Search the Internet          Tips

J&K protestors flay ceasefire, praise militants

Fayaz Bhat in Haigam

In the largest demonstration of its kind in Jammu & Kashmir in a decade, almost 25,000 people shouting pro-freedom and religious slogans gathered in the village of Haigam in Baramulla district on Sunday to pay tribute to those killed in firing by the security forces last week.

Shouts of "Lashkar ke mujahidon, hum tumhare saath hain" and "Jaish-e-Mohammed ke mujahidon, kadam badhao, hum tumhare saath hain" rent the air as Haigam, a sleepy village of 12,000 on the Srinagar-Baramulla National Highway 1A, overflowed with protestors.

People from several towns and villages in and around Baramulla in north Kashmir began arriving from early morning in trucks and other vehicles for the resmi charam (fourth day) ceremony of Jaleel Ahmed Shah, who they say was a pharmacist killed in custody by the Special Operations Group of the state police. The state police, however, say Shah was a militant who was killed in an encounter in a nearby forest.

The demonstrators, who congregated at Astania Hussain in Haigam, were addressed by Moulvi Abbas Ansari, a member of the executive council of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference as well as the pending Hurriyat peace mission to Pakistan.

As the crowd shouted slogans in support of the foreign militants and hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani of the Jamaat-e-Islami and against the central government's unilateral ceasefire in the valley, Ansari said the firing on innocent civilians on Thursday, when they were protesting against Shah's alleged custodial killing, had exposed the true face of the ceasefire.

National Democratic Front leader Nayeem Khan, whose brother Prince Khan was gunned down two days ago by unidentified men, said incidents such as the Haigam firing would not deviate them from achieving the goal of freedom. He asked all Kashmiri leaders to stand united for the cause. Prince Khan's fourth-day ceremony is to be held at Pattan in Baramulla district on Monday.

Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front leader Bashir Ahmed Bhat told the gathering that all those organisations which were not a part of the Hurriyat Conference, would also soon become a part of the umbrella organisation of separatist forces.

Others who addressed the gathering were Hurriyat leaders Qazi Ahadullah, Gulzar Ahmed, Nazir Ahmed Ronga, president of the state bar association, and Bashir Ahmed Tota.

As the rally was in progress, a military convoy from Srinagar headed for Baramulla reached the site. But it was stopped some distance away and some of the leaders of the demonstration urged the soldiers not to press on, but to return to Srinagar in view of the protest on the highway. The convoy turned back after a wait of about half an hour.

While traffic on the highway came to a standstill, no minister of the state government visited the village. Minister for Rural Development Ali Mohammed Sagar did make an attempt in the morning to enter the village, but had to beat a hasty retreat as the crowd became restive when they heard of his presence.

A few of the villagers met the minister outside the village to ask him not to visit them. Among them was Mohammed Sultan, a next-door neighbour of Jaleel Shah, in whose compound the shamiana was erected for the resmi charam. Sultan told rediff.com that Sagar promised to procure monetary relief from the state government for the next of kin of those killed in the army firing and to ensure punishment for the attackers. But the villagers refused his offer, saying none of this would bring their kin back to life.

All through the demonstration, the state police forces stayed at a distance and did not intervene.

But villagers told rediff.com that in the morning at a place called Veeri about 1km away, some Ikhwanis (pro-India militants) were going around telling people not to participate in the fourth-day ceremony and threatening them with dire consequences. They, however, fled when a big crowd came by in trucks.

At Jaleel Ahmed Shah's house, the atmosphere was sombre. Shah's father, Mohammed Kabir, was killed four years ago by some unidentified militants. Since then, say family members, Shah was their only breadwinner. Moreover, his sister Nusrat, who was shot in the head on Thursday, is fighting for her life in hospital.

Shah's mother Rafiqa is in a daze. Villagers said she has been in that state ever since her son's death was reported. His younger brother Bilal Ahmed, pointing to the village graveyard just 300 feet away, said, "How can I bear to see their [his father and brother's] graves? What will I do now?"

Bilal Ahmed said he had borrowed Rs 5000 from a neighbour for his sister's treatment, but obviously that was not going to be enough. "Everyone visited us today for the resmi charam ceremony. But now that the ceremony is over, no one will come. Who will give us money for her treatment? Who will help us? I have no source of income. I am scared what will happen now."

His sister Asmat added that it would have been better for the security forces to have killed them all. "We are four young sisters [apart from Nusrat]. Who will look after us? Who will pay our dues? Who will help us to continue our studies?" she wondered.

Younger sister Nazia said she wanted to leave the place of her birth and go someplace else where there would be no men in uniform.

Recounting his experience, another next-door neighbour, Enamul Ahad, a 13-year-old boy studying in the seventh standard, said he was also part of Thursday's protest rally when the soldiers arrived and began firing. One woman in front of him fell down and died. Then another fell. That was when he ran for his life. But a soldier caught him and gave him a blow on the head with his rifle. The next thing Enamul knew was that he was lying in a hospital bed, with 12 stitches and a bandage around his head. He was discharged from hospital one day later.

Enamul, however, did not participate in Sunday's demonstration at Haigam. He said he was too scared to leave home and would no longer go to school either.

Clearly, the incidents of the last few days have shaken up this sleepy village, where the main vocation is growing apples. Unlike some other places in the valley, the entire village has just 50 persons employed in the state government, two of them gazetted officers. And till date the security forces haven't set up a single camp here.

RELATED REPORTS
Troops Opened Fire in Self-defence: Army
Two More Injured in Police Firing in Srinagar

The Kashmir ceasefire: The complete coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report