Kunan Poshpora: Residents of this small hamlet in north Kashmir, which witnessed, one the worst incidents in the history of Kashmir, mass rape during the intervening night of February 23 and 24 in 1991 by the troopers of 4 Raj Rifles of 68 Brigade, on Sunday accused authorities of hushing up the case. They demanded case be reopened and justice be done. Locals said that after the incident many civil and police officials turned up and promised that erring troopers would be punished. Even police lodged an FIR under section 376, 452 and 342 at Thregam police station against them. “Eighteen years have since the FIR was registered but neither have been the accused booked nor charge sheeted,” locals said, adding, “Case has been closed and hushed up. It should be reopened and culprits should be punished.” Sadness in the eyes of women in this small hamlet in north Kashmir is a grim reminder of what happened on that night, as the memories of the mass rape are still fresh in their minds. Recalling that night, villagers said the troopers in inebriated state cordoned off the village and asked men to assemble in an open ground. “We were paraded and tortured throughout the night under open sky,” they said, adding, “ Troopers barged into our houses and outraged the chastity of our women irrespective of age. They didn’t even spare a 5-year-old child and 95-year-old lady. It seemed that they were drugged. Those who tried to save the dignity and honour of their sisters, mothers and wives were beaten mercilessly by the troopers.” A victim Saja Begum (name changed) said, “A group of eight to 10 troopers barged into our house and attacked me. I pleaded before them that I was pregnant but they showed no mercy. After few days I gave birth to a baby with a fractured arm.”
Handwara, Nov 7: The alleged gang rape of a 10-year-old girl and her mother by Rashtriya Rifles troops sparked off massive protest demonstrations in this border town of Kupwara district on Sunday. Though State Government has ordered a magisterial probe, the Army denies the charges. Over six thousand people held strong protests at Kralgund and blocked Varmul-Handwara highway for over five hours. They raised slogans against the troops of 31 RR who, they alleged, raped 10-year-old Shabnam Rashid and her mother Aashia Begum, 29, wife of Abdur Rashid Dar, at Bader Payeen village of Handwara on Saturday night. The troopers, the protesters said, led by a Major barged into the house of Abdul Rashid Dar at Bader Payen and separated male and female members of the family. "The troopers then pounced on Aashia Begum, a mother of six children and repeatedly raped her. They later took her daughter Shabnam in other room and gang raped her too," the protesters said.
This is the reality about indian occupation of kashmir, the human rights violation and this is what they call democracy. The plight and agony of the people of kashmir is very much true. Every one has a right to live with respect,dignity and without any fear but in kashmir its not possible, even the chastity of our sisters and mothers is never safe. The people of Kashmir are living in a "Paradise made hell" and the responsible party for making the once paradise into a living hell is India.. The people of Kashmir deserve to Live free, they deserve to live a peaceful and prosperous life.. FREE KASHMIR
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Kunan Poshpora:
Residents of this small hamlet in north Kashmir, which witnessed, one the worst incidents in the history of Kashmir, mass rape during the intervening night of February 23 and 24 in 1991 by the troopers of 4 Raj Rifles of 68 Brigade, on Sunday accused authorities of hushing up the case. They demanded case be reopened and justice be done.
Locals said that after the incident many civil and police officials turned up and promised that erring troopers would be punished. Even police lodged an FIR under section 376, 452 and 342 at Thregam police station against them. “Eighteen years have since the FIR was registered but neither have been the accused booked nor charge sheeted,” locals said, adding, “Case has been closed and hushed up. It should be reopened and culprits should be punished.”
Sadness in the eyes of women in this small hamlet in north Kashmir is a grim reminder of what happened on that night, as the memories of the mass rape are still fresh in their minds.
Another problem confronted by the villagers is social stigma. “Many women who were married in other areas were divorced. Even today marriage proposals of the girls are turned down,” locals said, adding, “ Many girls have become overage and their chances of getting married are bleak,” locals said.
However, the chairperson of Duktharan-e-Milat, Asiya Andrabi said that her organization was working hard to rehabilitate the victims. “We have arranged the marriages and have got many victims remarried with their husbands, who had divorced them,” she said, adding, “ India has been using rape as a weapon against Kashmiris to demoralize them.”
