Toll of Terrorism on Education

When Pakistan sponsored cross border terrorism raised its ugly head in J&K during the early nineties, this peaceful region experienced unprecedented turmoil that led to unprecedented bloodshed and adversely impacted normal life in the Kashmir Valley.
While a lot has been said and written about the violence unleashed on locals by indoctrinated Kashmiri youth who had been trained and armed by Pakistan army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir [PoJK], the present generation is largely ignorant about the ISI’s sinister plan to destroy Kashmir’s educational infrastructure.
That nearly 5,000 schools in the Kashmir Valley were either destroyed or seriously damaged by terrorists during the nineties may come as a surprise to many. And destruction of schools on such a large scale is in itself a clear indication that depriving education to young Kashmiris so that they could be lured into terrorism was a premeditated act undertaken by terrorists on the directions of their mentors sitting across the Line of Control [LoC].
In Kashmiri society, the profession of teaching was extremely popular with the educated section of the indigenous Kashmiri Pandits [KPs] and as such this community constituted the backbone of the education system in Kashmir Valley. Unfortunately, a ruthless pogrom involving targeted killing of defenceless KPs by ISI sponsored terrorists resulted in the forced exodus of this minority indigenous community from the Kashmir Valley in 1990.
Destruction of schools and enforced migration of KPs came as a double whammy for the beleaguered people of Kashmir. Rather than opposing this devious plan, stoic silence of separatist groups like the All Parties Hurriyat Conference [APHC] amounted to tacit approval.

Army Goodwill Schools

To reinvigorate Kashmir Valley’s education sector sabotaged by pro-Pakistan groups, Udhampur based Northern Command commenced opening of Army Goodwill Schools [AGS] under ‘Project Sadbhavana’ in 1998. The aim of this initiative was to provide quality and affordable education to local children from financially weaker sections living in remote areas where educational facilities were inadequate or non-existent.
Even though purely a welfare measure with the well intentioned objective of providing education to local students, this initiative nevertheless faced stiff opposition from the separatist camp pursuing ISI’s motivated agendas. AGS Wuzur located near Qazigund in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district is an illuminating case study. Despite adequate publicity, when it opened in 1998, only 40 students enrolled which considering the huge population of school going children in that area, is as good as negligible.
Many parents were anxious to send their wards to this school, but the virulent propaganda unleashed by ISI’s extensive network of ‘over ground workers’ [OGWs] dissuaded many of them from doing so as rumours were circulated that the AGS programme was a devious covert plan to promote waywardness by undermining the religious beliefs and cultural values of Kashmiri youth.

Anti- AGS Campaign

With the passage of time people realised that they’d been misled by separatists and the pro-Pakistan lobby through virulent dissemination of untruth and locals started sending their children to AGS because of the high standard of quality education and the affordable fees. The rapidly increasing popularity of AGS debunked ISI’s propaganda that the Indian army harboured intense hatred towards the people of Kashmir and so it tasked its proxies to disrupt AGS functioning.
In July 2013, AGS at Hajin in South Kashmir was torched by a mob and the pro-Pakistan camp cited this incident as an indication of public resentment against the AGS initiative. However, their canard proved to be a miserable failure since the locals launched a signature campaign requesting the army authorities to reopen this school. AGS Hajin reopened in October and thanks to massive support from locals, the paid gents of ISI haven’t dared to target AGS Hajin again.
In 2017 ISI tried using senior APHC leader SAS Geelani to direct parents against sending their children to AGS. With no reasonable grounds to discourage AGS patronage by locals, Geelani did what he was best at- he cooked up a phantastic conspiracy theory alleging that '' [Army] Goodwill schools are part of their [Indian army’s] long-term policy to strengthen occupation,'' and “They are psychologically preparing our new generation to accomplish their nefarious designs.”
Not only this, he even condemned the overwhelming public endorsement of AGS and tried to play the emotional card by saying that “For petty material gains, we are losing our next generation.” However, despite his exalted status and claim of being the true representative of Kashmiris, the public paid no heed to the separatist leader’s illogical allegations and his AGS boycott call campaign ended in a damp squib.
Two years later, ISI directed its sponsored Hizbul Mujahideen [HM] terrorist group to coerce locals so that they don't send their children to AGS. HM put up posters in several villages of Shopian district threatening parents of dire consequences if they continued to send their children to AGS. However, just like Geelani’s emotional appeal, HM’s threat of physically harming those who disobeyed its diktat too fell on deaf ears, proving that ‘Mission AGS’ is a resounding success.

Success

AGS Wuzur which started with only two teachers and 40 pupils today has 600 students. It’s also a recognised “center of excellence” for education and personality development. Other AGS in the union territory of J&K too are doing very well and their popularity can be gauged by the fact that from a modest beginning of just four primary-level AGS established in 1998, their number today has reached a whopping 45, and strength of students has swelled to 14,500 students.
The AGS initiative has proved a grand success on account of the honesty of purpose of this scheme and public rejection of propaganda and threats issued by those furthering Pakistan’s interests for pecuniary gains. It is an inspiring story of civilian-army cooperation with the sincere and sustained commitment of the former being reciprocated in equal measure by parents and students.
By achieving a high degree of proficiency and confidence in both academics and co-curricular activities through quality education, AGS pupils would definitely become significant contributors in building a promising future of J&K!

Email:------------------------nileshkunwar.56@gmail.com