Irshad Hussain
The families of two slain youth Athar from Pulwama and Zubair Lone from Shopian who were killed in an encounter in Srinagar last week along with few social activists including Sikhs staged a protest at press colony Srinagar on Monday demanding that the dead bodies of slain be returned.
The families also demanded a high level probe of the Srinagar encounter that broke out in Lawaypora area of the Central Kashmir, the last week.
On Monday Srinagar’s press enclave reverberated with wails of trio families of three slain youths, who have been demanding a speedy impartial probe into the recent “staged” encounter in which three South Kashmir residents were killed.
“They were in cold blood, they do not even know who lives in their neighbourhood, i fail to understand how does the Police even link them up with Militancy,” alleged a family member.
A local Sikh activist, Angad Singh was also seen in the protest while chanting pro justice slogans in favour of the families. Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, Angad said, “These dead bodies are the properties of families, and administration has no right to snatch it.”
“Moreover, not handing over the dead bodies of to their families is itself na blatant a breach of human rights, we demand the fast tract investigation into the incident. If Rajouri encounter proved staged, why cannot this one?” He questioned.
The Father of slain Zubair lashed out the families of forces for their remarks on civilian killing.
The protesting families were seen weeping while holding the peace protest at press enclave, demanding, “Muje Mera bacha chaye” I want my son back.
India has long believed that compensatory justice is the solution, i need no compensation, nothing other than the dead body of my son to be returned, the father of Athar said.
Pertinently the father of the Pulwama youth, Athar has dug up a grave for his son saying, I will wait for his dead body, no matter if it means my own death.
Another old protester said, “if there’s justice left anywhere for Muslims in India, we demand that.”
A Recap
The family members and relatives of the slain Aijaz said that he left home a day ago to appear in examinations at university. The picture of the dead body of Aijaz on social media has shocked all of us, said one of the family members protesting outside PCR.
Earlier, the police had said, that three unidentified militants have been killed while the search operation is on.
The General officer Commanding (GoC) Kilo Force H S Sahi said that three militants killed in an encounter at Lawaypora on Srinagar outskirts were planning a big strike on the highway to gain publicity.
Addressing a joint press conference at 2 RR headquarters at Zainakote, HMT, Srinagar, GoC Kilo Force Sahi said that in the past one week, five militants including a Pakistani national were killed in two separate gunfights in north Kashmir.
For the past many days, intelligence inputs were coming continuously about the movement of militants on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway. Yesterday, we developed leads and came to know that militants are hiding in a house right opposite Noora hospital at Lawaypora in the HMT area, Sahi said.
The militants fired indiscriminately at security forces and lobbed grenades as well. The operation was put to a halt due to dark but cordon layers were tightened. With the break of dawn, the encounter resumed once again and militants used heavy ammunition against security forces, the GoC said, adding that in the ensuing gunfight three militants were killed.
One AK 47 and two pistols were recovered from the possession of the slain Militants, officials said.
The Officials had earlier said that one top commander of Militants was trapped at the site of the encounter and later identified the trio as part of Al Badr Militant outfit.
Messages are being circulated on Social media from Militant outfits that the trio is not a part of any of the Militant outfits in the Kashmir valley, however, the authenticity of the messages could not be verified.
Sources meanwhile told The Kashmiriyat that the operation was conducted on an input received by the Indian Army. “It was an input received by Army on their own,” the Source said, adding that the families of the trio have identified the bodies and they are being buried hundreds of Kilometers away from home in Ganderbal Kashmir.
They said that the trio has no case of stone-throwing or Militancy related activities registered against them. “None of the families had filed any missing report,” the Sources revealed to The Kashmiriyat.
However, the families of three killed militants have denied the claim of the forces and are demanding the return of their children’s dead bodies.
As a precautionary measure, the authorities have snapped the internet in Pulwama and Shopian districts of South Kashmir.