Total Pageviews

Friday, April 22, 2016

In Kashmir’s polarised polity, it’s all down to who you believe in the battle of narratives

[An abridged copy of this article has been published on Editorial page of The Times Of India in its all editions today, April 21, 2016]


April 20, 2016

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
_______

When, in 1994, a sizeable crowd dragged a youthful tailor out of his home in the congested Nawab Bazar neighbourhood in downtown Srinagar and stoned him to death for the ‘rape’ of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl, an investigation by Kashmir Times established that the accused had not even touched the tiny tot. The investigation happened, and published, inspite of the fact that one group of the Kalashnikov-wielding guerrillas wanted the slain tailor to be proved as guilty and an equally dreaded group insisted he was innocent.

Around the times of total breakdown of the government machinery and the Police, the newspaper accessed the report of the gynaecologist who had examined the ‘victim’. Everybody in town believed it was positive. The fact was that it was negative. Dr Farhat Hameed’s report said the baby’s hymen was intact and that there was not a minute evidence of physical violation.

Just a clamour by the child’s aunt had attracted a multitude of people that did not listen to the accused or other hysterical cries from his family. It was probably the first Taliban-type execution in Kashmir. The body was thrown into The Jhelum.

That essentially does not suggest that every rumour or outcry in the Valley has been unfounded. It does, however, underscore the need of a credible investigation into the street allegation of a 16-year-old girl student’s molestation by a soldier in Handwara. Unfortunately, neither the media today nor any magisterial enquiry---Police itself has become a party after releasing the girl’s video---retains credibility. If it finds the soldier guilty, it will vindicate the pro-separatist civil society. Army will dismiss it as ‘a conspiracy to deprecate the security forces’. And there will be no end to the politics against and in favour of AFSPA. The accusation, though debunked by the girl in disputed conditions, has already claimed five civilian lives in Kupwara district.

Contrarily, if an enquiry gives a clean to the anonymous soldier, the civil society, including the mainstream politicians thriving on pseudo-separatist tirade, would call it ‘a fudged one to protect the forces and to denigrate the Kashmiris’. The world has witnessed how an outcry of ‘rape and murder’ of two young women in Shopian set the Valley on fire in 2009. Even the CBI, whose investigations in the infamous Pathribal fake encounter and Srinagar sex scam had been widely appreciated, failed to find takers to its conclusion. It established that neither rape nor murder had happened. Exhumation of the unmarried girl’s body, followed by a thorough examination by a team of doctors and forensic experts from AIIMS and FSL, found her hymen and septum intact. By then, Shopian had taken its toll.

While the media has---particularly after the total regional and communal divide in 2008---ceased to burn its fingers with such critical investigations, Police have not been able to investigate even 2% of the over 60,000 militancy-related FIRs filed in the last 25 years. Even CBI’s investigations, like in the firing on IAF personnel, have been lingering since 1990. Those awarded punishment and having served a jail term can be counted on finger tips. Forces’ men in particular have gone scot free. Around 150 magisterial enquiries and judicial probes have been ordered but hardly anybody penalised. That states the shrinkage of the Valley’s grey area and scope of an enquiry’s political exploitation.

Notwithstanding a crowd’s protest against some militants of JKLF in Basant Bagh, when a resident Pandit woman and her daughter were found ‘raped and killed’ in 1990, allegations of sexual abuse against the non-State actors have often gone unnoticed, unreported and unquestioned. When father of the 2009 IAS topper Shah Faesal counselled a non-Kashmiri guerrilla against shaking his hand forcibly with a neighbour’s daughter, it proved to be the last day of the poor teacher’s life.

Men of security forces too enjoyed a sort of impunity as few of them were punished over a delinquency. A military court ordered a Major’s service termination for “violation of SOP” in ‘Badrapayaeen rape case’. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee felt embarrassed over a question on at the news conference in Srinagar but Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed came to his rescue, quickly. “Nothing has occurred with the daughter. We will see about her mother”, Mufti said without ordering an investigation.

From Kunan-Poshpora (1991) to Handwara (2016), Army has faced allegations of rape and molestation scores of times. Enjoying immunity under AFSPA, it has not been held accountable. Even the first---and till date the last---investigation by Press Council of India (in ‘Kunan-Poshpora gang rape case’) was not acceptable to civil society in the Valley as it exonerated the Army and was conducted by a journalist known for his linkage to then Army chief’s father. Even after 25 years, nobody knows the quantum of the offence and the real number of the women allegedly assaulted by the soldiers.

As Army provided institutional support to the accused even in the cases like Pathribal investigated by CBI, Valley’s intelligentsia and civil society which was already tilted towards the separatists and the militants, found it convenient to compromise neutrality and professionalism. Many of them justified it with Newton’s Third Law of Motion and complained how even the most credible of the national dailies and TV channels were running campaigns to ‘salute the soldier’, calling the militants as terrorists and riding on the hypernationalist parabola while reporting Kashmir. Even in the midst of a tragedy, anchors were heard demanding credit for the security forces rescuing the civilian population in the floods of September 2014.

