Qazi Shibli/ Sajad Hameed
Shahnaza Banoo, fumbling, was walking towards the mud and a heap of garbage, “her dream”, this one used to be her home. She stopped in front of an enormous pile of mud, darting her glance at this prodigious mound, perhaps searching for a memory, any memory. She put her hand into the mud and shows a horse to another lady; a toy, perhaps symbolic of bravery.
On the 28th of April 2020, the Indian government forces blew up the concrete house of Shahnaza, turning it into debris and dust thereby, adding her to the garden of uncounted families left homeless in the routine gun battles in this beautiful Himalayan region.
Official estimates state that at least 5,368 shops, houses and other private property in Kashmir have suffered damage in the conflict-related violence from 1989 to 2001. However, no such data has been available of the last 17 years but the number can be reasonably estimated to have increased manifold.
In 2018, The Kashmiriyat – a Kashmir based news organization reported 107 structures that were damaged during 108 encounters in 2018 during gunfights between armed militants and Indian government forces in Kashmir valley.
During the recent encounters, as the ongoing pandemic takes a stronger grip on the globe, with cases having surpassed a 10 Million, when the globe is sloganeering for confinement to homes, the Kashmir valley is fighting a lonely battle, against the homelessness- they are subjected to.
Damaged lives and the Land of Kashmir
The Indian Government has stationed nearly half a million troops in the valley to fight an armed insurgency which erupted in late 1980s. Today the number of these militants, as per a top police cop is not more than 200.
The Kashmir valley is now often gripped with deathly silence, with tangled coils of concertina wires blocking its alleys. Indian troops in battle gear rove the streets in the Himalayan valley of fabled beauty.
Thousands of civilians have been killed, maimed, many of whom are blinded by pellet guns fired by Indian government forces, which has evoked massive criticism from various Human Rights Organizations, yet the Indian government continues to categorize pellet guns as ‘Non Lethal weapons’.
Since 2016, the Kashmir valley has been on the edge as more local boys joined militant outfits to challenge the Indian rule on Kashmir, subsequently, there has been a massive spurt of violence in view of ‘Operation All Out’- an Indian Forces operation aimed at eradicating the Militants.
In a major outburst of anti-India anger, the residents- hundreds of them- have picked up arms in reply to brutal tactics of Indian Forces. As political opportunities continue to fade under the Modi-led government, hundreds have come out on the streets, raining stones at everything that symbolizes India in Kashmir. Fighting pitched battles with the government, which has retorted with lethal force, killing hundreds of residents since 2016, mostly teenagers and youth.
The troubles visible in this Himalayan valley today began in July 2016, when Indian government forces killed three militants in the Kokernag valley of south Kashmir, including a famous militant commander, Burhan Wani. The incident triggered a civilian uprising, strengthened by an unending memory of killings, torture, and mass repression at the hands of Indian government forces, which for years has struggled to put down a bloody anti-India insurgency that erupted in the late 1980s.
These three decades of military crackdown has transformed Kashmir into a tale of bitter memories. Residents often say they are subjected to collective punishment whenever they rise in protest.
A civil narrative
On the 28th of April the Indian Army, local police and Central reserve police force raided a small lane in the Melhora area of Shopian. Confused Farooq Ahmad, the husband of Shahnaza, was working in his field when the gunshots suddenly whizzed nearby, he ran to his house, to his wife and three children, worried for them, not knowing what was in store for the family.
An official statement of the day, said that the forces had launched a cordon and search operation following inputs about militant movement in the area, during this operation, the militants opened fire upon the forces- a version maintained by the Indian government forces for the past several years, with meager swings of terminology up and down, left or right.
Farooq’s way to home was hastily blocked by a colossal cavalcade of vehicles of the Indian government forces. “I pleaded, begged with tears in my eyes to be let go, I demanded that I be allowed to reach my children and wife, probably in need of help, I knew nothing other than that I wanted to rush to my family and be with them. I did not know that the encounter had erupted at my house” he said.
He further told The Kashmiriyat that he spent the entire night out on the street, “I did not have a phone, I had no idea how my family was, a river of tears rolled down my cheeks in hope of their well-being and the fear of them having died,” adding, “I begged many people who ventured out to help me reach my family who tried begging the force personnel to let them cross a landscape of concertina wires, armored army trucks, trigger-happy forces gazing at them through metal face masks, so it got tough to move further”,
Here, in a makeshift tin shed, Shahnaza, 50, trying to recollect the memories of her lost house during the April 28th incident, unsuccessfully tries to bend down her leg, while narrating her ordeal. Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, she said, “there was a total disorder, the firing abruptly started, I bent down and asked my children to do the same, from where, I do not know, but five bullets hit my leg”.
