Srinagar, Dec. 24 -- Darakshan Hassan Bhat

Rehabilitation and reintegration are not soft ideas; rather, they are hard necessities for any society that aspires to lasting peace. Peace does not come through security measures alone or with silence in the streets. It becomes a reality when people who have been driven to the fringes of life are given a fair chance to resume normal living with dignity. In areas suffering from protracted conflict, where youngsters have grown up enveloped in fear, uncertainty, and limited opportunities, reintegration becomes the litmus test for a nation's ability to engage youth in nation-building.

The other side of this reality is the disintegration and alienation of youth from the system and society, or their...