[Saying that the men killed in a
gun battle were separatist militants or “terrorist supporters,” security forces
refused to return the bodies to their families.]
By Sameer Yasir
The Indian police said that two
militants and two businessmen whom they described as “terrorist supporters” had
been killed when the police raided a shopping complex on Monday.
The police initially said they were
fired on by the militants, who had also killed the two businessmen in the
process. They later amended that account, saying the businessmen may have been
caught in the crossfire and that it was unclear whose bullets had killed them.
Family members of three of the dead
disputed both those versions of events, accusing the police of having staged
the gunfight. Demanding that the bodies of their relatives be returned to them
for a proper burial, they joined a demonstration of about two dozen people that
ended brutally on Wednesday when the protesters were hauled away by the police,
in images captured on video and broadcast via the internet across the Kashmir
Valley.
“Shoot me, terrorists,” Abdul Majid
Bhat, the elder brother of Mohammad Altaf Bhat, 45, whom the police had
identified as one of those killed, shouted at one police officer pointing a gun
to his chest during the protest, which took place near the offices of the
region’s major newspapers. “God is watching.”
On Thursday, India’s top appointed
official in the region, Manoj Sinha, said that his administration had ordered
an inquiry into the episode by magistrates. “It will ensure there is no
injustice,” Mr. Sinha said in a tweet, without providing further details.
Kashmir has for decades been
claimed by both India and Pakistan, and Indian security forces have long battled pro-independence militants
in the valley. Tension surged in 2019 after India, angered by persistent
militant attacks, revoked Kashmir’s partial autonomy and flooded the
region with additional forces. Indian security forces have also cracked
down on dissent and thrown many
opponents and even some moderates in jail.
When India revoked Kashmir’s semiautonomous
status, one step it took to clamp down on separatists was to refuse to allow
dead militants or those deemed associates to be buried in their family
graveyards. Instead, the authorities now bury them far away, near the disputed
Line of Control that divides India and Pakistan in Kashmir.
The police say the decision not to
return bodies is aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus and at
preventing funerals from turning into mass gatherings of angry supporters of
militants. The measure has led to widespread anger and accusations of violating
the religious rights of the families of the dead.
In the Monday clash, the police
said that they had received a tipoff about two militants’ presence in a
shopping complex, and that when they approached the room where the men were
hiding, the militants fired at them “indiscriminately.”
The police said that one of the
dead was a Pakistani national; India has long accused Pakistan of supporting
militant groups inside the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir. Though Pakistan
does have a history of supporting militant groups in the region, Western
terrorism experts say that support has dwindled in recent years. The insurgency
is largely now the work of homegrown
Kashmiri militants.
As the news of the clash spread,
relatives of three of the dead said it was a staged firefight, and demanded
that authorities return the bodies for the last rites. Kashmir’s top police
official, Vijay Kumar, said in a news conference that the two businessmen
killed in the clash, Mr. Bhat and Dr. Mudasir Gul, were “terrorist supporters.”
Activists and rights groups have
long accused the Indian forces of killing civilians with impunity, because
of Indian
laws that protect them from prosecution. They have said that gunfights are
sometimes staged so that soldiers can earn rewards and promotions.
In just the past two years, family
members have questioned at least three gunfights, accusing the security forces
of killing their relatives in staged gunfights. Indian officials deny those
allegations.
Violence by militants has jumped in
recent months, including
against Hindu and Sikh civilians. In response, last week the Indian
government said it had deployed an additional 2,500 paramilitary soldiers to
the region. Kashmir for decades has been one of the world’s most militarized
zones, with around half a million troops stationed there.
Saima Bhat, a niece of Mr. Bhat,
told The New York Times that her uncle, who was the owner of the shopping
center as well as one of those killed there, was an innocent civilian who had
been used as a human shield.
“We don’t expect any justice,” Ms.
Bhat said on Thursday. “We want authorities to return his dead body, so that
his children can see his face one last time.”
Sameer Yasir is a reporter for The New York Times, covering the intersection of identity politics, conflicts and society. He joined The Times in 2020 and is based in New Delhi. @sameeryasir
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