There has been a common perception that Jammu and Kashmir police have been sympathetic to militants and Kashmiri youths are inclined to jihadi causes. However, the killing of sub-inspector Feroz Ahmed Dar, 32-year-old J&K Police officer, in an ambush by Lashkar militants in Anantnag disctrict’s Achabal area in south Kashmir on Friday, has broken many a myth.
Around four years before his martyrdom, Dar, a devout Muslim, had written on his Facebook page: “Did you ever stop for a while and asked yourself: What is going to happen to me the first night in my grave? Think about the moment your body is being washed and prepared to your grave.” Dar’s words, written on Jaunary 18, 2013, will move conscientious souls: “Think about the day people will be carrying you to your grave… and your families crying ...think about the moment you are put in your grave.”
Now his words have come true and are bound to haunt his family and the nation’s conscience alike. Killed before the Namaz of Maghrib on Friday in the holy month of Ramadan, Dar won’t be able to keep his promise to visit his two daughters on Eid.
Isn’t Dar’s premonitions of death reflected the prevailing situation in the Valley more truly than any other account? In fact, this is the situation in the Valley in which our Kashmiri cops – like Army and central paramilitary forces – are operating. It does not leave any doubt that Kashmiri youths are also fighting against militancy and facing severe consequences too.
Achabal incident was the second major militant attack on the state police in last two months. Earlier on May 28, HizbulMujahideen militants had attacked a police party carrying cash to a bank ATM at Phambai area of Kulgam district of south Kashmir, killing five policemen and two bank guards.
The Achabal attack occurred within hours of the killing of a top LeT militant, Junaid Mattoo, and two other militants, in Arwani village of Anantnag district, in a joint operation of Army, Special Operations Group and the CRPF. The Army had placed Mattoo among the 12 most wanted militants of the Valley.
What the Jammu and Kashmir police are going through in the insurgency-hit state is revealed by the data of the State Home department too. As per data reported in media, 82 personnel were killed in the state last year while 39 lost their lives in 2015. Keeping in view the current situation in the Valley, the casualties are set to increase during the current year.
There has been a surge in militancy after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in July last year. While a number of local youths joined the rank and files of militants since then, those locals working for police and security forces are becoming the soft target of militants.
A few days back, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti told the State Assembly that at least 59 youths have joined militancy since the killing of Burhan Wani. The state government acknowledged that the militant attacked across the state have increased drastically. Against the 143 attacks in 2015, there have been 243 incidents in 2016.
While intensifying the attacks, the militants are trying to terrorise the locals working for police, Army and other security forces too. They are not only attacking them, but also treating them in inhuman ways as if to show their hatred for their services in police and Army. This is what they did with the victims of Achabal attack on Friday. They mutilated the bodies of policemen, including Feroz Dar’s, beyond recognition.
Only two months back, Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, a 22-year-old Army officer, was killed in Shopian district in the Valley by Hizbul Mujahideen. Trained at the National Defence Academy and the prestigious Indian Military Academy, Fayaz was commissioned into Rajputana Rifles only five months before his martyrdom. Militants had kidnapped him when he was gone to attend the wedding of one of his relatives.
The point being stressed here is that when Kashmiri youths are also facing the brunt of militancy, any attempt to brand them as Jihadis will prove counter-productive.
We must now engage the Kashmiri youths with the Army and security forces to fight the “dirty war” as termed by Army Chief Bipin Rawat. Any “innovation” that denigrates them and lowers their dignity will not help. This is why Major Leetul Gogoi’s “innovation” must not be condoned. The enemies must fear the Army, but not the people of the State!
However, since the Major Gogoi’s act, the hawkish General seems to have cooled off. General Rawat has now said the human shield strategy used by Major Leetul Gogoi to counter stone-pelters in Kashmir cannot be made a standard operating procedure in the Valley. Speaking to the media after the graduation parade at the Air Force Academy near Hyderabad on Saturday, he emphasized, “We believe very strongly in human rights.” This is a welcome sign.
(Author is Executive Editor, Live India news channel.)