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Waseem Ahmad Tantray, 20, a mentally-challenged young man, is lying semi-unconscious on bed no 12 of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) in Srinagar – the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Both his hands are fractured, his entire back is bruised, and the left side of his forehead is scabbed.
Tantray, a resident of Shakwara area of North Kashmir’s Sopore, was ruthlessly beaten by a vigilante group and was about to be set on fire in Sopore’s fruit mandi on 19 October.
According to doctors, Tantray suffered polytrauma and multiple injuries all over his body, including burn marks. His maternal uncle, Bashir Ahmad Reshi, says:
The mob had attempted to choke him to death by winding a wire around his neck leaving a deep impression on his skin. His voice collapses as he narrates the harrowing experience.
Also Read: 70-Year-Old Man Beaten to Death in J&K Over Braid Chopping Rumours
Things went from bad to worse for Tantray with more people joining the crowd.
The incident was recorded on video, which went viral on social networking platforms and has left the Valley shocked as everyone berated the act in unison.
Tantray’s uncle, who is attending to him in the hospital, says his nephew is suffering from mental trauma.
Kashmir has witnessed unprecedented rise in braid chopping incidents, and consequently, it has given rise to vigilantism – a phenomenon unheard of in this part of the world.
There have been numerous incidents in which people have been beaten and bunted on suspicion of being braid choppers.
One such case is that of Samir Ahmad Khan and Tahir Ahmad Beigh, two business partners who had a brush with vigilantism when they were thrashed on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Khan says on 6 October, he and Beigh had gone to Ishber Nishat to meet their costumer.
“Someone in the crowd punched Tahir on his nose due to which he began to bleed profusely. And when the police reached the spot, that angered the group and it began to beat us mercilessly. The police had to fire several shots in the air to disperse the crowd, and we were taken to hospital,” Samir said.
The incidents of vigilantism come in the backdrop of lynching of a police officer, Mohammad Ayub Pandith, in Srinagar early this year.
Pandith was allegedly stripped and lynched by the mob near Jamia Masjid in the Nowhatta area of the old city on the night of Shab-e-Qadar, triggering an outrage across Kashmir.
The deceased was allegedly making a video of stone pelting by locals when he was attacked by a violent mob. Ayub opened fire through his service pistol in his defense.
Also Read: Kashmir Sees Violence Daily, But DSP Ayub’s Lynching Was Madness
With over 400 incidents of braid chopping being reported in around two months, vigilante groups of local men, mostly young, have mushroomed across Kashmir Valley, where women allege unknown assailants spray chemicals to knock them unconscious and then chop their braids.
Such incidents have gripped the Valley with fear as well as anger, and now the situation has taken a gruesome turn.
In another incident, a vigilante group tried to drown a youth in the Dal Lake, who had gone to offer morning prayers at the Hazratbal shrine. The police said he was suspected of being a braid chopper.
A video of the incident shows a man pushing the youth into the Dal Lake. He is then seen slapping the victim, catching him by the neck, and again forcing his head into the water in a bid to suffocate him. Fortunately, all were rescued with the timely intervention of the police.
Many incidents have been reported about vigilante groups thrashing suspected braid choppers, who later turned out to be innocent.
According to local news agency CNS, the vigilantes continuously harassed, thrashed and abused them. Some of the vigilantes even tried to snatch weapons from them, which they resisted.
According to reports, the trio managed to escape from the spot after their two associates fired at least eight rounds in the air. “The aerial firing created panic, forcing the vigilantes to disperse from the spot,” they said.
Armed with a handmade weapon of a bamboo stick, fitted with long iron nails, these braid vigilantes monitor their respective areas.
Despite being in a state of fear, Kashmiri netizens are expressing their anger and resentment over the unlawful actions of hair vigilantes.
Also Read: J&K Braid-Chopping: Cops Impose Restrictions Against Protest Calls
The Jammu and Kashmir police have setup special teams to probe the incidents, which has spread panic among citizens, but so far they have failed to make any arrests.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range, Muneer Ahmed Khan, has earlier said:
However, a spokesman from the J&K Police claimed:
While some people in Kashmir are comparing these incidents with that of cow vigilantism in other states, others argue that it is merely a reaction to a particular incident.
Muneer Ahmed Khan claims that there was no incident of braid chopping, and maintained it was “mass hysteria” that gripped the entire Valley.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also claimed that it was an attempt to create “mass hysteria.”
Mufti, in a tweet, recently wrote that the braid-chopping was an attempt “to create mass hysteria and undermine the dignity of the women in the state.”
As of now, braid chopping and consequent vigilantism is the talk of the town. One hopes vigilantism is just reaction to an incident and does not become a routine phenomenon in the days to come. Conflict-ridden Kashmir can’t afford to endure recurrence of such a bizarre overreaction.
(The author is a Srinagar-based journalist and he can be reached at @AuqibBinJavaad )
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