Victims of Fake Gunbattles
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VICTIMS OF FAKE GUNBATTLE
STORY SUMMERY:
The beginning of the 2007 witnessed a massive upheaval in entire Kashmir vally caused by the discovery of a chain of fake encounters committed by Indian forces in connivance with some senior officers of the State Police. It was proverbial exposure of the tip of an ice-berg which had remained hidden under the cover of Ôforeign militant encountersÕ. It was a revelation which shocked the entire population. Indian security forces disappear and kill civilians and then label their victims as "foreign militants" so that they could gain cash rewards and out-of-way promotions. There had been repeated and continuous allegations about such heinous crimes being committed by the security agencies against innocent Kashmiris. But no body had given any heed to such allegations. Instead the perpetrators had been given rewards and promotions. Huge public outcry and criticism by international media forced Indian police to instigate a rare probe into the conduct of their own forces and the bodies of slain civilians were exhumed amid massive protests. Many police officers were arrested for their role in the custodial killings of civilians.
Various human rights groups in Kashmir had been saying that nearly 10,000 Kashmiris have disappeared since 1989, most after being detained by Indian forces, who have broad powers of arrest in the restive Himalayan state. The early judgement in the case is still a pipe dream for victims of enforced disappearences. Accoprding to Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, When there are public demonstrations protesting a fake encounter killing in Kashmir, the official response usually is to offer an oral assurance of an inquiry, though these rarely happen. If such inquiries do take place, the findings are seldom made public. If any action is taken against those found responsible, that too is rarely made public.
CAPTION INFO:
Bakhti Begum, mother of a missing Kashmiri youth, cries during a rally organised b
