Police firing in India: Human lives not worth the monkeys

WEEKLY REVIEW BY : ASIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

The killing of Altaf Ahmad Sood, a class XII student on 2 January 2012 at the NHPC premises at Boniyar village under Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir in the firing by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel has exposed illegal direction issued by the CISF Directorate for the use of fire-arms to protect the installations. Altaf Ahmad was part of a mob of 400 villagers who took to the streets and later gathered near the local power station to protest against long hours of power outages.

On 30 September 2011, the CISF Deputy Inspector General, Shikha Goel reportedly issued a circular stating that the CISF Directorate had noted that some units were "failing to take proactive action" in protecting and securing the undertakings and that the CISF personnel should effectively protect the installations against mob violence, particularly where there is a delay in arrival of the local police or the magistrate.

The CISF circular is blatantly illegal. Section 129 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) provides that if protestors of an unlawful assembly do not disperse, they, if necessary, are to be arrested and confined. If it is still not possible to disperse, the CrPC further provides that the law enforcement personnel should use “as little force, and as little injury to person and property, as may be consistent with dispersing the assembly and arresting and detaining such persons”, with the authorisation by the Magistrate.

In clear violation of the CrPC, the first thing security personnel do is to use lethal weapon while dealing with protests which may turn violent. In most cases, police shoot without authorization of the Magistrate. Even when the police are authorised by the Magistrate, they usually shoot above the waist level to cause maximum damage i.e. loss of life or impairment for life. The Indian practice is in sharp contrast to the practice of the Britain which designed its bullets to be fired at the ground so that they would bounce up and hit the legs of demonstrators. In 1989, the British government further replaced its rubber bullets with the plastic ones for dealing with the protests in the Northern Ireland as the rubber bullets were considered too dangerous.

Each year the right to life of many citizens of India is violated in the disproportionate use of fire-arms by the law enforcement personnel. According to the statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau, in the last five years a total of 1,462 civilians were killed in police firing i.e. 472 in 2006, 250 in 2007, 317 in 2008, 184 in 2009 and 239 in 2010. In 2010, about 50.8% of all police firing cases were necessitated for ‘riot control'.

The patterns of police firing in India do not also meet the United Nations standards on the use of fire-arms. Rule 9 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials of 1990 states that “Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.” Further, Article 3(c) of the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials provides that “The use of firearms is considered an extreme measure. Every effort should be made to exclude the use of firearms, especially against children.”

Human life is too precious to be taken away by the trigger happy law enforcement personnel. The governments which are concerned about the right to life of their citizens have been using rubber and plastic bullets to reduce death and serious injuries.

Even the rubber bullets have been found dangerous. A study by the British medical doctors on the effects of rubber-coated bullets used by the Israeli police force during riots by Israeli-Arabs in northern and central Israel in early October 2000 found that Israeli Police often fire from too close range and aim poorly. The study published in The Lancet, a medical journal, in March 2002 concluded that “Resistance of the body surface at the site of impact (elastic limit) is the important factor that ascertains whether a blunt or penetrating injury is inflicted and its severity. Inaccuracy of rubber bullets and improper aiming and range of use resulted in severe injury and death in a substantial number of people. This ammunition should therefore not be considered a safe method of crowd control”.

In India, the use of rubber bullets is an exception while the use of live bullets is the norm. The State governments usually order inquiries to placate the situation once some protestors were killed. However, the use of force is often justified on the ground of mob violence. Since it is impossible to prove dis-proportionality of the use of fire-arms in case of violent protest, the inquiries often end up in exonerating the police personnel even if they simply aim to kill. The police firing on the protestors of land acquisition in Pune on 9 August 2011 captured on camera showed that the police fired to kill and not to control the crowd.

In the aftermath of Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960, even then Apartheid regime of South Africa started using the rubber bullets. If India is committed to ensure the right to life of its citizens, it must issue a circular to make it mandatory to use plastic coated bullets before the use of live bullets. After the Himachal Pradesh High Court disapproved of the use of live bullets to tackle the monkey menace in January 2011, the Himachal Pradesh State Wildlife Department started using the rubber bullets since May 2011. There is no reason as to why the guarantees to ensure the right to life of the monkeys cannot be extended to human beings.

