Danishwar Hameed/ Qazi Shibli
Batting two down, 18 runs off 26 Balls, Zakir Bashir hit one to the Point and was caught by a fielder of Laibal Sports. It was the 28th of June and Zakir started preparing for the next match, but not before he would finish spraying chemicals in his apple orchard.
On Wednesday, Zakir got fresh early up, and walked his way with his brother to his orchard in the Czimmer, Kulgam District. By 12 noon, he was home for lunch. “He spoke to the family about the day’s work and said he had to go for cricket practice. By lunchtime, word had spread that the Forces had cordoned off the locality.”
Before the family could get a sense of the unexpected and spontaneous turn of events, Zakir had been shot dead.
An official statement on the incident read, “Acting on specific information generated by Kulgam Police about presence of terrorists in Czimmer area of Kulgam, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Jammu Kashmir Police, 18th Battalion of CRPF and 09 Rashtriya Rifles of Indian Army in the area. During the search operation as the presence of militants got ascertained they were repeatedly appealed to surrender, however, they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search parties in which 2 Army soldiers got injured and airlifted to a Srinagar-based Army hospital. SFs also retaliated which lead to an encounter.”
“Three militants were killed whose bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. One of the slain was identified as Zakir Bashir, who Police said, had recently joined the proscribed outfit,” the statement read- a claim refuted by the family.
The Kashmir valley, in the aftermath of the Abrogation of Article 370, has witnessed a major crackdown, which included arbitrary detentions, communication lockdown, street curfews, and bars on Freedom of expression. Human Rights Watch, an international rights body in its 2020 report, slammed the government of India for continued “harsh and discriminatory restrictions” in Jammu Kashmir, one year after the revocation of the erstwhile state’s constitutional status.
The international human rights body said that the government’s unwarranted restraints on the rights to free speech, access to information, health care, and education have been intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic in Jammu Kashmir.
Zakir’s family members say that upon hearing that the Forces had launched an operation in the area, he chose to confine himself to the four walls of the house.
Killed in Cold Blood?
Calling the police statement as fabricated, the family said that Zakir was not a Militant and that neither was he an Over-ground worker (OGW) to Militants. “He was innocent and his killing was a cold-blooded murder,” the family said.
Farooq Ahmed Bhat, the brother in Law of Zakir Rashid Bhat, speaking to The Kashmiriyat said that on Wednesday, the family was busy spraying chemicals on their apple trees, where both the brothers came to the orchard to help the family.
“Accompanied by his brother, the siblings spent around two hours spraying in their orchard. They helped me in my orchard as well,” Farooq said.
The three including Farooq walked their way home, but on the way back to the house, Ashiq, the younger brother, stopped near a river to take a bath, while Zakir strolled the road leading home. Within no time there was a cordon and Zakir was taken out of the house and murdered in broad daylight. Alleging that the Forces were ruthless, Farooq said, Zakir was dragged out of his house and shot dead.
Denouncing the Police statement as baseless, Farooq said, “He was not a Militant, he had no remote link to Militancy. Go around the village and ask anyone. He did not have any distant affiliation to Militants. In Kashmir, there is no shame in being a Militant. Nobody conceals the fact and neither would we. He was busy spraying and with his cricket before he was taken out of his house and shot dead. He was innocent.”
The entire village, far away from media coverage, nearly 70 kilometers away from Srinagar, is in disbelief of Zakir being called a Militant, “He had no distant affiliation with Militancy. He was a cricketer, a good cricketer,” a local resident said.
Mourning and wailing, the women of the house, flanked by several other women said that Zakir was dragged out of his house and shot dead. “He had no weapons, nothing.” Echoing the men of the house, they told The Kashmiriyat that he was a young boy. “We kept pleading to the forces to let him go as he was an innocent, but they took him away and killed him.”
The Police statement said, “All the killed terrorists were part of a group involved in various terror crimes.” The Army in their statement also said, 01 AK, 02 Magazines, 02 Pistols, 02 Magazines, and 03 grenades were recovered from the slain.
