No Healing Yet In The Kashmiri Graveyard

A t the martyrs바카라� graveyard in south Kashmir바카라�s Tral town, two boys stood silently by the grave of Burhan Wani, the 22-year-old who was killed by government forces in an encounter on July 8 last year in Kokernag. The boys, seventh-grade students at the local government school, raise their hands and pray for Burhan. Then they move aside and talk about the 바카라�healing power바카라� of the soil of his grave. 바카라�People from far and wide come here and take handfuls of this soil,바카라� says one of them. 바카라�They believe it can cure disease. My ailing mother asked me to get some soil from Burhan바카라�s grave. She rubbed it on her face and instan­tly felt much better.바카라�

Burhan바카라�s engraved memorial plaque stands out, visible from quite a distance, in this graveyard where more than 50 militants slain by government forces are buried. Most are locals. People come here to pray for their 바카라�martyrs바카라�. Some take away a handful of soil from Burhan바카라�s grave. Clearly, everything about Burhan is sacred to them.

Sajad Ahmad, a 25-year-old driver standing nearby, overhears the boys바카라� conversation. 바카라�There are always visitors at Burhan바카라�s grave and the crowds will swell in the days ahead,바카라� Sajad says. All three, however, refuse to be photographed바카라�quite unthinkable in these parts a year ago, when people poured into the streets on hearing 바카라�Burhan killed!바카라� and scores of pictures of people mourning the slain Hizbul commander flooded the internet. So why this newfound reticence?

Schoolboy Numan is quick with the reason: 바카라�The STF (Special Task Force, a counter-insurgency formation of the Jammu and Kashmir Police) will arr­est us and beat us ruthlessly. We don바카라�t mind being beaten by the STF if that could bring us azadi (freedom), but why get thrashed when azadi isn바카라�t just around the corner?바카라�

With the army, paramilitary for­ces ­going all out against militants and protesters, it바카라�s back to alleged human rights abuses and frequent frisking by security agencies. The number of armed personnel has gone up visibly in the past month. Across the Valley바카라�from uptown Srinagar to south Kashmir villages바카라�there are a lot more army patrols on the roads than a few weeks ago. The frequency of raids on villages has also gone up. No wonder the driver and the two schoolboys are so serious about protecting their identities.

When Burhan joined the militancy in 2010, there were only three militants in Tral. His breakthrough move was to take to social media, ending the per­iod when militants were a mysterious lot, spoken about by others, with their ­image largely based on how others바카라�esp­ecially their adversaries바카라�described them. Unsurprisingly, this change led to a surge in young men lining up to join militant ranks바카라�so many that, say sources, many had to be turned back as the number of aspiring militants far outstripped the number of available weapons. These youngsters were told to arm themselves first, by snatching weapons from policemen and paramilitary personnel. 바카라�They ask new recruits to kill a cop or a paramilitary jawan to get his weapon. This way the militants get weapons as well as a recruit who cannot return to civilian life even if he wants to,바카라� says a senior police official.

In the past few weeks, faced with den­ser deployment of government for­ces in the rural areas, residents of ­places like Tral have learnt to be cautious about what to tell whom. For instance, a shopkeeper curtly dismisses Outlook saying, 바카라�Why should we tell you what we plan to do on Burhan바카라�s anniversary?바카라� Many others simply refused to talk or be photographed. The youngsters say a large number of locals have been arrested and have cases slapped on them, or are regularly summoned to the police stations. 바카라�That바카라�s why most people won바카라�t talk with you,바카라� says Sajjad, at the graveyard. 바카라�There are 16 FIRs against me. Why should I let you take my picture and get named in another FIR?바카라�

A retired teacher, who agrees to talk after much prodding, says, 바카라�Burhan is a militant icon who emerged in Kashmir alongside India바카라�s fall from a secular occ­upation to a Hindu-fascist one.바카라� Burhan바카라�s popular appeal, he says, ref­lects the 바카라�infamy of Indian State and the total rejection of pro-India politics in Kashmir바카라�. 바카라�He may be dead today, but equally dead is India바카라�s future in Kashmir,바카라� he says, mincing no words. 바카라�Burhan might be the last Kashmiri who was killed while there still rem­ained some doubt in his and his people바카라�s mind about whether India would ever leave Kashmir. After his death, there is a clear consensus that India has lost its case in Kashmir.바카라�

In all these months, however, despite the killing of Burhan바카라�s successor Sabzar Ahmad Bhat and two of his two associates, Tral has been relatively peaceful, with no major student protest, unlike elsewhere in the Valley.