Recalling that night, villagers told Greater Kashmir the troopers in inebriated state cordoned off the village and asked men to assemble in an open ground. “We were paraded and tortured throughout the night under open sky,” they said, adding, “ Troopers barged into our houses and outraged the chastity of our women irrespective of age. They didn’t even spare a 5-year-old child and 95-year-old lady. It seemed that they were drugged. Those who tried to save the dignity and honour of their sisters, mothers and wives were beaten mercilessly by the troopers.”
A victim Saja Begum (name changed) said, “A group of eight to 10 troopers barged into our house and attacked me. I pleaded before them that I was pregnant but they showed no mercy. After few days I gave birth to a baby with a fractured arm.”
Locals accuse NGOs and other social groups of exploiting the incident for their own “vested interests.” “They kept on visiting the area continuously for few years. They used to tell us that they would help us. Their assurances proved to be a hoax. They clicked our photographs for filling their own coffers,” locals added.
They said neither the government nor any pro-freedom organization provided any financial help to the victims.
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Handwara, Nov 7: The alleged gang rape of a 10-year-old girl and her mother by Rashtriya Rifles troops sparked off massive protest demonstrations in this border town of Kupwara district on Sunday. Though State Government has ordered a magisterial probe, the Army denies the charges.
Over six thousand people held strong protests at Kralgund and blocked Varmul-Handwara highway for over five hours. They raised slogans against the troops of 31 RR who, they alleged, raped 10-year-old Shabnam Rashid and her mother Aashia Begum, 29, wife of Abdur Rashid Dar, at Bader Payeen village of Handwara on Saturday night.
The troopers, the protesters said, led by a Major barged into the house of Abdul Rashid Dar at Bader Payen and separated male and female members of the family. "The troopers then pounced on Aashia Begum, a mother of six children and repeatedly raped her. They later took her daughter Shabnam in other room and gang raped her too," the protesters told Greater Kashmir.
Ghulam Nabi son of Abdur Rashid was taken into separate room and brutally tortured. The army personnel, according to protesters, were demanding a pistol and Radio set from him.
On Sunday morning villagers from Bader Payeen and Kralgund took to streets to protest the incident. "They (troops) have crossed limits now," the protesters were heard shouting.
The protesters were not pacified by the assurance of the Deputy Commissioner Handwara Abdul Majid Banday. "We won't move until the troopers involved will be punished," the protesters told DC. The DC told Greater Kashmir that case will be investigated and culprits will be booked. Police has registered a FIR 97/2004 under section 367, 456, 353.
About the incident, the SP Kupwara said "it as…of grave nature. There were several complaints against the Major and his troopers."
In Srinagar, Defence spokesman Colonel Batra denied the allegations but said Army has ordered inquiry into the incident.
Colonel Batra gave his version: "On Saturday gunman fired upon Shalpora police station. The police personnel of Police station rang up 7 RR for help. 77 RR conveyed message to 30 RR. 30 RR deputed a patrolling party. But when 30 RR was on its way to police station, they were informed by their source that the militants who fired upon police station have fled away. The source told the patrolling party to search the house of Abdul Rashid Dar because militants were frequently taking shelter in his house. The army searched his house and came out".
He said medical examination of the mother and daughter has been conducted and Army is waiting for report. "Prima facie nothing has happened," he said.
Meanwhile, according to Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, the Government has taken immediate action on the allegation. The Government, he said, has appointed Sharafat Ali Khan Additional Deputy Commissioner as enquiry officer who has been advised to conduct magisterial probe into these allegations and ordered him to report the real facts of the case to government through Deputy Commissioner, Kupwara within 10 days.
The Handwara incident is third serious allegation against the security forces in the past 10 days.
The troops on Thursday had entered into a house in Sonabara Mattan in south Kashmir's Islamabad district and gang raped a woman. The Deputy Commissioner Islamabad on Saturday ordered probe into the incident though Army denies the charges.
In another incident, two troopers and two cops allegedly gang raped a girl from Sopur in a guesthouse at Rajbagh here last month. (With additional reporting by Altaf Baba from Varmul).
None of the accused were ever punished or tried in court of justice
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I saw troopers killing youth
Bomai (Sopur), Feb 22: Benumbed by shock, Zareefa Begum, continuously gazed at the splattered pieces of flesh, hair and bloodstained shoes of the victims, including her nephew, Muhammad Amin, and dozens of cartridges near a Chinar tree where Army had gunned down two youth on Saturday evening.
Throughout the day, the villagers guided the journalists to the site named ‘death spot’ after yesterday’s incident. As hundreds of people jostled to have a glimpse of the slain youth, Zareefa could not control her emotions. She broke down, wept copiously and then narrated the sequence of events.
