"Though the youths are Indian citizens, no one has ever bothered about them", said Panthers' Party president Bhim Singh, who was in the city leading a Rashtra Chetna Yatra from Kargil to Kanyakumari.

Talking to mediapersons, Bhim Singh said that more than 7,000 Kashmiri youths are missing. They are engaged in taking training from Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) which is running more than 20 camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), he added.

He said trust of these youths had to be regained by involving them in the Union Government's national interaction programmes in fields like culture and sports to help erase "the feeling of alienation".

"Isolation of Kashmiri youth in social, cultural, educational and political fronts is responsible forthe growth of conflict in Kashmir, which has threatened peace in Indian sub-continent," Singh said. He added that he would also organise a Kargil-Islamabad `Chetna Yatra' next year.

The ongoing Rashtra Chetna Yatra comprising 50 volunteers from different walks of life, had started from Kargil on November 19 and is scheduled to reach Kanyakumari on December 31. As many as 30 persons including victims of militancy in Kashmir are participating in the yatra.