Kashmiri CRPF officer to fight Maoists in Bijapur

GURGAON: At a time when security forces are at the receiving end of wrath of stone-pelting youths in the Valley, a Kashmiri from Sopore is all set to fight Maoists

Published on: Sep 16, 2016, 11:45:40 IST

By Gulam Jeelani

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GURGAON: At a time when security forces are at the receiving end of wrath of stone-pelting youths in the Valley, a Kashmiri from Sopore is all set to fight Maoists in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.

Gul Junaid Khan, 26, was not only inducted as Assistant Commandant in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) along with 83 officers on Thursday, but was awarded the coveted ‘Director’s Baton’ by CRPF DG K Durga Prasad for topping the batch.

Khan has many things common with Hizbul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani, whose death in July this year an encounter sparked the current leg of protests in Kashmir. Wani was tech savvy, a poster boy of Kashmiri separatism on social media, Khan is a computer science graduate from government engineering college, Jammu.

But the two are on opposite side of the divide in Kashmir. Unlike Wani, who would draw Kashmiri youth towards militancy, Khan aspires to bring long-lasting solution to Kashmir imbroglio by using his position in the paramilitary forces.

“I will make full use of CRPF to the best to restore peace in Kashmir,’ said Assistant Commandant Khan, who would be posted to fight Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur next month.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gulam Jeelani
Gulam Jeelani writes on politics, national affairs and socio-economic issues for Hindustan Times. A journalist for seven years, he worked in Lucknow and Srinagar, before moving to New Delhi.

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