She said that she was near the spot when the firing took place. “Eight troopers alighted from their vehicle and asked the three youth, including my nephew, Muhammad Amin Tantray, moving on the roadside to raise their hands. Without any provocation, the troopers suddenly fired indiscriminately on them and they fell down,” she said.
With tears trickling from her eyes, she said, “While another youth died on the spot, Amin was hit by a volley of bullets on chest. He was writhing in pain and screaming for help. Without caring for my life, I ran towards him and hugged him. I pleaded before the troopers to let me rush him to the hospital but they didn’t leave the spot until he was dead,” she said with moist eyes.
Another villager, Ghulam Rasool, said the troopers fired without ascertaining the identity of the youth. “Everything seemed pre-planned. They executed the killings in just 10 minutes. We were so horrified that we could not even offer water to dying youth,” he said.
The villagers said soon after the incident an army officer reached the spot. “He apologized for the killings and asked us to forget the incident as an accident. When we refused, he threatened us of dire consequences. “My troopers have committed sin and you should forgive them. Don’t protest against us otherwise one by one, we would teach you a lesson,” the locals quoted the officer as saying.
Locals said that after close scrutiny of the cartridges scattered on the spot, it came to fore that the troopers had fired over 100 bullets on the trio.
“They snatched my beloved,” said Muhammad Afzal, brother of the slain youth, Muhammad Amin.
Afzal said he had talked to his brother barely half-an-hour before his killing. “I told him I won’t be coming home and to take care of parents. Little did I know that it was my last meeting with him,” visibly shocked Ashraf said.
The locals accused the army of unleashing reign of terror in the village. They said Police Post Bomai is located barely 100 metres from the spot. “But the cops are so scared of the troops that they reached there after one hour,” they said.
Killed in crossfire: Army
Army today claimed the two youth were killed in cross firing at Bomai yesterday. In a statement issued from North Command headquarters (Udhampur), the defense spokesman, Col D K Kachari, said that the army had launched two parties in the area, “based on specific information” about the presence of militants in Tujar near Sopur.
“First party established inner cordon and the second while moving out of Bumai Post was informed of presence of three terrorists in a bus. The party followed the bus and halted it near Bumai Chowk. The RR personnel asked male members of the bus to lift their pherans to check for weapons. The terrorists who were hiding behind the civilians, opened fire towards the RR personnel resulting in killing of one civilian,” Col Kachari said.
“22 RR exercised utmost restraint due to the crowded area. However, when terrorists were firing and fleeing, the troopers fired on the terrorists. Two more civilians sustained injuries in the ensuing crossfire. Both civilians were evacuated to Sopore Hospital where one succumbed to his injuries,” Col Kachari said adding that a high level court of inquiry had also been ordered by the army.
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This is the reality about indian occupation of kashmir, the human rights violation and this is what they call democracy.
The plight and agony of the people of kashmir is very much true. Every one has a right to live with respect,dignity and without any fear but in kashmir its not possible, even the chastity of our sisters and mothers is never safe.
The people of Kashmir are living in a "Paradise made hell" and the responsible party for making the once paradise into a living hell is India..
The people of Kashmir deserve to Live free, they deserve to live a peaceful and prosperous life..
FREE KASHMIR
Srinagar, June 20: A teenager was killed and four others sustained bullet injuries in old city here on Sunday when police and paramilitary CRPF troopers opened fire on the funeral procession of Muhammad Rafiq Bangroo of Danamazar, Safakadal who breathed his last on Saturday night.
Eyewitnesses told Greater Kashmir that hundreds of mourners were prevented by the police and paramilitary CRPF troopers to march towards Martyrs graveyard at Iddgah where they wanted to bury Bangroo.
“A group of angry youth then attacked a mobile CRPF bunker of 161 battalion stationed at Waniyar near Noorbagh. The Police and CRPF men retaliated with bullets,” witnesses added.
In the police action at least five persons were wounded. They were shifted to SMHS hospital amid commotion where one of them, Javaid Ahmad Malla, succumbed to his injuries. Javaid, 19, a resident of Palpora, Noorbagh, was hit by a bullet in the neck. He was Bangroo’s relative and was part of his funeral procession.
Four others are undergoing treatment at SMHS hospital where one of them, who has a bullet injury in his abdomen, is said to be critical.
