MUMBAI – A fundamentalist Hindu organisation in India is training its members to take on stone-pelters in Kashmir along with the army personnel deployed in the valley.
According to Indian media, 1,000 members of Kanpur-based Jan Sena will leave for the valley along with a truck loaded with stones to respond to attacks by Kashmiris.
The organisation’s head said that the members have been trained in stone-slinging, adding that they are planning to open training centres in Kanpur and adjoining areas to train members “the art of stone-slinging”. A video has also emerged showing volunteers receiving training.
#WATCH Jansena, a group of sadhus in Kanpur, is training men & women to take on stone pelters in Kashmir; they’ll leave for J&K on May 7. pic.twitter.com/anzrjOaRQv
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 6, 2017
The public army was formed late last month with 13,000 people registering for membership, Jan Sena’s head had said. He had also said that he plans to raise it to the national level.
Violence in Kashmir has spiked since the last months with several videos of Indian forces’ brutality surfacing.
Disgruntled Kashmiris, including teenage girls, have resorted to stone-pelting on security personnel, blamed for routinely torturing and raping the valley’s residents.
On Thursday, Indian forces launched a massive operation in the valley and cordoned off more than 20 villages in Shopian district of Occupied Kashmir, Indian media reported on Thursday, in the wake of a surge in rebel attacks on the occupying forces in recent weeks.
