india

Updated: Dec 10, 2018 23:53 IST

Former Jammu and Kashmir minister and People’s Conference chief Sajad Gani Lone on Monday asked authorities to exercise “non-military options” while dealing with minors in counter-insurgency operations amid concerns about child soldiers among militant ranks.

Lone’s appeal came a day after a teenager was among the three killed in a gunfight between security forces and militants near Srinagar on Sunday.

The teenager is believed to be the youngest ever to have been killed in such a manner since the insurgency erupted in Kashmir around three decades back. The teenager, a class 9 student, had disappeared along with another 17-year-old boy from North Kashmir’s Hajin on August 31. A picture showing him holding a gun had gone viral on social media days before the two were killed along with another militant.

“The killing of a fourteen-year-old is sad and scary. The administration should exhaust all non-military options when a minor is involved. Calling off such an operation is a better option. And the involvement of minors in non-state military activity merits thought from the society,” tweeted Lone, who is a former separatist and a Bharatiya Janata Party ally.

In May 20017, Faizan Ahmad Bhat, a 15-year-old class 10 student, was killed in a gunbattle with security forces in South Kashmir’s Tral three months after he joined militancy.

Srinagar-based media researcher Rouf Bhat asked militant groups to stop recruiting child soldiers.

“This irrational move has humanitarian and political repercussions at both local and international level.” He cited the Geneva Conventions and said they prohibit the warring factions from recruiting child soldiers. Recruiting and using children under 15 as soldiers is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) said the 14-year-old’s killing will complicate the peace process.

“More lives we lose, the more peace we lose. Under the ‘militant’ tag, today a 14-year-old … silenced. How tragic situation is becoming losing our younger generation to the bullets,” said PDP’s youth president, Waheed Para.

Tanvir Sadiq of former CM Omar Abdullah’s National Conference called for an immediate dialogue . “The growing levels of alienation and isolation are alarming signs and need to be acknowledged and addressed politically. The situation calls for a serious introspection at the central and the state level. 14 and 17 is too tender an age to become militants and die. Dialogue should start now,” he tweeted.