The injured were identified as Showkat Ahmad Sofi, Adil Mukhtar Bhat, Ghulam Nabi Sofi and Abid Ahmad Bhat—all residents of Noorbagh.
PROTESTS
As the word about Malla’s death—second in less than 12 hours—spread, hundreds of people including men, women and children took to the streets and staged massive anti-India demonstrations. Police and paramilitary CRPF men resorted to baton charge and fired numerous tear smoke canisters to disperse the protesters who offered stiff resistance and retaliated with stones, triggering clashes that continued till late in the evening.
While Bangroo was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard at Noorbagh, Malla’s body was buried at Martyrs’ graveyard at Iddgah. Sombre scenes were witnessed at Iddgah.
Malla, according to family, was the youngest among brothers and worked at a bag manufacturing unit at industrial unit at Khanmoh.
As the clashes intensified reinforcements were rushed to control the situation. However, youth refused to relent and fought pitched battles with police and CRPF in which at least five persons including two policemen were injured.
Doctors said that a teenager Basit Majid of Safakadal was hit by a teargas shell on his head and he was shifted to SMHS and later to SKIMS.
The other injured include Wasim Ahmad Dar of Kawdara, Feroz Ahmad Dar of Safakadal and two police constables.
POLICE VERSION
“Protesters attacked Noorbagh Police Post and ransacked it. They also pelted stones at the CRPF camp. They damaged several police and private vehicles. However, a restrained response from police brought the situation under control,” a police spokesman claimed.
Protests were also reported from several other parts of old city and the uptown areas.
CRPF SPEAKS
CRPF’s spokesperson, Prabhakar Tripathi, said, “After Bangroo’s death we had instructed the CRPF men stationed in the area to exercise maximum restraint. It was the local police which was dealing with the situation. But when protesters attacked our bunker and tried to set it ablaze, the Police and CRPF was compelled to open the fire.”
LOCALS WOE TO CONTINUE PROTESTS
The locals, mainly youth, announced from the public announcement systems of mosques to continue protests for the next four days. They also urged separatists to unite.
Indian Army and Police Tied to Kashmir Killings
SRINAGAR, Kashmir, Feb. 3 — Amid a grove of poplar trees in a village just north of here, a grave was unearthed Thursday afternoon. Out came the body of a man, shot dead nearly two months ago, whom the Indian police described at the time as an anti-Indian militant from Pakistan.
The New York Times
The police are examining five bodies buried near Sumbal.
An elderly man, who had been searching for his missing son for nearly two months, was summoned for the exhumation. He stared at the horror dug out of the ground and told the police what he had refused to believe all this time. “He is my son,” he said. Then he sat on the bare ground and shook.
As it turned out, the dead man, Abdul Rehman Paddar, was not a Pakistani at all, nor a militant. He was a Kashmiri carpenter from a village south of here. The Indian police are now investigating whether he was killed by some of their own men, for motives that could range from personal revenge to greed. A suspected militant’s body, after all, comes with a handsome cash reward. By Saturday, four police officers were under arrest in connection with Mr. Paddar’s killing.
S. M. Sahai, the chief of police for Kashmir, said his investigators were looking into whether at least two other bodies were part of the same ring; setups like the killing of Mr. Paddar are known here as “encounter killings.” Each of the victims had been killed in operations conducted jointly by the police and either an Indian Army unit or a paramilitary force that operates under army command, he said.
By the end of the day on Saturday, as the investigation snowballed, a total of five bodies had been exhumed, all in the area surrounding Sumbal, and their identities were being checked.
The exhumations have not only unearthed a deep well of resentment among the people of Indian-administered Kashmir, but have also forced the Indian government to face anew long-simmering charges of abuse by Indian soldiers and the police.
Kashmiris have long accused the Indian authorities of disappearances and extrajudicial killings; one local human rights group estimates that 10,000 people have disappeared since the anti-Indian insurgency began here in 1989. Nor have civilians been immune to the savagery of militants; beheadings are among their favored tactics.
India blames its rival and neighbor, Pakistan, for aiding and arming the insurgents. Pakistan denies the charge, and does not recognize India’s claim to Kashmir. Claimed by both countries, Kashmir has been a center of strife for nearly 60 years.
While the violence has calmed considerably since a 2004 peace deal between India and Pakistan, it has hardly ended the bloodshed or diminished the presence of Indian troops here. India says troop reduction can begin only when the militants lay down their weapons.
