Kashmir on boil after civilian killings in Hyderpora

The recent killing of three civilians in an alleged fake encounter by police earlier this week in the uptown Hyderpora area of Srinagar and later labelling them as over ground workers (OGWs) of militants has brought the Valley on the boil.

For the first time since Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 was abrogated in August 2019, the separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference, which had taken a backseat, has called for a strike against the civilian killings.

J&K police had initially said two militants and two businessmen, whom they described as OGWs, had been killed when they raided a shopping complex in the posh Hyderpora area on Monday evening.

Also Read — Controversy over Hyderpora encounter as police claim deceased civilians were terror associates; families deny

However, families of three among the four slain persons contested these claims accusing the police of having killed them in a staged gunfight and demanded that the authorities return the bodies for the last rites.

However, 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 Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir. This led to widespread anger across Kashmir as families of the slain civilians held a candlelight protest in Srinagar.

The police again used force to disperse the protesters, but till then not only common people, but two former chief ministers – Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti – too came out of their residences to hold peaceful protests for the return of the bodies of the slain families. Omar, who is the vice president of the National Conference, moved near the residence of the Chief Justice of J&K High Court and staged a non-violent sit-in along with party leaders.

Sensing trouble, the authorities on Thursday evening exhumed two of the bodies and returned them to their families, who reburied them in Srinagar. However, the body of a third civilian has not been returned yet, and his relatives said they would continue their protest.

To calm down the tempers, the government also ordered a magisterial probe into the incident. However, it is for the first time after August 5, 2019, that people in the Valley have expressed their anger and resentment against any such incident.

Also Read — Civilians being killed in name of militancy, says Mufti

“Government of India has been pushing the people of Kashmir to the wall for the last two or three years. It is not the first fake encounter in which innocent civilians were killed and labelled as militants in the last two years, but every time the government would use force to silence the population,” Shahid Ahmad, a Srinagar resident told DH.

“(But) now enough is enough. Let them kill us all instead of killing one by one,” angry Ahmad outpoured.

Veteran CPM leader and spokesperson of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Alliance (PAGD), Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, alleged that the rule of the law was being violated with impunity in Kashmir which is highly unfortunate.

“Killing innocent civilians, in the name of the security of the country, is unacceptable and such criminals must be brought to book,” he told DH.

There is also a hue and cry on social media with people pouring out resentment against Hyderpora killings. In the last two years, the authorities in Kashmir had managed to silence any dissent on social media as dozens of netizens were either booked or called for questioning for posting “anti-India and anti-establishment” posts.

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