Senior police officials concede that Burhan바카라�s use of social media to rev­ive popular interest in militancy was quite a hit, especially in south Kashmir. 바카라�it was great propaganda and enhanced his appeal among ideologica­lly committed youngsters,바카라� says an off­icer. 바카라�But it cuts both ways as not only supporters but also the intelligence agencies get to know much about the militants. The same method that helps them become popular and find recruits also helps us target them at the time and day of our choosing. In fact, militancy has been sustained in Kashmir for so long because of secrecy. I remember how tough it was to find even a single photograph of Hizbul militants of the previous generation.바카라�

Sitting in his house opposite the Sufi shrine of Shariabad, Burhan바카라�s father, Muzaffer Wani, principal at a government school, says there hasn바카라�t been a single day since Burhan바카라�s death when people from different areas of Jammu and Kashmir did not visit his house. 바카라�They say they just want to see where Burhan lived. Some take pictures with me and leave,바카라� says Muzaffer, and then recalls how Burhan바카라�s 25-year-old brother Khalid was beaten to death by the army and later branded as a militant. 바카라�Even the police refused to accept the army바카라�s version that he was militant.바카라� On April 13, 2015, Khalid바카라�s body was found in the Buchoo forest of Tral. The army claimed he was an 바카라�overground militant바카라� killed during a gunfight. His father is sure that Khalid was killed in cold blood.

Naming several youngsters from Tral, who became militants bec­ause of the atrocities perpetrated on them and their families by the police and other government forces, Muzaffar holds the forces squarely responsible for the growing militancy in Kashmir. 바카라�They harassed even distant relatives of militants, forcing them to take up arms,바카라� he says.

Away from serene Tral, in Nagbal-Tengpuna area of Pulwama, Abdul Qayoom Wani, is mourning the killing of his nephew Touseef. On June 22, the 22-year-old was killed by the Special Operation Group (SOG) of J&K Police at Kakpora, around 15 km from Nagbal. 바카라�This happened a day after the Kakpora encounter in which three Lashkar-e-­Toiba militants were killed. If Touseef was protesting or even throwing stones, they could have wounded him. But, no, they killed him,바카라� says Qayoom. 바카라�The police named him Chhota Geelani, as he had been jailed twice for stone-pelting, to justify his brutal murder.바카라� Government forces allegedly thrashed the villagers and damaged their vehicles when they were bringing Touseef바카라�s body to the village. 바카라�We will never forget all this,바카라� says Qayoom. 바카라�I didn바카라�t file any FIR in the case because I don바카라�t expect any justice from this system. My nep­hew was shot in the neck. We didn바카라�t even go for the post-mortem.바카라�

According to a police spokesman, 바카라�a violent mob attacked the Kakpora police post , after the burial of the Lashkar militants and Touseef was killed in retaliatory act­ion바카라�. Twenty-two civilians have been killed near encounter sites this year바카라�the highest number in recent years.

 A small lane leads towards New Col­ony in Kakpora where an elderly ­Abdul Bhat and his two sons are standing bes­ide heaps of bricks and dirt that once used to be his three-storey house. 바카라�On June 21, three militants came here after they were chased by the army. I was in hospital with one of my daughters. We didn바카라�t know the militants had entered our house. We saw only their charred bodies,바카라� says Bhat, who has filed no FIR and expects no compensation. Neighbours say the house was blasted several times during the night. Even the trees around it were burnt. 바카라�The militants burnt in the fire. There were no bodies, just burnt skeletons,바카라� says a woman.

Since July 21, around 15 militants have been killed in a new counter-offensive against the militants. Two Lashkar militants, including commander Bashir Lashkari, were killed on July 1 at Batpora village in south Kashmir. According to the police, Bashir was involved in the killing of six policemen, including an SHO, in an ambush last month. Minutes after his killing, SSP Imtiyaz Hussain, posted in north Kashmir, tweeted, 바카라�RIP Feroz. Justice delivered. Wish good sense prevails & there are no more killings in Kashmir and we all live in peace.바카라�

In Srinagar, rights activists such as Khurram Parvez say the situation is alarming as the armed forces are being 바카라�pushed by the media and social media frenzy, whipped up by right-wing elements, to punish the people of Kashmir바카라�. 바카라�There is increasing public support in India for blinding or maiming protesters, use of civilians as human shields, extra-judicial executions and torture,바카라� says Khurram.

PDP youth president Waheed-ur-­Rehman Parra, however, says that 60 per cent of J&K바카라�s population comprises the youth. 바카라�They have political aspirations and some of them see dignity in death. We must understand that it is a political, social and emotional problem. We all need to find a solution,바카라� he says. Admitting that the police station is only interface between the government and the youths, as they are regularly called for questioning, he says, 바카라�This must change.바카라� The only visible 바카라�change바카라� on the ground, however, is a tighter security network to prevent the kind of protests that had broken out last year after Burhan바카라�s killing.

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Line Of Fire

• June 21 Two local Hizbul militants, ­including a district commander, killed in an encounter with government ­forces forces in Pazalpora, Sopore

• June 22 Three local Lashkar militants killed in Kakpora, Pulwama

• June 22 Foreign militant killed as army foils infiltration bid in Keran

• June 23 DSP lynched by mob outside Jamia mosque in Srinagar

• June 24 A CRPF sub-inspector killed in a militant ambush at Pantha Chowk; militants take refuge in Delhi Public School (DPS)

• June 25 Two Pakistani militants involved in killing of CRPF officer killed in a gunfight at DPS 

• July 1 Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, including commander Bashir Lashkari,  killed in a gunfight in Anantnag; two protesters were also killed near the encounter site

• July 4 Four Hizbul militants killed in Pulwama

By Naseer Ganai in Tral and Pulwama