Those troops have been blamed repeatedly for human rights abuses here, most recently by a 156-page report released last October by Human Rights Watch, which detailed dozens of cases in which, it said, the state had failed to hold its security forces accountable for suspected abductions, killings and detentions.
Among the most infamous of those cases were the March 2000 killings in the southern village of Pathirabal of five men, whom the army identified as foreign terrorists responsible for a massacre of Sikh civilians. The men, whose bodies had been burned and badly mutilated, turned out to be civilians abducted by the army, according to relatives and a subsequent federal investigation.
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In a rare instance of prosecution, five Indian soldiers were charged with the killings, but the case remains stuck in the courts nearly seven years later, and the accused remain on the job. The army insists that they be tried by an internal court martial, and not a civilian court.
Human Rights Watch blamed the Indian government for what it called its “lack of commitment” to accountability and a series of Indian laws that shield soldiers in conflict zones like Kashmir. “This has led to a serious climate of impunity,” the report concluded.
Indian officials have explicitly sought to use the latest cases of encounter killings to rebut accusations of impunity, pointing out that they have taken the lead in investigating army and police officials linked to what they call isolated abuses of power.
“This is an aberration,” Mr. Sahai, the police chief, said in an interview in his office here in the summer capital of Indian-run Kashmir. “This is not the rule. We have not tried to suppress anything. Whatever are the facts of the case have come out in the open. If we are trying to set our house in order, that should increase public confidence.”
Mr. Sahai said the police were also investigating whether members of the Indian Army were complicit in Mr. Paddar’s killing. [Indian newspapers reported Monday that the army said it would conduct an internal investigation into whether its soldiers were involved.]
The Kashmir state chief minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has likewise called for a judicial inquiry into the killings, promising a transparent investigation. Whether it will expand to include other suspected encounter killings remains a mystery; if it does expand, it could prove to be a public relations headache for New Delhi.
Last year, the prime minister promised zero tolerance of abuse by Indian forces in Kashmir, a pledge clearly intended to win the hearts-and-minds battle there.
The carpenter, Mr. Paddar, seems to have unwittingly instigated a test of that promise. According to interviews with the police as well as the man’s friends and relatives, Mr. Paddar appears to have been well acquainted with at least one of the policeman charged with his murder, Farooq Ahmad Paddar, a native of the same village.
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In fact, the carpenter had given the policeman roughly $1,650 in exchange for a promised government job, and for months, according to one of his relatives, the carpenter had pursued the policeman to keep his promise. The job never materialized.
One Friday last December, the policeman summoned the carpenter to a neighborhood of Srinagar, where the carpenter lived, said a co-worker who accompanied him part of the way. That’s when Mr. Paddar disappeared.
The carpenter’s family filed a missing person report, which would have gone nowhere, like hundreds of other missing person reports in Kashmir, were it not for a police investigator who found Mr. Paddar’s cellphone in the hands of a man several miles north of here last week.
According to investigators, the policeman gave away the carpenter’s cellphone, but only after, it seems, he and an unknown number of his colleagues shot him and gave his body to some villagers in Sumbal, a hamlet about an hour’s drive from Srinagar. They buried him.
The police, in a joint operation with a paramilitary unit called the Central Reserve Police Force, meanwhile, issued a statement claiming responsibility for having killed a militant of Pakistani origin.
The discovery of the cellphone led police investigators to Mr. Paddar, the police officer, and three of his colleagues. Eventually, it also led investigators to other graves suspected of being linked to the same murder ring.
According to the police, one victim was a perfume seller, who was picked up last February by the local police, the Central Reserve Police and an army unit known as the Rashtriya Rifles. Another was a local Islamic cleric, who was picked up from his home in October 2005 by the police and the Rashtriya Rifles.
On Thursday afternoon, as teams of police and forensic investigators dug for Mr. Paddar’s remains, hundreds of angry villagers, kept away by a ring of concertina wire, shouted familiar slogans. “Azadi,” or freedom, went one chant. “Hang him,” they also yelled, referring to the killer.
In the angry tussle, bricks were thrown at the police. Tear gas was fired back. Mr. Paddar’s body, pocked with four bullets, including one that tore apart his face, was plucked out of the ground, shrouded in a white cloth, and put inside a simple wooden coffin, all before his grieving father. From the village women came songs of mourning, a familiar chorus in Kashmir.
