Indian Army’s atrocities in Kashmir

By Abdul Zahoor Khan Marwat

Back to Occupied Jummu Kashmir Page

The recent incident in which a serving India Army Major from 4 Rajput Regiment assigned a Special Police Officer (SPO) to trap three unsuspecting youth from Nadihal village to Indian Army Camp in Jammu & Kashmir, on the promise of jobs and money but were murdered. Later they were projected as hard core militant. This is not the first incident of its kind as there are over 800 such incident so far reported Kashmiris are suffering since 1935, first it was Dogra Army under the patronage of British imperialists and now Indian Army has taken the charge.

If we recall, on March 20, 2000, Indian media projected that a group of Lashkar-e-Tayyiaba (LeT) militants massacred 35 Sikhs in the village of Chittisinghpora in Anantnag district. In a mere five days, the Indian Army claimed that elements of its Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police killed all the five foreign militants involved in the incident in a joint operation at a place called Pathribal. Ironically, Army claimed that bodies off the entire militant were burnt to unrecognizable degree and have been buried in a mass grave. Interestingly, it came to light at a later stage that elements of RR had killed the Sikhs to spread communal hatred among the Kashmiris.
In the mean time, immediately after the massacre of the Sikhs, five local Kashmiris got missing. Their relatives also lodged report in the Anantnag police station about the disappearance but after the publication of news about Army operation in which five militants were killed, the relative requested for exhumation of the bodies. Interestingly, the family members and the villagers identified the bodies and reveled that they were simple people and had nothing to do with militancy or LeT.

It is generally observed that the Politicians in New Delhi usually get disturbed over the reaction of Kashmiri leaders over pity issues. They view that when Indian centre has already done enough for the development of Jammu and Kashmir state then why majority of the Kashmiris are not satisfied and look for opportunities to protest and create law and order situation. One would like to remind them pre-independence period when Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and other communities in India were doing the same to get rid of the imperialist intruders. Today there is a clear message for India to get out of Jammu and Kashmir state. One wonders that if New Delhi has any doubt in its mind, Kashmiri Hindu Pandits and Sikhs may be asked whether they would like to become part of India or otherwise. If in India failed to attract Hindu and Sikh minorities living in Jammu and Kashmir state to become part of Indian union, New Delhi should not have any doubt about the Kashmiri Muslim majority. It is open like a book that majority of Kashmiris want to join Pakistan while a small percentage look for complete independence.

It is sad to observe that despite all the advertisement about Human Rights and presence of International law and statues like Hague and Geneva Conventions, no action has been taken against Indian Army. One wonders why so far no one is able to file case against the Indian Army for committing war crimes. In this civilized world, the genocide of Kashmiris is openly taking place by Indian security forces and its intelligence units but no one is there to stop them. The notorious Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is being used as a shield by Indian authorities to provide indemnification to war criminals for their atrocities committed in the line of duty, or so called good faith. Last week, top Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was arrested from special prayer meeting convened by him at Hazratbal Shrine and is booked under section 151 and 107. He is presently confined at Central Jail Srinagar.

The highhandedness of Indian authorities can be judged from the fact that Syed Ali Geelani was also arrested last month and released under court orders but he has been again arrested. It worth mentioning that Indian authorities are waiting for the deaths of top Kashmiri leaders like Syed Ali Geelani so there is no one to take the name of Kashmir Movement. However, the people of Pakistan including people of Jammu and Kashmir pray for their long life and life of sons and daughters of leader like Syed Ali Geelani. Kashmiris throughout the state are observing “Bandh” and protests. All shops, markets and business centres remained closed and traffic was off the roads. Protesters pelted stones on security forces but Indian authorities instead of realizing their crimes started using coercive methods to bring things back to normal. The recent brutalities by the Indian forces are yet another example how India has been dealing with Kashmiris since 1931.

Source: http://www.pakspectator.com/indian-army%E2%80%99s-atrocities-in-kashmir/