NCC woman cadet urges Kashmiri youth to shun stone-pelting and enjoy “real freedom” in India, gets trolled on Facebook

In January this year, Kashmiri teenager Zaira Wasim, was forced to apologise publicly after her pictures with CM Mehbooba Mufti went viral on social media.

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Srinagar: A day after an NCC cadet from South Kashmir was trolled by Facebook users for urging the youth to shun stone-pelting and azadi campaigns, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh on Wednesday said, the statement made by the woman is actually what the young generation in the Valley feels.

The NCC woman cadet appealed to the youth in Kashmir to enjoy “real freedom” in India.

Backing the NCC cadet, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, "Everyone in India has right to speak their mind."

When asked whether the woman would be given security, the J&K Dy CM said that security forces, the Police and the state government will take care of it.

The video of the NCC cadet's sound bite, taken by a little-known news portal News Review, went viral on Facebook and she was trolled for her comments on the social media site.

Later, News Review deleted the post but reproduced it without showing her face yesterday evening. Abuse flooded the comments section thereafter.

Some of the other women cadets from Kashmir, who are undergoing training at the National Cadet Corps (NCC) camp at Sainik school at Nagrota on the outskirts of Jammu city, echoed her views.

"Stay away from stone pelting and azadi campaigns...," one of them said.

The soft-spoken woman, a student of the government women's degree college in Anantnag, yesterday said she was the only woman representing her college at the camp even. Many others wanted to join the camp but were discouraged by their parents from doing so because of the troubled situation in south Kashmir.

"I want to tell the youth that the real azadi (freedom) is here. If you want azadi, it is here," she said in the post and asked young Kashmiris to stay away from stone pelting and raising pro azadi slogans.

"Please don't go towards bad things like protests, stone pelting or getting involved in sloganeering for azadi. Azadi is nothing. If you want azaadi, it is here," she said.

Over 100 Kashmiri cadets including a good number of women are taking part in the NCC camp for selection to the Jammu and Kashmir Directorate Thal Sainik team which will take part in national level competitions in Delhi shortly.

While hundreds of comments targeted her, a few defended her stance as well. One comment read, "Go join the Indian dogs," to her post.

One Facebook user questioned those heaping abuse on her and asked them to be careful with their language. He too came under fire.

In January this year, Kashmiri teenager Zaira Wasim, whose performance as the young Geeta Phogat in 'Dangal' earned her plaudits, was forced to apologise publicly after her pictures with CM Mehbooba Mufti went viral on social media, and the Jammu & Kashmir chief minister described her as a "Kashmiri role model".