The revelation of the details about how three youths from Nadihal village in north Kashmir Baramulla district became “victims of a well-planned conspiracy” involving senior army officers and civilians working for the army sent shock waves across the Muslim majority Kashmir Valley and triggered a debate on “cash and rewards for killings” and a fresh demand for abrogation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which immunizes the Indian Army and paramilitary forces against action for such incidents.
The news of two more youths of adjoining Sopore town having been lucky to escape a similar fate immediately after the Machil fake encounter further fueled the anger and shock that was already very deep.
Following these revelation the people of Rafiabad which also falls in the north Kashmir Baramulla district were on the streets demanding an inquiry into disappearance of five of the village youths way back in 2005.
The people of Rafiabad are now demanding exhumation of all the 350 bodies buried as unidentified militants in a graveyard of Kalaroos in north Kashmir Kupwara district where the three Nadihal youth were also buried as unidentified militants.
The developments provided a lot of ammunition to the separatist guns started targeting the state government with gross human rights violations and inaction on such critical issues.
The moderate and the hard-line, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) conglomerate made a common cause of it to further their separatist ideology by painting the “Indian security forces as villains out to eliminate Kashmiri Muslims for medals and rewards and promotions.”
The state chief minister who admitted that “killing of the three youth in a fake encounter had raised doubts over the genuineness of other encounters” was quick enough to order a high level probe into the gory Nadihal incident.
The state police in quick action arrested four persons including a trooper of the Indian Territorial Army involved in the killing of the three Nadihal youth and also presented a preliminary investigation report to the Indian army following which the army also ordered a high-level inquiry into the killings.
The Indian Army Sunday suspended two senior officers and has already registered a case against four of its personnel.
Though the state government and the army have been fast in taking action against the accused it seems that it has not assuaged the hurt feeling of Kashmiri psyche on revelations about the Nadihal killings.
