CRPF says youth “lay under” vehicle, blames stone-pelters; incident casts shadow over Ramzan ceasefire initiative.
New Delhi: There is uproar in the Kashmir Valley after the death of 21-year-old Kaisar Ahmed, who was run over by a CRPF vehicle that came under attack from stone-pelters in Srinagar Friday.
This is the second such incident in a month after a Jammu and Kashmir police van ran over Adil Ahmed Yadoo in downtown Srinagar on May 5.
Friday’s incident occurred outside the Jama Masjid where scores of protesters allegedly shouting anti-India slogans clashed with police.
“The protesters surrounded the CRPF vehicle and pelted stones at it. We showed exemplary restraint by not firing or anything but when the mob pelted us with stones, our driver sped through the crowd. It was then a boy came in front of the vehicle and lay down in order to stop us. Eventually, they were hit by the vehicle,” CRPF PRO Sanjay Sharma told ThePrint.
Sharma said the jeep was carrying second-in-command of the 28 Battalion, S.S. Yadav, when the mob, he alleged, tried to open the doors of the vehicle.
Kaisar was among two young men — the other being Yonis Ahmad — who were hit by the CRPF vehicle. His condition was said to be “very critical” and he was “on life support”, before he passed away around midnight.
His death has triggered outrage across the Valley and on social media after a series of photographs and a video emerged.
The Jammu and Kashmir police have filed two FIRs — one against the stone-pelters and the other against the CRPF. The FIR against the stone-pelting mob contains charges of attempt to murder among others, while the FIR against the CRPF has been filed under the Motor Act, 279 (rash driving) of the Ranbir Penal Code.
The incident comes in the midst of the Ramzan ceasefire that the Narendra Modi government had announced last month, directing security forces to follow what it called “non-initiation of combat operations”.
A government official had told ThePrint on June 1 that the government may even consider extending the ceasefire. “The first 15 days of the ceasefire have been quite good. If everything goes well, the government will positively consider extending the ceasefire. It is highly recommended,” the official had said.
Charges traded on Twitter
National Conference (NC) working president Omar Abdullah expressed his condemnation of the incident on Twitter.
“Earlier they tied people to the fronts of jeeps & paraded them around villages to deter protesters. Now they just drive their jeeps right over protesters. Is this your new SOP @MehboobaMufti sahiba? Ceasefire means no guns, so use jeeps?” he tweeted along with a picture of youth crushed under CRPF vehicle.
Responding to Abdullah, PDP youth president, Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, said: “Don’t forget you are the one who said that anyone who pelts stones on security forces is committing suicide.”
The Jammu and Kashmir police defended the CRPF and shared pictures of the protesters throwing stones at the vehicle from a close range. Responding to a local journalist, who questioned the recently-announced ceasefire in the state by linking it to the incident, the police accused him of indulging in “selective journalism”.
“There is also a difference in presenting before the audience/readers/followers ‘a selective picture’ and not a ‘chain of pictures presenting the whole scene’. We appreciate your understanding of our mechanism, however, fail to understand why one forgets his/her own SOPs. Thanks (sic),” read the reply on the state police’s official Twitter handle.
‘No regard for human life’
The Hurriyat, which had responded to the Centre’s call for talks with riders this week, condemned the incident. Chairman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said the incident has cast a shadow on the Centre’s ceasefire decision.
“Is the definition of a ceasefire beating and ramming civilians with vehicles,” he asked.
Speaking to ThePrint, the Mirwaiz said: “There is absolutely no regard for human life. The security forces have no action plan or crowd controlling mechanism. The boys were assembling outside the mosque peacefully but suddenly some vehicles came, and in a frenzy this incident took place. It could have been avoided… Anger is on the rise and it is difficult to control these young boys now.”
Saying that the onus was on the government to create a conducive atmosphere for talks, he said incidents such as these get “etched in the memory” of civilians. “Unfortunately what has happened today creates an impression of how the government is dealing with people. Security forces are using force against them.”
Last week, after Friday prayers, police had used pellets and tear gas shells to disperse protesters at the Jama Masjid. Since some of the shells landed inside the mosque, the Auqaf Committee and Traders Federation of Jamia reached an agreement with police that there would be no security deployment in the mosque and that volunteers would look after security and discourage stone pelting after prayers.
The title is wrong. It should be “CRPF vehicle attacked by stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir” . All these stone pelters are non-other than the 10000 came out of amensty offered by Mufti. All these guys should have been shot dead.
Tragic. All one can say is that the security forces are acting under enormous strain and stress, do their best to observe restraint and minimise use of force. When a ceasefire has been declared in the holy month of Ramzan, perhaps ordinary citizens could also help to make it a success.