SrinagarThe lynching of the DySP Mohammad Ayub Pandith during the nightlong prayers at the Grand Mosque has added a shocking new dimension to the deteriorating situation in Valley.
The incident follows close on the heels of the killing of three militants and a civilian in an encounter in South Kashmir on Thursday. And it is the seventh death of a J&K Police man over the past week.
[[{“type”:”media”,”fid”:”19392″,”view_mode”:”wysiwyg”,”instance_fields”:”override”}]]
On June 17, six police men including a sub-inspector were killed when militants attacked a police team in Thajiwara Achabal of Anantnag district.
Pandith was beaten to death when he was posted on security duty at the Grand Mosque on the occasion of the Lailatul Qadr, the holiest night in Muslim calendar ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr.
He was on Access Control Duty heading a team of police personnel in civvies, who frisked people entering the mosque, a routine security practice at big religious gatherings, police said.
He came out of the mosque in the middle of the night to make a call, some people followed him and asked him questions, police sources said. They accused him of being an intelligence agent as he was reportedly clicking pictures and making videos of the worshippers. Pandith told them he was doing his routine duty that didnt convince the angry mob.
The crowd, the Police said, started hitting him. They stripped him naked and pushed him down. With his life under threat, Pandith took out his pistol and fired in the air. But when mob refused to budge, he fired at the legs of some of the people. Three were hit, the police sources said. But far from running away, the mob stood its ground, now more violent. They brought rocks and threw them at him, some stones hit his head. He lost consciousness and soon died from excessive blood loss. The body was lying there for an hour before it was removed.
[[{“type”:”media”,”fid”:”19412″,”view_mode”:”wysiwyg”,”instance_fields”:”override”}]]
However, witnesses contested the parts of the police version. According to them the alleged suspicious movement of Pandith around the mosque made people apprehend that he was an intelligence agent on a mission to cause some mischief. Some thought he had come to assassinate Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, an inference that was only further reinforced when on being confronted Pandith whipped out his pistol and fired at the crowd, injuring three.
People there said he was from outside the state, had come to kill Mirwaiz and perhaps worked for the army, the eye-witness Sajad Ahmad Sheikh was quoted as saying by the New York Times.
Another witness Mushtaq Khan told the paper: People were shouting We have caught a C.I.D. man. Then they paraded him naked, and he was beaten to death.
Police has so far arrested two youths for having taken part in the lynching. Director General of Police SP Vaid affirmed that the perpetrators of the atrocity will face the law.
The official was killed by the mob while he was performing his duties. Its a very sad and unfortunate incident, he added.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti termed the lynching shameful. Isse bada sharmnaak vakya koi ho nahin sakta(There is nothing more atrocious than this).
[[{“type”:”media”,”fid”:”19413″,”view_mode”:”wysiwyg”,”instance_fields”:”override”}]]
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who delivered sermon on Shab Qadr at the Grand Mosque, was also forthright in his condemnation. “Deeply disturbed and condemn the brutal act at Nowhatta. Mob violence and public lynching is outside the parameters of our values and religion,” tweeted Mirwaiz. We cannot allow state brutality to snatch our humanity and values, he said.
The Mirwaiz had come to the mosque to deliver his sermon past midnight. This is for the first time that a mob has lynched a person in Kashmir and is, therefore, a new low in the Kashmir situation, Kashmir observers said.
Though there have been killings of some people during protests earlier also, like the death of a passer-by after being hit by a stone last year and killing of a lecturers by beating by security forces in Pampore last year.
Social media Debate
The lynching generated outrage on social media too. Act of stoning DySp Ayub Pandith in Nowhatta is barbaric & ghastly, tweeted political commentator Gowhar Geelani.
Mob lynching reaches Kashmir, I am ashamed, tweeted one Mir Burhan.
People see the development as yet another instance of the fast deteriorating situation in Kashmir. And for many, the lynching underlines the brutalisation of Kashmiri society due to the constant exposure to extreme violence.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
