Local youth dream of joining Kargil Scouts’

“We may not have the level of education to get into Government service, but we can be of great service to the nation by keeping a vigilant eye on the Line of Control from strategic heights,” says Manzoor Sheikh, who ekes out a living as a waiter in a small hotel.

One of the major votaries of Kargil Scouts is the Jammu and Kashmir Works Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon who said, “Youth of this area would be a great help in identifying intrusion with ease as they know the topography of the area like the back oftheir palm.”

Akhnoor added that another plus point of these youths was that “they do not need acclimatisation to the extreme cold conditions that prevail in the heights during winter”.

Even Army authorities were supporting the idea, though no official comments were made. Some officers said, “One of the arduous tasks faced by a jawan up in the heights was to battle the weather and then fight the enemy.”

Akbar Ali, a driver with a local hotel, said the youth of this area have been demanding raising of Kargil Scouts for a long time, but it has fallen on deaf ears.

Akhoon said that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani were apprised about the aspiration of the local population when they recently visited the intrusion-affected areas.

The youth are more inclined to join the Kargil Scouts, if at all it is set up, as it would give them a permanent employment in an area where vegetation and employment avenues are scant.

“In the whole year, six months are unproductive due tosevere winter conditions and to find a Government job in this area is to search (for) a needle in the haystack,” says Sabnam Bi, whose two teenaged sons are on the look out for jobs.

Junaid, a local, claimed that the Army platoons sent to the Batalik sub-sector had used the service of the local youth to take routes adopted by bakarwals (shepherds) to close in on the enemies.

He said, “If these boys had been deployed in these areas, they would have informed the Army about the design of the intruders and the forces could have initiated for quick action.”