PEOPLE OF KASHMIR SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN FORGRANTED

BY: SAYED ALI SAFVI

A four-year old boy dressed in green among a huge tsunami of protestors at the historic Eidgah on Friday August 22, waving a green flag, vociferously chants: “We want freedom.” I wonder whether he knows the meaning of the word or not, but one thing is for sure, he wants to become a part of the history that is in the making in Kashmir. He wants to breathe free, not under the shadow of the gun and the lurking fear, but under the umbrella of lasting peace and tranquility that have eluded the strife-torn valley for centuries.

The sentiments of the boy clearly indicate that all is not well in the so-called paradise on earth, Kashmir. Wherever you go in the valley today -- from north to south -- you will feel the anger emanating from a range of slogans reverberating through the valley.

However, amid the cacophony of slogans and screaming, there is one slogan that stands out: “We want freedom.” “Azadi” is literally in the air in the valley. “Azadi” is the most frequently uttered word in Kashmir today. People from all walks of life -- traders, employees, doctors, lawyers, students -- thronging the streets are demanding “Azadi from India”.

“People can live under unbelief, but they can not live in oppression,” declared Imam Ali (AS). It seems Kashmiris have finally woken up from the deep slumber of the decades-old oppression, started paying heed to the call of conscience, and realized that ‘enough is enough’. The deprived children of a wounded, widowed, and harassed mother called Kashmir have decided to break free her shackles.

What we are witnessing in Kashmir today is a classic example of a people’s movement. It is the denizens of the strife-torn vale of Kashmir who are calling the shots, and not the leaders. Separatist leaders may boast of having organized five massive rallies since August 11, but the fact of the matter is that it is the people who are driving the leaders this time. The valley is in no mood to be taken for a ride.

The valleyites can not be misled this time. The common man of Kashmir has suddenly become uncommon. The uncommon majority is fighting for the only thing they want: the right to self-determination.

“The separatist leaders who do appear and speak at the rallies are not leaders so much as followers, being guided by the phenomenal spontaneous energy of a caged, enraged people that has exploded on Kashmir’s streets,” activist, renowned author, and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy wrote in an article entitled “Land and Freedom”, which was published in the August 22 edition of The Guardian.

As long as the leaders fall in line with the people’s aspirations, they are the kings, but if they give up, they too would be in the line of fire. No leader is bigger than the movement. Perhaps Kashmiris have finally learned this basic principle of a resistance movement. By all means, what we are witnessing in Kashmir is a people’s movement. On top of it, this time there is no apparent support or backing from Pakistan or ISI, as has been religiously claimed by India in the past. The people on the streets are common Kashmiris -- old, young, women, children --who are demanding the right to self-determination, promised by India’s first prime minister -- a Kashmiri pandit -- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. They are not “terrorists” brandishing weapons or an uncontrollable mob on a killing spree.

The Hurriyat Conference and its leaders have the opportunity of a lifetime to turn woes into wows. In Sheikh Aziz’s death, the Hurriyat got a new lease on life. People have rested faith on Hurriyat leaders who have regained their lost political space. Geelani is perhaps at the end of his life and he would like to see the resolution of the Kashmir dispute before he closes his eyes. The support separatist leaders enjoy today is arguably unprecedented in Kashmir’s history. They must not let the sacrifice of Sheikh Aziz and others go to waste. They must ensure that the movement does not die down this time as it did in the early 1990s. New Delhi will try its best to sabotage the movement. So, you better keep your eyes wide open.

“Of course there are many ways for the Indian state to continue to hold on to Kashmir. It could do what it does best. Wait. And hope the people’s energy will dissipate in the absence of a concrete plan. It could try to fracture the fragile coalition that is emerging. It could extinguish this non-violent uprising and re-invite armed militancy. It could increase the number of troops from half a million to a whole million. A few strategic massacres, a couple of targeted assassinations, some disappearances and a massive round of arrests should do the trick for a few more years,” Roy wrote in “Land and Freedom”.

