Omar Abdullah’s Flop Show
Y.S Bali& Rameez Makhdoomi
On January 5, 2009, Omar Abdullah became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after forming a government in coalition with the Congress party. Tipped as Kashmir’s hope, he began with a clean slate and distanced himself from the political and administrative blunders committed by the previous governments.
Three years down the line, Omar Abdullah led Government has dashed the hopes of Kashmiris. The human rights record of Omar Abdullah led government has simply been awful and it is this bleak veracity which has dominated the news about the current government. The very first killing took place barely few hundred meters away from the residence of Omar Abdullah only two days after he was sworn in as Chief Minister of the state. The victim, Abdul Rashid Rishi, 45, a deaf and dumb man from South Kashmir’s Pahalgam was shot dead by the Army, when he was in Srinagar to meet the Ministers and seek a job for his adopted son Feroz on January 7, 2009.
Just after about a month and a half, two devotees were killed in an allegedly indiscriminate firing incident by 22nd Battalion of Rashtriya Rilfes troopers of Indian Army in Bomai, Tujar Shaief, Sopore in the district Baramullah of Kashmir on 21 February 2009.
The situation turned ugly after the alleged double rape and murder at Shopian of Aasiya Jan and her pregnant sister-in-law, Neelofar. This incident led to valley wide protests. Hundreds of people was injured and one person died due to an injury caused by a tear gas shell. From May 30 to July 13 there were around 854–897 civilian injuries due to police action and one death. Around 60 police personnel were also injured.
Then came the year 2010, the year which really worsened the reputation of Omar Abdullah as a leader. On June 11, as Tufail Ahmad Mattoo headed home from a tutoring center where he was studying for the medical entrance exam, a tear gas canister fired from close range bashed a hole in his skull. He died almost instantly. This tragic death led to 120 deaths of mostly young people throughout the Kashmir. For entire summer of 2010, the valley of Kashmir saw naked dance of death and destructions. Curfews and arsons became order of the day.
In 2011, although the Omar Abdullah Government managed to douse fires, but still the year was not a one that can be boasted of as a year with bright human rights record. Pertinently in 2011 , Nazim Rashid, 28, died in a police camp in Sopore, hours after the police picked him up to question him about his alleged role in the killing of a civilian. The incident caused widespread rage in valley and people came on streets to protest, thus police had no option but to accept that Nazim died in police custody.
In the same year, on 5 August 10, 2011, a police man ( SPO) and an army jawan jointly picked up a mentally challenged Hindu beggar from border district Rajouri and later staged his fake encounter in Surankote area of the neighbouring border district of Poonch on august 6 with the help of strong contingent of army and police. After killing him both police and army had claimed to have killed a divisional commander of Lashker-e-Toiba and his identity was announced as Abu Usmaan of Gujjaranwalla Pakistan. Dubbing the killed beggar as Lashker Militant , police handed over the body to locals for his burial . However, the luck ran out for the killers when the Moulvi, to whom body of the ‘militant’ was handed over for burial in Surankote, declined to do so on the ground that body was not of a Muslim as it hadn’t been circumcised. After probe, his identity was revealed as that of Ashok Kumar, a mentally challenged Hindu beggar.
And the year 2012 has also been started on a tragic note. A student was killed and two others were injured when CISF personnel guarding the National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) power project opened fire on people protesting against power shortage in the Boniyar area of north Kashmir's Baramulla district, 90 km north of Srinagar. Altaf Ahmad Sood (22) died on the spot, while 70-year-old Abdul Majid Khan and Parvaiz Ahmad Khan (29) sustained injuries. Khan is in a critical condition.
Certainly masses and analysts are criticizing the Omar Abdullah led government over its seemingly terrible human rights record.
Ghulam Ali, a street vendor said, “The Omar Abdullah led government has miserably failed on every front and has simply been epitome of negative realities.”
While commenting on the topic, senior human rights activist of the state Khurram Parvez and coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS) stated-“From the day one itself the Omar Abdullah led government has been on weaker turf. The human rights situation has witnessed further downslide during these three years. The freedom of speech has been choked and extrajudicial killings have increased.”
Viewing from the analytical kaleidoscope, the first three years of Omar Abdullah led government have been a flop show especially vis-a-vis human rights and it would be interesting to see how the remaining three years pan out.
No comments:
Post a Comment