Kashmiri youth languishing in Pak militant camps desperate to come home - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Hundreds of youngsters from Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, who were recruited by Pakistani militant camps, are desperate to return home, police said on Friday. At least 130 youngsters had enrolled in Pakistani militant camps in 1990s, but wanted to return now as they face poor living conditions in the camps, according to their families. Abdul Gani, father of Amjad, one of the youth who his father claims was taken to Pakistan almost 10 years ago, has pleaded to the government to intervene and bring his son back. He says his only contact with his son is through telephone calls or hand-written letters. "I haven't seen his face for 10 years. Now, we are only dependent on letters and mobile for communication and nothing else. He wants to come back now and we'll be very happy if he comes back. If the government can do something to bring him back we'll be very happy as the conditions in which he is living there are not good," said Abdul Gani. The police and the locals in Doda district complain about militants attracting and recruiting the young. " Pakistan has been manipulating these children and has successfully caught many children into its web and turned them towards militancy. They have been trained there after they were migrated there. In our district they have identified a strong reservoir...there are 130 people from this district who went to Pakistan in 90s for training. They are in a bad shape there," said Prabhat Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Doda. Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad are among the prominent terrorist organizations running camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.