Will South Kashmir’s Destroyed Houses Matter This Election?

In Pulwama, the aftermath of the terror attack led to encounters which destroyed homes and changed lives forever.

In the encounters between terrorists and the Army, hundreds of homes have been destroyed in South Kashmir. 

(Photo: Vikar Sayyed)  

(Part of the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, Pulwama is voting on Monday, 6 May. Polling in the Anantnag constituency is taking place across three phases, with the last leg being held on Monday. This story was first published on 8 April and has been reposted in light of voting in Pulwama, which witnessed one of the deadliest terror attacks on 14 February, when 40 CRPF personnel were killed.)

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

Date: 17 February 2019
Time: 12 am, midnight

It had been three days since the Pulwama terror attack that killed nearly 40 CRPF soldiers. The sound of bullets started to resonate in Pinglan village in Pulwama at midnight. 25-year-old Mushtaq Ahmed, with his three sisters, parents and grandmother, hid in a corner of their home. The firing went on till morning. Suddenly, a sound came from outside — “Open up, we're here to search.”

As soon as the door opened, a Pakistani terrorist entered their house, and what happened next will give you goosebumps.

Didn't Get Any Government Help

Mushtaq said,

“Three houses were destroyed to ash in the encounter. Our two cows also died in the encounter. After that, no government officials, politicians or MLAs came to our help. Whatever help we got, it was from the local body here. Government has given us no compensation yet.”

Mushtaq didn't agree to talk to us on camera, but the pain in his voice was discernible. Mushtaq says,

“Terrorists have guns and the army also has guns. Kashmiri people are caught between these two gunpoints.”

Three days after the Pulwama attack, a major from the 55 National Rifles, four soldiers, one policeman and one civillian were killed. In the counter-fire, three Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were killed.

No Interest in Elections

Polling day in Pulwama is on 6 May. But on the question of elections, Mushtaq gets agitated. He says,

“Everyone is the same. Whoever comes, the real issue is Kashmir. The issue hasn’t been resolved since 1947, so how will they solve it now? We will not participate in voting. I know voting is a responsibility, but the candidate to vote for should also be responsible. There is no one like that here.”

The Anger of Losing a Home

To look for stories of destroyed homes in encounters, The Quint reached Babgond in Pulwama, at Mohammed Shafi Hafeez's home.

Two Hizbul terrorists had entered Hafeez's house after the attack on Indian Army on 13 October 2018. The terrorists were given a warning to surrender. When they refused, the house was blown to smithereens.

Mohammed Hafeez’s house which was burnt on 13 October 2018. (Photo: Vikar Sayyed)

In that encounter, a terrorist called Shabbir Ahmed Dar was killed, while Shaukat Ahmed Dar, another terrorist, was wounded, and subsequently arrested by security forces. Mohammed Shafi Hafeez is constructing a new house these days.

When The Quint's team went to talk to him, he was not in a friendly mood. Angry at us for clicking photos, Hafeez snatched our phone and deleted our data.

When 30 Years’ of Poetry Was Lost in the Encounter

In March 2018, nearly 20 kilometres away from Bulhama village, there was an encounter. In this encounter, three Kashmiri terrorists were killed. But the damage had to be borne by one city. Ghulam Mohammed Bhat aka Madhosh Bulhami lost his home and the poetry he had written over thirty years in the encounter.

If you have seen Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider, then you will definitely remember one scene: where security forces destroy Dr Haleel Mir's house in an encounter where they're looking for a terrorist called Akhlaq Latif.

Civilian property gets destroyed regularly in encounters between Army and terrorists. According to an IndiaSpend report, 105 houses were destroyed between May 2015 and 2018 in Pulwama district alone.

After the attack on Pulwama on 14 February 2019, the Army has been more active in Kashmir. Pulwama falls in South Kashmir and this district has been a battlefield between the Army and terrorists.

In Kashmir, voting is in five phases, with the first polling day on 11 April. But there is no hope or enthusiasm for the elections in the Kashmir valley.

Quint Special: What Are Election Issues in Pulwama?