Police Says Missing Since June 18
After the Wednesday encounter was over where the Forces had claimed to have killed “three terrorists”, it has emerged that one of the three slain was allegedly a civilian, who was pulled out of his house by the forces and shot dead at a distance of not more than 300 meters away from his home. “The encounter was not inside the house, The Forces searched several houses and one of them was the house of Bashir Ahmed Naik, where Zakir was alone with his 12-year-old sister,” Farooq said.
Youngest among the four sons of Bashir Ahmed, Zakir who according to the family was 17 years old was a great cricket player who would often spend his time playing the sport. “He watched the game closely and did not miss even a single cricket game, no matter which nation was playing,” Farooq said, adding, “He played his last cricket match on the 28 June and was upset over losing the match in the Sahara Cricket Stadium at Nehama, Kulgam.
The Concerned Station house official was quoted by Srinagar-based news portal, Kashmir walla as saying, “Bashir had been missing since 18 June 2021. His family hadn’t filed a missing report. The official further told, “We believe he had joined militants on 18 June and since then was missing. During the gunfight, he tried to throw a grenade at the army, which exploded in his hands. That is how he was killed.”
The scorecard of the match played on the 28th of June shows that he batted two down for Chimer at Nehama Sports Stadium on Kulgam. His teammates speaking to The Kashmiriyat confirmed that he played that match.
With his mother gone to visit a relative and father out to see the progress of the ongoing work at the orchard, Zakir was left at his house with his 12-year-old sister, Uzmat Jan, around 12:45, when according to the family the Forces barged into the house. “Uzmat told us that she was locked inside the room, as her brother was taken out. A few moments later, we heard gunshots,” Farooq told The Kashmiriyat.
“I was at their house, I left for home and took along my wife and sister-in-law to my house which is not at a distance of more than 500 meters, suddenly we heard bullet sounds reverberating in the area, we had no clue to what had happened,” Farooq said.
The Jammu Kashmir Police in its official statement had said that they tracked three militants to a house and asked them to surrender; however, the militants fired at the forces and injured two Army soldiers. In the crossfire, all three militants were killed.
They identified the three as Waseem Ahmad Bangroo of Redwani Kulgam, Shahnawaz of Kilbal Shopian, and Zakir Bashir Naik of Chimmer Kulgam.
“All the killed terrorists were affiliated with proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba terror outfit (self-claimed The Resistance Front),” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said. “They were part of a group involved in various terror crimes.”
The Police said that Zakir had ‘recently Joined the Militant outfit Lashkar e Taiba.
The tragedy that the family saw did not cease here- A Rumour spread through the village that Zakir Bashir Naik had been killed during the encounter. His brother Ashiq, who was not at his home, ran to the house and while running back his way home was blocked by a huge number of troopers manning the streets of Czimmer Kulgam. “Ashiq was arrested and taken away from the locality. We do not know of his whereabouts,” Farooq alleged. A Police official posted in the area speaking to The Kashmiriyat said, “No, Ashiq Bashir Naik is not in our custody.”
Two Militants had been killed, who were associated with the Lashkar e Taiba, Police said, identifying both of them as Local Militants, one from the Shopian district and the other from the Kulgam district of South Kashmir. Though the family denied Zakir’s links to Militancy, a Senior Police official from Kulgam told The Kashmiriyat that he was a Militant and a weapon was recovered from his possession.
Claiming that the SOPs were not followed, the family said, “We were not even called for the identification or for burial. It was through unofficial channels that we got to know that Zakir had been killed during the encounter. The family members left for Damhal (the concerned Police station) where they were allegedly informed that the body had been taken to Srinagar’s District Police Lines.” Farooq said, when the family reached there, “We were asked to return the next day (today) at 10:30 AM.”
Since March 2020, bodies of militants killed in encounters have not been returned to their families. The bodies of common people killed in security forces action were also not given to their families on grounds of Covid. They were buried far from their homes.
Hundreds of people have been visiting the house of slain Zakir. His brother, Tariq Ahmed, who is in Lucknow and sells dry fruits there has not been informed of his brother’s death. The entire family is in shock. “They have left home to bury him dozens of miles far away from his loved ones. Their cell phones are switched off and we do not know where they are.”
Support Independent Journalism from Kashmir- Pay to Support us