Srinagar: A purported video of a young Kashmiri girl declining an Army man's plea to get her militant brother to surrender has gone viral on social media.
The video, shot a month back, shows an army man reaching out to a family in south Kashmir and asking them to urge their near and dear ones to shun violence.
In the purported video, the Army man can be seen asking the family to ask their son to surrender “since he has gone in a wrong direction”.
The Army man, sitting near the militant's father in the verandah of the house, is told by a young girl (sister of the militant) that she will rather want her brother dead. "If you ask him, then he could surrender. If we (Army) ask, he won’t surrender," the trooper responded.
The girl said, "He has left on his own volition. If he thinks he is on the right path, so be it. We have no business in this," the girl said.
Another Army man is then seen joining the conversation wondering why he (militant) took up arms and the girl asked the soldiers why were they (Army) carrying guns. "We pick up gun for the security of the nation," said the Army man.
Three days after the video went viral on social media, News18 traced the family to Jamnagri village in Shopian.
Both the father and the daughter said the Army came looking for his 19-year old son Adil Ahmad Wani, who had joined militancy last September.
Police said the group, which Wani joined, has a few cadres and recently three of its operatives were disarmed by a rival militant group because of some “ideological” issues.
“This video was shot by Army men... this was few days before Ramzan. There were some 20 Army men who came to the village. Three entered the compound of the house and asked us to ensure Adil surrendered," said the father.
“They spoke to us politely and we gave our point too," he said, adding the family is used to Army and police raids since their son left to become a militant.
"They have not been harsh but do keep on telling us to ask him to surrender," he said.
The girl recalled that the conversation between the family and Army men lasted for more than 15 minutes and was not as short as the video clip.
Incidentally, her home is not far away from the two villages of the Shopian where 20 militants were killed in April. The district has seen close to 100 out of 467 youngsters join militancy in the last eight years according to a confidential police report.
Lt Colonel Rajesh Kalia, Srinagar based army spokesman, while commenting on the video said army asking the families to ask their wards to shun violence is government's stated policy to get our misguided youth back.
Jammu and Kashmiri Director General of Police SP Vaid told News18 that families of the militants should use the ceasefire to call back their sons who have joined militancy. "That would contribute to overall peace in the valley," Vaid had said.
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