Shahnaza, since, has been in bed, barely able to walk. The doctors say she is unlikely to recover her ability to walk. “She may be disabled for the rest of her life”.“We are living in a small two-room shed, if it was not built a few years ago for the animals, we don’t know what we would do,” says Farooq, “but three months is long to live in this compact space”. His two daughters question him every day, “papa when are we going back home?” Farooq in a grim and low tone looking to the holed wall of his small shed, “I have no answers to give to them”.
Homelessness during pandemic
These anti-militancy operations are shredding every fabric in Kashmiri lives and turning out to be an absolute horror for the local populace. Almost every other day an encounter ensues between well-equipped, well-trained Indian government forces and the militants. The encounters which last from hours to days, generally end with the Indian government forces using incendiary explosives to blow up the building in which the rebels are holed up.
An hour away from Melhora, through a kaleidoscope of handsome landscapes, shimmering apple orchards and a never-ending sight of army vehicles, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, met us, gazing at his house.
Rashid’s house was damaged on May 25th, in the Damhal area of Kulgam district during an encounter. He shares a similar fortune as Farooq. The Indian government forces on 25 may, raided the house and launched a cordon and search operation at Mirwani, Damhal in the Kulgam area following an input about militants’ presence.
Within hours, the house was damaged, the walls holed, also piercing the dreams of this family of eight. His daughter speaking to The Kashmiriyat with moist eyes, perhaps expecting help or sympathy, said “three male members of the family were detained after the encounter “.
They are now exposed to the bare skies at a time of the global pandemic. “We have no place left to call it home, no place to shelter us”. “The forces stole cash and gold from our house,” said Saima, the daughter in conversation with The Kashmiriyat. She said that her family had nothing to eat, three days post the encounter.“It was our neighbors who eventually called us home for a few days, but we feel ashamed staying there” she added.
Homelessness at a time when people globally have pitched for “Stay Home, Stay Safe” amid the ongoing pandemic, has further escalated the worries for the families rendered homeless. “Who will shelter us? with the pandemic take a grip us on both physically and psychologically?” Saima says, adding “The Global leaders, including the Indian Prime Minister direct people to stay home, on the other hand, they are subjecting Kashmiri people to homelessness and bare skies.”
Lately, the accusations of theft have escalated during the encounters. The forces lay a cordon around a house and empty out the houses around it before the operation begins by generally blowing up the houses they suspect for the presence of rebels. Gurinderpal Singh- a top security official posted in Kashmir speaking to The Kashmiriyat called the allegations “baseless”. “The families can say anything, why do they not come and complain?”
He said that the families are sheltering militants and later blaming the security forces for theft, and “of course the allegations are baseless”. He said if there are any reports of excesses the forces ensure that there is minimal tolerance for such acts. He further added that the families can directly approach the administration as well as police and the forces will ensure that justice is served.
Another top official, posted in Kashmir valley says that it is for the people to ensure that their houses are safe. “You cannot expect the security forces to be unresponsive to the inputs of the militant presence in a house, as soon as we get the inputs, forces rush to allow them minimal chance to escape, and people should stop hiding militants”.
“We try to ensure minimal collateral damage, but killing the militants is even more important for us, so at times, when we are sure about the weaponry the militants have we blow up the house, that is the easiest way, rather than to engage them in a gun- battle,” a top security official posted in the valley told The Kashmiriyat.
Back in Melhoora, swarming to their father like bees to their queen, the young daughters in this minuscule tin shed speak of how they lost all their books and documents in the house.
A baker by profession, Farooq feels that in Kashmir one invests heavily in building houses. “we do not build houses here, we build dreams, these piles of stones, wood and mud out there are dreams, and my dream lies there, scattered assorted with water and blood.”
A day before the ill-fated incident Farooq had promised his wife and kids more utensils so that Shahnaza could cook with ease. “Now there are no utensils left, everything is gone”.
The victims say that none of them have received any compensation. “We approached many offices. They say they will give compensation soon. We keep telling them that we have sisters and mothers and have no money. But who listens to the weak?” Farooq says.