Three Kashmir's killed in fake gun battle
2010-05-28 20:20:00
Two people were arrested for the disappearance of three men in the Kashmir Valley, who were allegedly killed in a fake gunfight near the border with Pakistan. The bodies of victims were Friday exhumed and identified by their relatives.
A police officer said Bashir Ahmad, a former special police officer, and his accomplice Fayaz Ahmad were arrested for the disappearance of Shahzad Ahmad, Riyaz Ahmad and Muhammad Shafi from Nadihal village in Sopore district last month.
Locals and relatives of the three have alleged that the pair of the SPOs abducted them from their homes April 29.
A magisterial probe has been ordered by the government to ascertain the fate of the three after it was alleged that they were murdered in a staged shootout in Machil sector of the Line of Control (LoC) the next day.
The LoC divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
The bodies were exhumed from Kalaroos graveyard on Kupwara district magistrate's order.
'Relatives of Shahzad Ahmad Khan, son of Ghulam Muhammad Khan, Riyaz Ahmad Lone, son of Muhammad Yusuf Lone, and Muhammad Shafi Lone, son of Abdul Rashid Lone, from Nadihal village have identified the exhumed bodies today (Friday) in presence of a magistrate,' a senior police officer told IANS.
'After identification of the exhumed bodies, these were handed over to their relatives for burial,' he said.
Ghulam Muhammad Khan, father of Shahzad, told reporters late Thursday: 'They killed my son for medals and rewards. My son had no connection with militants.'
The army claimed to have killed three terrorists in Machil sector of the LOC after foiling an infiltration bid April 30.
It was also claimed that a large quantity of arms and ammunition had been recovered from the slain terrorists.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah conveyed his serious concern to Lt. Gen. N.C. Marwah, commander of the army's Srinagar-based 15 Corps over the development.
According to an official statement here, Lt. Gen. Marwah informed the chief minister that the army's Northern Command in Udhampur had already ordered a high level inquiry into the incident.
Javaid Ahmad Dar, the state's junior minister for health, said: 'The guilty would be given exemplary punishment if the allegations are proved right.'
Killing of civilians fuels Kashmir anger
Just days ago, scenic Kashmir, torn by two decades of war, was near normal.
Thousands of tourists were flocking to the region and honeymooners were once again gliding in shikaras, small Kashmiri boats, across the mirror-calm Dal Lake.
The disputed Himalayan region has seen a significant drop in violence between Muslim rebels and security forces.
But now the Valley is again under siege in the backdrop of rising public anger.
A curfew has been imposed in the summer capital, Srinagar, to prevent violent anti-India demonstrations following the death of a teenager blamed on government forces.
Police and soldiers armed with assault rifles have blocked off lanes with razor wire and iron barricades to prevent protests after scores were hurt in pitched street battles.
Earlier, the killing of three villagers in an alleged fake gun battle by soldiers sparked off fresh anger in Kashmir prompting a pledge by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to improve human rights in Kashmir.
Last week Singh said troops have been strictly instructed to respect human rights in Kashmir.
“Sometimes innocent civilians suffer, but whenever such incidents happen it becomes necessary to act against those responsible. I’m aware of some complaints related to human rights,” Singh said during his visit to Kashmir.
But days later, another teenager Tufail Ahmad Matoo was killed allegedly by police.
Angered over the fresh killing, senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that India will not be able to suppress Kashmir’s “liberation struggle” by resorting to brute force.
“Indian troops and agencies are killing innocent Kashmiri people with impunity,” he added.
Human Rights Watch also urged New Delhi to prosecute soldiers accused of killing three men during an alleged fake gunbattle.
Authorities in the past have denied systematic human rights violations in Kashmir and say they probe all such reports and punish the guilty.
Soldiers are patrolling deserted Kashmir streets while businesses, schools and government office are closed.
Many tourists are leaving over violence fears. Hotels and houseboats are reporting cancellations also.
The killings have again put Kashmir on boil and could trigger widespread protests across the Muslim-majority region where rebel violence is waning but anti-Indian sentiment still runs deep.
Killing of Kashmiri boy
Srinagar (February 13, 2010): As per news reported from Srinagar by various sections of media on 12 February, 2010 it is suspected that a senior BSF officer may have ordered his junior constable to fire on 16- year old Nishat teenager, Zahid Farooq, whose killing earlier this month triggered Valley-wide protests.
