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Can Omar Abdullah prevent a sequel of Valley’s bloody Summer-2010?
Is the Chief Minister’s assurance that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) will not impede prosecution just talk? Iftikhar Gilani and Baba Umar ask
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Photo: Arif Wani |
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Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s pledge, to fairly investigate the abduction and rape of a tribeswoman Rukaya Bano (25) in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district allegedly by two unidentified soldiers, has hardly any takers. Just year-and-half ago, he held similar assurance that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) would not be allowed to impede prosecution of soldiers involved in the Machil encounter, that triggered 2010 summer civilian unrest in Kashmir Valley, killing more than 100 youth.
On Friday, Omar posted his promise on Twitter: “The size of army unit in area is less than 20 strong, so identification parade won’t be a problem. Guilty won’t be spared either AFSPA or no AFSPA.”
Omar’s reassurance would hardly exude any confidence within Kashmir, going by the record of such prosecutions over past 20 years. Justice still eludes victims the mass rape of 1991 Kunan puspora, and punishment still eludes those who were responsible for the killing spree in the aftermath of Chattisingpura incident, killing 35 Sikhs on eve of President Bill Clinton visit. The Army, the investigating authorities, as well as the courts in Srinagar and Delhi are still contesting on the issues of the competence of the sanction under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
Chief minister Omar Abdullah’s words last year that the provisions of AFSPA would not be allowed to grant immunity to the erring soldiers involved in Machil encounter have fallen flat.
However, 50 kms away from Srinagar, in Nadihal village of Rafiabad region, the horror still stays locked even more than a year. Three men, Mohd Shafi Lone (23), Shahzad Ahmed (27) and Riyaz Ahmed (23) had been lured to work as potters for the Army last year in April. They never returned home.
A month later, pictures of their bullet riddled bodes were shown as those of hardcore militants killed in an encounter at Line of Control in Machil sector of North Kashmir. “How can a father not identify his own son. I can’t tell you what it was like to see my son with bullets ripping his body,” Abdul Rashid, father of one of the deceased had told TEHELKA then.
They had buried them at Sonapindi pass in Kupwara where unnamed graves, hinting of similar fake encounters, dotted the graveyards. Eventually, the laboratories who tested the DNA confirmed that people killed were indeed these three youth who had disappeared, the trial has not moved an inch over past one year. The case was initially shifted from Baramullah to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Srinagar. The Army challenged the proceedings in the High Court, seeking cover under the Section 6 and 7 of AFSPA and Section 197 of CrPC.
On April 20, 2000 - just before the US President Bill Clinton arrived in New Delhi, 35 Sikhs were killed in the village of Chhittisinghpura by unidentified gunmen wearing Indian Army uniforms. Five days later the SOG and the 7th Rashtriya Rifles, a counter-insurgency unit of the army, killed five people in a joint operation outside a village called Pathribal. The case was finally handed over to CBI who not only concluded that the encounter was stage managed but also charge-sheeted five army officers. Ten years later, there is still a debate going on whether the CBI has the authority to probe the army.
Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com.
iftikhar@tehelka.com
Baba Umar is a Correspondent with Tehelka.
babaumar@tehelka.com
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