Hyderpora civilian killings: 'All is not well' in Kashmir

On the evening of November 15, Jammu and Kashmir police claimed to have killed two unidentified militants and their two associates in uptown Hyderpora area of Srinagar.

For most of the journalists in Kashmir, it was like a routine encounter story till the families of one of the slain persons protested in the dead of night saying he was a civilian. By the next day, it emerged that three among four slain men - Altaf Bhat, Dr Mudassir Gul and Aamir Magray - were civilians and had been killed in a staged gunfight.

The families of the two slain men held a protest in Srinagar amid sub-zero temperatures on Tuesday night demanding return of the bodies for the last rites. But police forcibly removed them from the protest site and snapped electricity to the area.

Read more: Mehbooba Mufti not allowed to meet families of slain 'civilians'

As authorities refuse to allow dead militants or those deemed associates to be buried in their family graveyards since April 2020, the three civilians were buried far away near the LoC in north Kashmir. This led to widespread anger across Kashmir forcing Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to order a magisterial inquiry.

It was for the first time post August 5, 2019 that people in the valley expressed their anger and resentment openly against the state. Separatist amalgam, Hurriyat Conference, which had taken a backseat post 2019, called for a strike against the killings which evoked massive response.

Fearing further escalation in protests, the authorities exhumed bodies of two civilians on November 18 and handed over them to their families for performing last rites but during the night. It is the first time in the last 20-months that police allowed the exhumation of bodies, despite demands being raised several times in the past.

The gruesome incident is a reminder that the BJP government’s “all is well” theory in Kashmir post Article 370 revocation is flawed. The violence has not decreased and killing of civilians in staged encounters is a grim reminder of 1990’s when such incidents were common.

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to remove “Dilli ki Doori” (the distance from Delhi) and “Dil ki Doori” (the distance from the heart) with Kashmir, the culprits of Hyderpora killings must be brought to the book. He must also ensure that such gruesome killings are not repeated which gives separatists and anti-India forces a chance to fish in troubled waters.

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