The BSF earlier this week admitted that one its men, Constable Lakhvinder Kumar of 68 battalion was involved in Zahid’s killing and handed him over to JK Police for further investigations.
However, a New Delhi based news channel NDTV on Friday said, “The BSF Commandant R K Birdi forced Constable Lakhvinder Kumar to shoot thrice at Zahid.”
“The accused constable has claimed before the police that he was forced by his senior to shoot the teenager,” the wire agency PTI reported.
It said the claim made by the BSF trooper was being corroborated and some of its officials, including Commandant, R K Birdi, may be questioned.
The police have registered a case of murder but their real investigation, according to the sources, is focused on whether the constable fired on his own, or took orders from his commandant. “The Commanding Officer of the 68th Battalion of the BSF concealed the incident for five days until an internal probe was ordered due to relentless protests and Union home Ministry’s directive to cooperate with the JK police.”
The Special Director General of BSF, PPS Sidhu, while addressing the media here earlier this week had admitted that BSF had no information about the involvement of their men till the inquiry was ordered.
The BSF initially denied any role in the killing, but were forced to admit what happened under pressure from Home Minister P Chidambaram and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Pertinently, on February 5, Zahid and his friends were on their way home after their cricket game in Nishat area was rained out. They came across three BSF vehicles, which stopped near them. Troopers got down and fired three direct shots towards the teenagers killing Zahid on the spot.
After the BSF admitted that one of its constables killed Zahid, his family did not agree. It accused the BSF of making the constable a scapegoat to save a senior officer.
“We are not satisfied with the arrest of the constable as eye-witnesses told us that an officer of the force actually shot Zahid in the chest after snatching the rifle from one of his subordinates,” victim’s father, Farooq Ahmad had said.
Another Youth murdered in cold blood..
In what seems like a major cover-up by the Border Security Force (BSF) sources have told NDTV that the constable who confessed to shooting 16-year-old Zahid Farooq in Srinagar was forced to fire.
In fact, he was ordered by his Commandant to fire at Zahid. Sources have told NDTV that R K Birdi the Commanding Officer of the 68th BSF Battalion snatched constable Lakhvinder Singh's rifle, cocked it and physically forced him to fire on the teenager.
NDTV has also learnt that 12 BSF personnel who were interrogated by the state police last night told investigators that constable Lakhvinder Singh was forced to fire thrice at the boy.
So what does the BSF has to say about these latest developments?
BSF's Special DG PPS Sidhu has told NDTV that the force is cooperating with the Jammu and Kashmir police. And if anyone else is found guilty, he will be punished.
Home Ministry sources have also said that the BSF is cooperating fully and that there is no question of cover-up.
Whoever is found guilty will be punished.
Sixteen-year-old Zahid Farooq was shot dead last Friday when he jeered at a passing convoy of the BSF.
After an internal inquiry, the BSF admitted that one if its men shot a teenager in Srinagar in cold blood. (Read: BSF admits to Kashmir teenager's murder)
Sources have told NDTV that at first, the BSF flatly denied that any role in the killing, but were forced to admit what happened under pressure from Home Minister P Chidambaram, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The police also said it had enough evidence against the BSF.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had raised the issue of Zahid's killing with the Centre, had said, "We will try to make a watertight case on this." He said he's hoping for the "harshest" punishment.
Zahid and his friends were on their way home after their cricket game in Srinagar's Nishat area was rained out. They came across three BSF vehicles and began shouting at it. Incensed, Constable Lakhvinder Kumar allegedly got out and shot Zahid at point blank range.
The police have registered a case of murder but their real investigation focused on whether the constable fired on his own or took orders from his commandment. NDTV has learnt that the Commanding Officer of the 68th Battalion of the BSF concealed the incident for five days until an internal probe was ordered because of the relentless protests. (Read & Watch: Kashmir on the boil over youth's killing)
Asked why the BSF had initially denied involvement in the case, Special Director General PPS Sidhu said, "We had no information till yesterday about the involvement of the jawan. As soon as we received the information, the inquiry was ordered and we have zeroed in on the constable."
But Zahid's family, like other residents of Srinagar, doesn't accept this version of events.
"We are not satisfied with the arrest of the constable as the eye-witnesses told us that an officer of the force actually shot Zahid in the chest on Friday after snatching the rifle from one of the jawans," Farooq Ahmad, Zahid's father, said. "Let the BSF unmask the jawan and bring him as well as the officer before the witnesses so that the real culprit is brought to book," he added.
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