The Kashmiri youths spearheading the protests today are the generation of youth who have grown up during the militancy. They have seen it all. They have been brought up under the shadow of the gun. They have grown up, as Prem Shankar Jha said, “hating India and engorged with fear of the Indian army.” They have dashed all the psychological boundaries and the fear psychosis that Indian troops so vigorously tried to infuse into them over the past two decades.

“For them (Kashmiri youth) it is nothing short of an epiphany. Not even the fear of death seems to hold them back. And once that fear has gone, of what use is the largest or second largest army in the world?” Roy observed in the article in The Guardian.

Kashmiris, irrespective of political divide, are out on streets demanding the right to self-determination. Up to now, the demand for a plebiscite had primarily been put forth by Kashmiri separatists, but the current crisis in the state has compelled India’s leading strategic analysts to call for a referendum in Kashmir, a demand they considered a taboo only a couple of weeks ago.

India’s most read columnist, Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar, in his August 17 column in The Times of India, urged India to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir to allow the people of Kashmir to decide their destiny. “We promised Kashmiris a plebiscite six decades ago. Let us hold one now, and give them three choices: independence, union with Pakistan, or union with India. Almost certainly the Valley will opt for independence. Jammu will opt to stay with India, and probably Ladakh too. Let Kashmiris decide the outcome, not the politicians and armies of India and Pakistan,” he wrote.

Swaminathan also castigated India for drawing parallels with the colonial British. “The British insisted for a long time that India was an integral part of their Empire, the jewel in its crown, and would never be given up. Imperialist blimps remained in denial for decades. I fear we are in similar denial on Kashmir,” he said.

Vir Sanghvi, in his column in the Hindustan Times, called upon India to hold a referendum in the valley. “I reckon we should hold a referendum in the Valley. Let the Kashmiris determine their own destiny. If they want to stay in India, they are welcome. But if they don’t, then we have no moral right to force them to remain… If you believe in democracy, then giving Kashmiris the right to self-determination is the correct thing to do. And even if you don’t, surely we will be better off being rid of this constant, painful strain on our resources, our lives, and our honor as a Nation,” he wrote.

Sanghvi questioned India for hanging on to the people “who have no desire to be part of India.” “Why are we still hanging on to Kashmir if the Kashmiris don’t want to have anything to do with us?” he wrote.

The call for Azadi in Kashmir today is much louder than it has ever been. Slogans may be many but the real demand is Azadi.

Arundhati Roy has called for Kashmir’s Azadi from India, much to the dismay of New Delhi. “India needs azadi from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India,” said the celebrated author. Arundhati Roy attended two massive rallies in Srinagar, at the Tourist Reception Centre ground and the Eidgah, to show solidarity with Kashmiris.

“Every banner, full-throated cry or slogan today is an expression of anger with India. Be it in favor of Pakistan, Nizam-e-Mustafa (Islamic state), or simply freedom. There may be many contradictions in the movement, but the desire for independence has erupted suddenly again, with a zeal that can almost be romanticized as revolutionary,” writes Saba Naqvi (Outlook, September 1, 2008).

However, not many Kashmiris endorse Kashmir’s integration with Pakistan.

“When someone on the street here (Kashmir) says Pakistan or Nizam-e-Mustafa, what are they trying to convey? What he (the Kashmiri) is saying is that he rejects the present system. This does not necessarily mean he would choose Pakistan. People here know what has been happening within Pakistan. They are disappointed in what has become of the political system there. There is also a feeling that Pakistan has lost interest in Kashmir,” says Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (Outlook, September 1, 2008).

The writing is on the wall. Kashmiris want the right to self-determination, which India has denied them for six decades. The ball is in New Delhi’s court. Being a democratic country, it cannot turn a deaf ear to the incessant demands of Kashmiris, else everlasting peace will never be achieved in Kashmir.

CRACKDOWN ON FUTURE

August 2010:"I have come to Kashmir after a long time to spend some time with my relatives for couple of weeks. After I landed at Srinagar Airport, one of my cousins is waiting outside for me along with his driver. After seeing me he greeted me loudly by saying “Asalaamu alaikum” in a typical Kashmiri style. After that he hugged me and grabbed my luggage trolley which was subsequently passed on to the driver and we walked towards the parking lot where the vehicle was parked. While walking towards the parking lot I enquired the about the well being of everyone back home.