‘The equal and opposite reaction’ in the Valley is no more indiscernible. When Police in Jammu lately swooped down on a colony of the Muslim Gujjars, setting houses on fire and killing a man in the firing, Jammu-based media ignored it completely. When over 20 non-Kashmiri students were injured in the lathi charge by Police at NIT Srinagar, neither the agencies nor the newspapers in Srinagar carried a line of reporting till it exploded in New Delhi. People have little hesitation to admit that many of the journalists, human rights activists, judges and lawyers, even Police officers, are obsessively inclined to one side and they often pick up the matters that have a potential to malign the Indian State, its systems, institutions and icons.

Now the battle lines are drawn. The rumour and the perception have taken precedence over the news and the reality and a credible investigation is extinct. In the battle of the narratives, which gets intensified by New Delhi’s license to competitive separatism and an unbridled social media, the Valley would support the ‘victim’ only when she will complain against the soldier. And the rest of India will be on her side only if she omits the soldier and proceeds against the two Kashmiri youths who created the scene.

The unscrupulous players have turned the teenager into a football tossing her conveniently from one post to another to strengthen their political narratives. Nobody seems to care for her safety, dignity and future. God save her from becoming India’s own Malala!



(Ahmed Ali Fayyaz is a senior journalist based in Jammu and Kashmir)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE TIMES OF INDIA

EDIT PAGE

In Kashmir’s polarised polity, it’s all down to who you believe in the battle of narratives



April 21, 2016, 2:00 am IST




When, in 1994, a sizeable crowd dragged a youthful tailor out of his home in the congested Nawab Bazar neighbourhood in downtown Srinagar and stoned him to death for the ‘rape’ of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl, an investigation by Kashmir Times established that the accused had not even touched the tiny tot. It was probably the first Taliban-type execution in Kashmir. The tailor’s body was thrown into the Jhelum.



This does not suggest that every rumour or outcry in the Valley is unfounded. It does, however, underscore the need of a credible investigation into the street allegation of a 16-year-old girl student’s molestation by a soldier in Handwara. Unfortunately, neither the media today nor any magistrate – police itself has become a party after releasing the girl’s video – retains credibility.



If an enquiry finds the soldier guilty, it will vindicate the pro-separatist civil society. Army will dismiss it as ‘a conspiracy to deprecate the security forces’. Contrarily, if an enquiry gives a clean chit to the anonymous soldier civil society, including mainstream politicians thriving on pseudo-separatist tirades, would call it ‘a fudged one to protect the forces and denigrate the Kashmiris’. The accusation, though debunked by the girl in disputed conditions, has already claimed five civilian lives in Kupwara district.



The world witnessed how an outcry of ‘rape and murder’ of two young women in Shopian set the Valley on fire in 2009. Even CBI – whose investigations in the infamous Pathribal fake encounter and Srinagar sex scam had been widely appreciated – failed to find takers for its conclusion in this case. It established that neither rape nor murder had happened. Exhumation of the unmarried girl’s body, followed by a thorough examination by a team of doctors and forensic experts from AIIMS and FSL, found her hymen and septum intact. But by then, Shopian had taken its toll.



Police have not been able to investigate even 2% of the over 60,000 militancy-related FIRs filed in the last 25 years. Allegations of sexual abuse and rape against non-state actors have often gone unnoticed, unreported and unquestioned. When the father of 2009 IAS topper Shah Faesal counselled a non-Kashmiri guerrilla against shaking his hand forcibly with a neighbour’s daughter, it proved to be the last day of the poor teacher’s life.



Security forces too enjoyed considerable impunity as few of them were punished over a delinquency or crime. From Kunan-Poshpora (1991) to Handwara (2016), the army has faced allegations of rape and molestation scores of times. Enjoying immunity under AFSPA, it has not been held accountable. Even the first – and till date the last – investigation by the Press Council of India (in the Kunan-Poshpora case) was not acceptable to civil society in the Valley as it exonerated the army and was conducted by a journalist known for his linkage to the then army chief’s father.



As the army provided institutional support to the accused even in cases like Pathribal, the Valley’s intelligentsia and civil society which was already tilted towards the separatists and militants, found it convenient to compromise neutrality and professionalism. When over 20 non-Kashmiri students were injured in the police lathi charge at NIT Srinagar, neither the agencies nor newspapers in Srinagar carried a line of reporting till it exploded in New Delhi.



People have little hesitation to admit that many of the journalists, human rights activists, judges and lawyers, even police officers, are obsessively inclined to one side and selectively pick up on matters that have potential to malign the Indian state, its systems, institutions and icons.



Now the battle lines are drawn. Rumour and perception have taken precedence over news. In the battle of narratives, which gets intensified by New Delhi’s licence to competitive separatism and an unbridled social media, the Valley would support the Handwara ‘victim’ only if she complains against the soldier. And the rest of India will be on her side only if she omits the soldier and proceeds against the two Kashmiri youths who created the scene.



Unscrupulous players have turned the teenager into a political football to strengthen their narrative. Nobody seems to care for her safety, dignity and future.



END


No comments: