Thursday, September 4, 2008

Qazigund village ‘terrorized’ by Indian Army

FAHEEM ASLAM/KHALID GUL
Courtesy: Daily Greater Kashmir dt. Sep. 5th, 2008
(Women Beaten, Kids Thrashed, Youth Paraded Naked; SHO Refuses To File FIR Against CRPF)
Wangud, Qazigund (Kulgam), Sep 4: The CRPF troopers beat up and wounded several women and more than 12 teenagers in this small hamlet in south Kashmir, during the strict curfew last week after the villagers refused to sing “Jai Mata Di (Long live Mata (Indian goddess)” “Vanday Mataram (I bow before thee o motherland),” and the Indian national anthem. Not to be quoted by their names was the first request of the villagers, as they feared further reprisals. The villagers said they are “being terrorized” for participating in pro-independence marches. The villagers said on August 26 the troopers of 154 Bn CRPF caught hold of a group of youth outside a Darasgah and asked them to sing Indian national anthem. “One of the youth, Muhammad Ishaq Wani, refused to sing it saying he didn’t know anything about it and even if the Indian prime minister forced him to sing it he would not. This was not liked by the troopers and they tore off his clothes, leaving him naked,” the villagers said. Ishaq is a 12th pass student and working as a salesman. After parading Ishaq naked, the troopers barged into dozens of houses and beat up the inmates to pulp, the villagers said. “They threw stones on window panes of the houses and damaged several vehicles,” the villagers said. The troopers had brought stones in a gunnysack, the villagers said. Women who tried to intervene were also beaten severely.
According to villagers, 40-year-old Hafeeza wife of Abdul Majeed Wani was brutally beaten by the troopers with bamboo sticks and gun buts inside a cow shed where she bled for nearly half an hour before her neighbours took her to hospital. She has six stitches in her head, and the bandage was blood stained. Hafeeza’s daughter Mehbooba too was not spared when she attempted to rescue her mother. “The troopers threatened Hafeeza of dire consequences if she told the villagers or the media how she was injured,” the villagers said. Mahtaba Bano, 70, wife of Abdul Majeed Wani has multiple bruises and haematoma. “She was asking them to stop atrocities, but she was thrashed severely,” the villagers added. A pregnant woman Nayeema Akhtar wife of Fayaz Ahmad Wani was hit with bamboo sticks on her back. The residents said a woman named Chashmeeda was walking on the road carrying her three-month-old baby when the troopers snatched the baby from her and beat her up severely. Chashmeeda has multiple injuries on arm.
“The troopers entered the house of a mentally challenged person and beat up his son Zakir Hussain Kuttay so savagely that he has 14 stitches in his head and arm,” the villagers said adding the troopers smashed the Dish TV antenna of one Muhammad Yousuf Rather while the vehicle of his fellow villager Abdul Hameed Wani was partially damaged. “More than 200 glass panes were smashed with stones,” the villagers said. They said the troopers tried to set ablaze the house of a villager Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh by spraying it with kerosene but his neighbor Muhammad Yousuf Rather snatched the kerosene can from the troopers. “Following this, the troopers broke Rather’s legs by ruthlessly beating him with gun butts,” the villagers said. Rather has fracture in his right leg. A 10-year-old boy, Abrar Ahmad, was severely beaten. “The troopers asked him about his favourite cricket player. He named Shoaib Akhtar. Hearing this, the troopers started beating him,” the villagers said. They said Ahmad was rescued by his father who told the troopers that Abarar’s favourite player was Sachin Tendulkar and not Shoaib Akhtar. The villagers said after the “collective punishment” the troopers left the area at 4 pm, but returned again to sing “Jana Gana Mana” and “Vanday Mataram” in the village. “More than 200 troopers in a frenzy celebrated in the village Allah knows what. They raised anti-Islam and anti-Azadi slogans,” the villagers said. They said the Station House Officer of Dooru Police Station refused to file an FIR against the troopers. “Please don’t name any of the victims in your story. The CRPF troopers will simply kill us. There is nobody here to listen to us, not even the police and district administration,” the villagers said. The CRPF officials, however, deny having any information about the incident. “I don’t know anything about it. But I will certainly talk to the concerned commandant and ask him to inquire the matter,” said the CRPF’s Srinagar-based spokesman, Prabhakar Tripathi. “If the allegations are proved right, we will be taking action against the erring troopers. We won’t tolerate indiscipline at any cost.”

3 comments:

  1. CURFEW DIARY
    (Courtesy: Daily Greater Kashmir dt. Sep, 5th, 2008)
    1053 injured in police, CRPF action
    640 operated, 6 amputated

    Wasim Khalid
    Srinagar, Sep 04: About 1053 persons were injured in the police and paramilitary action in Kashmir during the curfew days. Of the injured 640 were operated in different hospitals while more than six persons have been rendered handicap as their limbs were amputated by doctors.
    The hospital authorities observed that most of the patients had sustained bullet injuries. “They required immediate surgeries. The surgeries were also performed on the persons, who were mercilessly beaten by the cops and suffered fractures”, they said.
    They said that the nature of injuries have brought to fore the fact that police and paramilitary personnel fired on unarmed people to prevent them from participating in pro-freedom marches.
    In Bone and Joint hospital Barazulla (B&J), the authorities said they operated 550 patients. “Most of them had received bullet injuries while others suffered fractures in the thrashing by the paramilitary personnel,” Chief Medical Officer (CMO) B&J, Farooq Ahmad told rising Kashmir.
    He said that major and minor operations were performed to save the lives of the injured. “Most of the patients had suffered injuries in the hips and shoulder,” he said.
    He, however, said that the number does not include those patients, who were discharged after giving first aid.
    Farooq said that the doctors in the hospital carried out two amputations. “A limb of a policeman had to be amputated after he was pumped bullets by CRPF in his feet,” said CMO B&J hospital.
    Meanwhile, Director Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Dr Hamid Zargar told Rising Kashmir that they received 200 critically injured during the curfew.
    “We have performed 40 major surgeries and countless minor operations,” said Zargar, adding, “Most of the trauma surgeries were performed on head, abdomen, chest and legs”.
    He said many people had received bullet injuries while some others were injured in merciless thrashing.
    Director SKIMS said that the hospital registered five deaths during the curfew days. “Four of them died either on their way or on reaching the hospital. One of the injured succumbed while operation was being performed on him by a team of doctors,” he said.
    Zargar said that SKIMS conducted investigations of the injured persons free of cost since they could not afford it. “We also polled money for medicines of these patients. The money was spent to purchase the medicine, which was not available in the hospital,” he said.
    The statistics reveal that about 300 people were admitted in the SMHS hospital. “We conducted 50 major surgical operations,” a doctor, pleading anonymity, told Rising Kashmir.
    He said that majority of the patients had sustained bullet injuries. “A good number of people were injured in the merciless beating by police and CRPF personnel”.
    The doctor said that most of the injured admitted in the hospital had received injuries in abdomen, chest and limbs.
    “The nature of injuries sustained prove beyond the fact that bullets were fired by the troopers to kill people,” the doctor said.
    He said one patient was amputated in SMHS, three in SKIMS and one in JVC.
    However, the authorities at SMHS and SKIMS remained tight lipped over the number of amputations carried out in the hospitals.

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  2. Eyewitness narrate tale of Bandipora killings
    (Courtesy: Daily Rising Kashmir dt. Sep., 5th, 2008)

    Mir Tariq
    Aloosa (Bandipora), Sep 04: Accusing the army personnel of killing four persons in Bandipora on August 13, an eyewitness, Abdul Hamid Dar said that the troopers did not even spare the injured persons and fired at them too.
    Dar received bullets on his leg, arm and back and is recuperating.
    Recalling the fateful day, Abdul Hamid Dar of Aloosa Bandipora told Rising Kashmir, “About 6000 people from Astangoo, Aloosa and Kehnusa gathered at Ashtangoo and marched peacefully towards Bandipora. When we reached near the Paribal camp, the police personnel intercepted us and resorted to tear gas shelling. We tried to convince them that ours is a peaceful march and we don’t want to resort to any kind of violence.”
    He said that army had placed barricades on the road and people tried to remove the roadblocks to move ahead. “As the roadblocks were being removed, 15 RR personnel deployed there shouted “Bam Bam Bole” and “Jai Mata di” and fired indiscriminately on the unarmed protestors. The bullets killed three protestors on spot while many others received bullet injuries”.
    Dar further said, “I was rescuing injured persons while police and army personnel were beating me. They along with few others threw me in the near by paddy land and again fired indiscriminately on us. I received bullets in arm, leg and back”.
    He said that wreathing in pain, they were crying for help. “I and two other injured youth were taken inside the camp by soldiers and we were beaten there. It seemed that they wanted to kill us and later label us as militants.”
    “An army officer in the camp while pointing to us told a civil officer that they are militants and tried to sneak into the headquarters. The officer showed the fabricated video on his mobile to the civil officer, who, however, told him that media, has been claiming that three protesters were killed and seven others injured in Aloosa. He convinced the army officer that the injured persons should be shifted to hospital. Only afterwards did the army officer allow three of us to be shifted to hospital in an ambulance”.
    Dar said that as they were being shifted to SMHS hospital, the CRPF personnel attacked the ambulance at Parimpora, Srinagar. “All the injured, doctors accompanying us and the driver were ruthlessly beaten by CRPF personnel for nearly an hour. Due to the CRPF action, one of the critically injured Mehraj-ud-Din died in the ambulance”.
    Terming it the tragic and unforgettable incident of his life, Dar said, “I consider myself lucky to be surviving and alive. Army and CRPF personnel did everything possible to eliminate me”.

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  3. Dear Brother
    A/A
    Good work.Please carry on to expose the real face of Indian secularism.
    Jazak Allah Khair
    Waleed

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