Insha Mushtaq/Mehran Bhat
In view of the recent civilian killings and amid preparations of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the valley, more stringent security measures have been taken up by the forces. Pedestrians including the women folk are being frisked at several locations in Srinagar city. Meanwhile, reports of mass seizure of two-wheelers from the commuters have also emerged from the city.
Many have alleged that their two-wheelers were seized while they were traveling despite showing documents. These commuters were further asked to recover their vehicles from the police station the next day.
Talking to The Kashmiriyat, Muqeet (21), a student from Soura whose vehicle was confiscated said, “We are facing a lot of inconvenience due to the recent bike seizure spree carried out by the police. Whatever may be the reason, we, the students, are suffering.”
“I used to commute to my college with ease but now I am bound to travel in public transport. Despite showing all the documents, I was forced to leave my bike with the police,” a rattled Muqeet added.
Muqeet, talking about the inconvenience he has faced due to the seizure of his two-wheeler added, “We don’t reach the college on time, now. And while returning home, we have to leave college premises in a hurry so we are able to catch a bus and reach home on time.”
“It’s very inconvenient that we have to leave our two-wheelers with the police which we had bought for our own comfort and convenience. People on bikes are being stopped midway and forced to take public transport to reach their destinations,” Muqeet told The Kashmiriyat.
Another person, on account of anonymity, told The Kashmiriyat, “I was traveling from Batmaloo when I was stopped by the police. They did not ask me anything or explain anything but took away my scooty to the police station.”
“I had all the necessary documents with me. I was wearing a helmet. They still seized my vehicle for no apparent reason,” he said, adding, “I tried reasoning with them but I was told that this was done after the orders from higher authorities.”
Amir (25), a resident of Srinagar, spoke to The Kashmiriyat about the frisking and crackdown on bikers said, “I left my home for my office on my bike, as usual. I was stopped by policemen at Residency Road, who snatched my bike’s keys.”
“I was shocked that they did not even ask for the documents of the bike. I tried to show them the vehicle documents but they weren’t ready to listen to anything,” Amir said.
“I pleaded with them that I have to reach the office but they said they can’t help it. I spent a whole day there and got my bike back in the evening after repeated requests,” Amir told The Kashmiriyat.
Another student, Irfan Dar (24), a resident of Srinagar was on his way back from Hawal while his vehicle was seized. He told The Kashmiriyat, “I was on my way back home from Hawal when some policemen stopped me at Illahi Bagh. They did not ask for any document and took away the keys of my bike without saying any word.”
“When I tried asking them the reason that they seized my bike, they told me to go back home and come to the police station on 25th. They told me that they have been ordered to seize two-wheelers by the higher authorities,” Irfan said.
“It was extremely inconvenient for me. It was late in the evening and no public transport was available. I had to travel to my home on foot. It took me a lot of time to reach home on foot,” Irfan added.
“We are being subjected to criminal-like treatment even though we follow all the rules. We also carry the necessary documents with us. But our bikes are still being seized despite that,” Irfan Dar said.
However, the seizure of vehicles is not a new practice in Kashmir. Since 2016, many people have alleged that their vehicles (two-wheelers as well as four-wheelers) were seized by the policemen and that they could only recover their vehicles from the police stations after a few days.
Netizens expressed on various social media platforms how irked they felt due to the inconvenience caused by this mass seizure of vehicles. Many claimed that even after showing the necessary documents, the keys of their two-wheelers were confiscated by the police and they were told to recover their two-wheelers from the police station the next day. Many complained that they had to travel home on foot.
Meanwhile, this mass seizure of two-wheelers has also halted the delivery business in the valley. Samiullah, the co-founder of ‘Fast Beetle,’ a delivery company based in the region, expressed on Twitter how their business has been disrupted by the seizure of two-wheelers.
“Our operations continue to be at halt due to incessant seizing of our delivery bikes in the city. Just when the businesses in Kashmir were trying to recover from the losses caused during article 370 and global pandemic, our law and order is crumbling us again and again,” he said in a Tweet.
“More than 500 delivery executives are making their livelihoods from the delivery jobs in Kashmir, where would they go now?” he said, adding, “I wonder how on one hand the foreign investing parties are invited day in and day out to plan the possibilities in Kashmir and the local startups are pulled down with these unnecessary maintenance activities on the other hand.”
Bhat Burhan, a Kashmir-based Journalist in a series of Tweets claimed that he was stopped near Police Station Soura, where keys to his two-wheeler were taken away by the Police. He added that he was yelled at by one of the policemen and that his cell phone was also taken away after he told them that he was a Journalist.
#Kashmir: What is this going on?
I was stopped close to P.S Soura, #Srinagar and keys to my two-wheeler were taken by J-K policemen. They ordered me to go home and said some senior police officer has ordered us to get exactly 70 bikes till evening.
— Bhat Burhan (@bhattburhan02) October 20, 2021
On Thursday, IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar in a tweet through Kashmir Police said that seizing some bikes or shutting down Internet of some towers was purely related to militancy incidents in the region. He also mentioned that both events have nothing to do with the visit of Home Minister, Amit Shah.
Concerned about the massive crackdown on bikers in the region, three-time legislator and National Conference’s dissident leader Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, on Thursday, tweeted, “What is this all about @JmuKmrPolice? Why are the bikers, who ride with all required documents and follow all norms, harassed & detained? How can you detain and arrest the movement of daily commuters without any offence on their part? What have you turned Kashmir into?”
The former Chief Minister and the PDP Chief also expressed resentment over the bike seizure and said on Twitter, “J&K admin’s recent spree of seizing bikes in Kashmir is a collective punishment & another way to snatch whatever means Kashmiri youth have to earn their livelihood in a dignified manner. Contrary to GOIs claims of providing jobs, they are doing the opposite.”
Veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, during his visit to the region, also condemned this act of Jammu and Kashmir Police and said that the intense frisking and massive crackdown on the bikers was causing huge inconveniences to the general public.
“This will further cause anger among the masses against government. Instead of taking pro-people steps, government is causing huge inconvenience for the general public,” Ghulam Nabi Azad said.