In almost all of his interviews to media in the last several weeks, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had proudly claimed that the graphs of violence, particularly the crowd attacks on security forces during gun battles, had remarkably plummeted after his taking over as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir in August this year.
Death of six civilians after a gunfight at Laroo, Kulgam, on 21 October, had failed to dampen the spirits in the government as they were themselves held responsible for treading over live grenades and IEDs at the encounter site before the debris was sanitised.
One shootout on Saturday, 15 December, after an encounter at Sirnoo, Pulwama, has turned the faces red. It left as many as seven civilians dead and over a dozen wounded.
Never before in 2018 have seven civilians died in any clash with security forces, during an encounter or otherwise, in Jammu and Kashmir.
The administration was caught completely unawares as none of the senior police officers was in the Valley to deal with the situation arising out of the mayhem in Pulwama.
Director General of Police Dilbag Singh as well as Additional DGP Law and Order Munir Khan were in the winter capital of Jammu. IGP Kashmir Swayam Prakash Pani had proceeded on leave, first time in the last seven months.
On the governor’s direction, ADG CID Dr B Srinivas and Munir Khan rushed to Srinagar. Pani flew back to the summer capital from New Delhi.
In a series of meetings and interaction with officers of police, security forces and intelligence agencies, besides the civil administration, they learned that all the seven casualties had occurred when the Army opened fire on an unruly crowd.
Governor Malik Orders Inquiry
Governor Malik presided over a high-level security review meeting in Jammu. He expressed grief over the loss of life in Pulwama and directed Divisional Commissioner Baseer Khan to hold an inquiry and suggest precautions to minimise civilian casualties in anti-militancy operations.
According to the official inputs accessed by The Quint but still under verification, troops along with the Special Operations Group of the J&K Police had received information that the local militants of Hizbul Mujahideen, led by a Territorial Army deserter Zahoor Ahmad Thokar of Sirnoo, had set up a hideout inside a cave in an apple orchard between Monghama and Sirnoo villages on the outskirts of the district headquarters of Pulwama.
In the pre-dawn operation, troops swooped down on the hideout and killed three militants, including Thokar, in a fierce encounter in which one soldier got killed and two more got injured.
Fearing the presence of more militants in the cave, troops took precautions and did not expose themselves for over an hour for recovering the bodies. Meanwhile, residents used loudspeakers of the community mosques for mobilising the crowds that surged ahead to the spot from different directions.
While shouting pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans, the crowds turned violent and mounted an attack on the troops. It was during this melee that a group of youths captured the Army’s bullet-proof, mine-proof Casper.
Some reports said that the youths attempted to snatch away arms and ammunition from the soldiers who opened fire, killing six persons on the spot.
According to these reports, one civilian, the owner of a nearby poultry farm, had been already shot dead without any provocation.
The Army neither responded to phone calls nor issued any statement. Many of the politicians held the forces guilty of “cold-blooded murder” and called their shootout “a massacre.”
Many of the residents alleged that the Army opened “indiscriminate fire,” killing more than seven “demonstrators.” They claimed there was no truth in the reports which said that a crowd of violent youths had seized the Casper and attempted to snatch away guns from the soldiers.
The J&K Police issued a cautiously-worded statement to ensure that neither the civilian population nor the security forces were offended.
It said that a search operation was launched jointly by the security forces based on a credible input about the presence of militants in Monghama.
“During the search operation, which was an open field with hideout made by the terrorists, hiding militants fired indiscriminately leading to an encounter,” it said and added that three militants and a soldier got killed in the encounter. It said that a crowd “came dangerously close from different parts to the encounter site,” leading to a shootout in which seven persons got killed.
“The loss of civilians is deeply grieved. Police once again appeals the citizens to remain away from encounter site as it is a prohibited zone which involves significant danger to life because of nature of the encounter.”J&K Police statement
The police’s statement claimed that the slain militants were wanted in about a dozen criminal cases including the killing of policemen Aaqib Wagay.
DGP Dilbag Singh as well as IGP Pani maintained that the situation was under control as no major clash or incident of violence or arson had been reported from anywhere.
They said that the traffic was operating and no shops had been shut even as there were minor clashes with police at certain places. The IGP said only six people were injured.
According to him, four were under treatment at an orthopaedic hospital and two more at SMHS Hospital in Srinagar.
“There was no logic in surging so close to the site of an encounter. We have been repeatedly warning the population after the blast in Kulgam to remain calm and sit indoors during an operation or encounter. We are verifying reports about a scuffle between the youths and the soldiers. Forces have got to be extremely cautious and careful but the residents too should cooperate by remaining indoors during an encounter.”Dilbag Singh, DGP to The Quint
Separatists Call for a Three-Day Shutdown
Joint Resistance Leadership of the separatists called for a three-day shutdown, beginning on Saturday and asked Kashmiris to stage a collective march to the Corps Headquarters at Badami Bagh on Monday.
Most of the mainstream politicians, including National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, PDP President Mehbooba Mufti and People’s Conference Chairman Sajjad Gani Lone issued statements or tweets critical of the handling of the situation by the governor’s administration.
“The administration of Governor Malik has one task & one task only - to focus on the security of the people of J&K & restore peace to a troubled valley. Sadly it appears that’s the only thing the administration is not doing. Publicity campaigns & full page ads don’t bring peace (sic),” Abdullah tweeted.
In another tweet, he said:
In a statement, NC’s patron and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said the Valley had been turned into a “theatre of death and destruction.”
“Incidents like these put a big question mark on the working of government and security agencies in such circumstances”, Abdullah added. “The incident must be probed thoroughly and those found guilty must be brought to book,” he said.
“How long are we going to shoulder the coffins of our youngsters?” Mehbooba said on Twitter.
She further said, “No probe enough to bring back the dead innocent civilians. South Kashmir has been reeling under fear for the last 6 months. Is this what was expected from Gov rule?”
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