<p>The finding of an army court that a captain had staged a fake encounter in Amshipora, a village in the Shopian district of Jammu & Kashmir, in which three people were killed, is welcome because it shows that the self-corrective mechanism in the forces is alive and functioning. A general court martial found the captain guilty and recommended life sentence for him for the encounter which took place in 2020. The court said that the “troops had exceeded their powers”, vested in them under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), and acted illegally. The captain, with two civilians as his accomplices, had dubbed three innocent persons going from their village to Kashmir looking for work as terrorists and shot them dead. Those killed included a 16-year-old boy, and weapons were planted on them to make the encounter look real. The motive was to claim a Rs 20 lakh reward given by the security forces for information leading to the capture or killing of terrorists. </p>.<p>The Amshipora encounter provides yet another proof of the misconduct of the armed forces and the misuse of the AFSPA in J&K. It is not the first time that such fake encounters have been staged. There are also a large number of cases of excesses of all kinds and arrogant and callous behaviour on the part of the armed forces personnel. The army has found its personnel guilty of extrajudicial killings in many cases. But there were also instances of the reversal of such findings by the armed forces tribunal in Kashmir and other places like the North-East where the AFSPA has been in force. In the Amshipura case, there is a lot of material and circumstantial evidence which proves the guilt of the captain and his accomplices beyond doubt. That is reason for confidence that the verdict will hold, giving people, especially those in the states and areas where the armed forces enjoy special powers, continued hope and faith in the processes of law. </p>.<p>In Kashmir and the North-East, the forces have extremely serious and dangerous situations to face and important responsibilities to hold. The most important responsibility is to protect the people. If the men in uniform fail in that and take the lives of those they have to protect, there should be no protection for them from the law. The army court’s decision is important because it shows there is no room for such impunity. The sense of impunity has its roots in the AFSPA which should not have a place in the normal democratic scheme of governance. The fake encounter may not have happened if the AFSPA was not there. </p>
<p>The finding of an army court that a captain had staged a fake encounter in Amshipora, a village in the Shopian district of Jammu & Kashmir, in which three people were killed, is welcome because it shows that the self-corrective mechanism in the forces is alive and functioning. A general court martial found the captain guilty and recommended life sentence for him for the encounter which took place in 2020. The court said that the “troops had exceeded their powers”, vested in them under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), and acted illegally. The captain, with two civilians as his accomplices, had dubbed three innocent persons going from their village to Kashmir looking for work as terrorists and shot them dead. Those killed included a 16-year-old boy, and weapons were planted on them to make the encounter look real. The motive was to claim a Rs 20 lakh reward given by the security forces for information leading to the capture or killing of terrorists. </p>.<p>The Amshipora encounter provides yet another proof of the misconduct of the armed forces and the misuse of the AFSPA in J&K. It is not the first time that such fake encounters have been staged. There are also a large number of cases of excesses of all kinds and arrogant and callous behaviour on the part of the armed forces personnel. The army has found its personnel guilty of extrajudicial killings in many cases. But there were also instances of the reversal of such findings by the armed forces tribunal in Kashmir and other places like the North-East where the AFSPA has been in force. In the Amshipura case, there is a lot of material and circumstantial evidence which proves the guilt of the captain and his accomplices beyond doubt. That is reason for confidence that the verdict will hold, giving people, especially those in the states and areas where the armed forces enjoy special powers, continued hope and faith in the processes of law. </p>.<p>In Kashmir and the North-East, the forces have extremely serious and dangerous situations to face and important responsibilities to hold. The most important responsibility is to protect the people. If the men in uniform fail in that and take the lives of those they have to protect, there should be no protection for them from the law. The army court’s decision is important because it shows there is no room for such impunity. The sense of impunity has its roots in the AFSPA which should not have a place in the normal democratic scheme of governance. The fake encounter may not have happened if the AFSPA was not there. </p>
