With over 500 militants gunned down by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir over the last three years, the policy makers had hoped that the security situation will improve in the state. However, the gains made by the forces in the fight against militancy in Kashmir seem to be of no purpose with local Kashmiri youth continuing to join the path of violence despite fervent appeals by the state administration, the security forces as well as their parents. In past week alone, three more youth have joined militants. This is an ominous sign that doesn’t bode well for the future of Jammu and Kashmir. There was also a talk that the government was going to announce an ‘attractive’ rehabilitation policy for those youth who have joined militancy and are willing to shun the path of violence, But that policy has also failed to take off due to unknown reasons. In the given circumstances, the swelling ranks of militants will only aggravate the situation and it will become difficult for any future administration to deal with this crisis. If one militant gets killed in any part of Kashmir, the ramifications have to be borne not just by his family and his relatives, but also his friends and the people living in and around his native place. In past three years, we have seen how one youth’s killing pushes many others on his path. According to one survey carried out by Jammu and Kashmir police, most of the new recruitments in new age militancy have happened in areas where either a local militant has been gunned down by security forces or an encounter between militants and forces has caused devastation in the form of loss of human lives or property. Contrary to what the security agencies may have us believe, most of these recruitments are driven by anger and alienation and not by financial influence. While the situation was showing signs of improvement in this year with militancy related incidents on the decline and a significant fall in stone pelting incidents, the fact that Kashmir youth are continuing to join the militancy and embrace a certain death is not a promising sign. The state administration as well as the centre need to revisit their approach towards Kashmir. The BJP’s iron hand policy may have yielded results in terms of militant kills but this approach has aggravated the situation. Youth engagement and dialogue are the only ways to put an end to the dance of death in Kashmir.