Niloofar Qureshi
The release of Special Police Officer (SPO) Mudasir Ahmad Lone who was abducted from his house in Chankitar Village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district by Hizbul Mujahideen militants on Friday night has come as a big relief for his family members. With a video on social media in which Mudasir is being told by a militant ‘We had planned to kill you but we are releasing you because you have three younger sisters and you are their only support’, it appears that HM paid heed the frantic appeals made by the abducted SPO’s family members.
As this is the first instance in recent times when militants have released an abducted SPO unharmed, this incident also brought hope to family members of Kashmiris serving in the army, paramilitary forces and police that their men folk would be harmed when they came home on leave. However, those who saw Mudasirs release as a sign that abductions and killing of locals serving in the security forces and police by militants in Kashmir would end were in for a rude shock. Just within hours after Mudasirs release, militants barged into the house of Naseer Ahmad Rather in Naira village of Pulwama district and shot him dead.
Naseer who was serving with the CRPF and posted in Pulwama had come home on leave when he was killed. This killing has undone whatever goodwill that the militants had earned by releasing Mudasir unharmed.
Why are no voices being raised against militants killing Kashmiris who are serving with the forces and police when they come home on leave? I would like to ask those who support the armed struggle that doesnt killing of unarmed people (even if they are soldiers or policemen) tarnish the freedom struggle? I wish to ask those who want the world to believe that that militancy in Kashmir cannot be equated with terrorism that with such killings becoming a routine affair how can you ever expect that the international community will agree with your point of view and consider such incidents as legitimate acts and not terrorism?
Does a person born and brought up in Kashmir who joins the security forces or police in order to earn a livelihood and feed his family cease to be a Kashmiri? And if the answer is ‘no’ then why is there no public expression of sorrow on such killings and anger against the killers?
Today we are all merrily celebrating the UNHRC report highlighting human rights violations in Kashmir since we have been told that it has put New Delhi in the dock. However, those who have read this report may not be that enthralled because it also indicts armed groups. Paragraph 136 of Chapter 6 (Abuses by armed groups) mentions that Between January 2016 and April 2018, civil society organizations have accused members of armed groups of numerous attacks against civilians, off-duty police personnel and army personnel on leave, including the killing of 16 to 20 civilians. Some of the alleged attacks include the killing of activists of mainstream political parties and threats against their leaders. And when the UNHRC itself has taken a serious note of such killings then how we justify the same?
Niloofar Qureshi
New Delhi
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