Azadi slogans, Army praise see tempers flare at event on Kashmir

As tales of encounter killings and unexplained disappearances unfolded on the screen, families from Kashmir broke down and shed tears for their lost loved ones.

At an interaction conducted by Amnesty International at the United Theological College here on Saturday, some of the 50-odd cases of human rights violation by the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir were discussed. Amnesty International prepared a report and started a petition in a project called ‘Broken Families’ to seek justice and action against those in the Army guilty of the crimes.

Showkat Ahmad Khan recounted how his brother, Shahzad Ahmad Khan, accompanied a man to Machil, an area close to the Pakistan border, on the promise of work. The sole breadwinner of the family, Shahzad, never returned. The family found out later that he had been killed by the Army in what turned out to be a fake encounter.

Raja Begum’s son Manzoor Ahmad Mir was believed to be missing for several years before his skeleton was dug up during the construction of a building near an Army camp.

An investigation indicated that he had been killed in an encounter with the Army which destroyed his body upon his death during interrogation. The family’s fight for justice began then.

A panel discussion on the issue was disrupted when several people in the audience took offence to a comment by R K Mattoo, president of Bengaluru Kashmiri Pandits’ Association and former journalist, praising the Indian Army as “the most disciplined in the world.”

The trouble did not end there. A performance by Kashmiri rapper Roushan Illahi, popularly known as M C Kash, had to be cut short, prompting him to storm out of the hall. Almost immediately, several people in the audience raised slogans such as ‘Hum kya chahte hain, azadi’ and ‘Chheen ke rahenge azadi’.

This culminated in a clash of opinion outside the hall. A group of people found the slogans to be “anti-national” and demanded that the police, who were present at the venue, arrest the sloganeers. The heated arguments were finally broken when the police made the sloganeers leave.

Himanshi Matta, media officer for Amnesty International, said, “There were old mothers who wanted to talk about their issues. We hoped that people would hear them out. We didn’t expect such a disruption.” According to her, there had not been any plan to call Kashmiri Pandits to the event as the report was not about them.

They reached out to Amnesty International on the day of the event and asked to be a part of the panel and the programme.