kashmir will definitely have some bearing on Kashmiri youth going out to study. It is counter-productive for national integration,” security expert Ajay Sahni said

Expressing concern over Wani joining militancy, Centre’s special representative for Jammu & Kashmir , Dineshwar Sharma, said “Any youth joining militant ranks is bad news and I sincerely hope that Kashmiri youngsters do not choose the path of violence. We will do everything in our power to stop this from happening.”