I got inside the new SUV which my cousin had recently purchased. We sat on the rear seat very comfortably. Driver started the vehicle and we drove towards our home situated in one of the new and upcoming localities of Srinagar city. While travelling, I could see only gloomy faces all along the road. Police and Indian Paramilitary forces manning the empty roads was quite a monotonous sight. Shops were shut, traffic was thin, visible marks of violence of previous days were imminent all around. Burnt tyre marks, scattered stones and bricks all around. Atmosphere was full of tension. I was already quite aware about the happenings, thanks to my Facebook activism, so I did not ask many questions. I was only experiencing everything with my own eyes now.

We reached home. My father, uncles, aunts and cousins were waiting for me. As I entered the courtyard, everyone came out to greet me. I was so happy to be in the company of my loved ones.

After having my lunch, I requested everyone to excuse me for a nap as I was feeling the jet lag. I went for the sleep. I got up before the Maghrib prayers. Quickly took a bath and joined my father and uncles for the prayers at the nearby mosque. After the prayers, everyone in the mosque came to greet me and to enquire about my well being. We started to leave the mosque one by one and on the road outside the mosque some teen aged boys along with few young men had assembled. They were shouting in the middle of the road. Most of them were masked and some had bricks in their hands. They were shouting, “We want freedom”, “Allahu Akbar” and “Waseem ko rehaa karo” (Release Waseem). I stopped there and asked one of the boys , “what has happened, why are you protesting in the evening. Is everything OK”. He said, “Police has arrested our friend Waseem who is only 17 years old. He has been lodged in the Police station. He is innocent. They are beating him”.

I became curious and asked, “Who is this Waseem ?”. He replied, “Waseem Ahmed Dar, son of Shaheed (Martyr) Fayaz Ahmed Dar”. When he uttered the name of Fayaz Ahmed Dar, I automatically was taken aback into the past. It was a flashback.




April 1995:

It was a pleasant morning. I had come to my home for the post exam vacations. It was already the second week of my vacation. I was awakened by an announcement through the loudspeaker of our mosque. My mother came rushing towards my room to wake me up. She knocked at the door of my room and called me to come out fast. I asked her to enter the room. After entering the room, she said, “Crackdown”. I said, “I heard the announcement”. She said, “Wait for others to come out and then join them”. I quickly had my bath and offered my Fajir prayers in my room. I saw everyone had already come out on the road including my father, my cousins and my uncles. I too joined them. We were flocked to a nearby field and asked to sit in lines by Indian Armed Forces, who were all around in huge numbers. It was already 8 AM in the morning now. Whole day passed peacefully. Indian Security Forces had laid siege of our locality and were searching all the houses one by one in the absence of men. Houses were without men and only small children were allowed to stay put with their mothers. All the men had been held at the gunpoint in the field outside. It was already 6 P.M in the evening; we were now feeling the cold and hunger severely on us. We had already sat in that field at the gun point for 12 hours. As we had started to show our resentment, some young boys were asked to line up in front of a vehicle in which a masked Mukhbir (informer) was sitting. As boys started walking past that vehicle suddenly the informer blew the horn of the vehicle. Boys were one by one asked to look into the window of the vehicle. Informer sitting inside identified three boys, who were whisked away to some unknown location. I was a bit lucky that day. I was not paraded in front of the vehicle. We all were asked to return to our homes and assemble again in the field by 6.30 A.M the next day. We all walked fast towards our houses. As we entered our houses, all the women folk were waiting for us at the main entrance . They were exhausted and looking tense.

We were offered tea and Bakirkhanis (Puffs) bought few days earlier. After having the tea, all of us stood up to offer the prayers which we had unintentionally skipped during the day. My mother and my aunts had prepared food for the family quickly. That day instead of 10 PM in the evening, we sat around the Dastarkhwan (Dining cloth) at 9 PM only as we were hungry and had to get up early the next day to sit in the Crackdown again. We were all having the dinner and women folk were narrating the whole day’s proceedings. We asked, “Did they misbehave with you”. My mother replied,” Although they were very rude, they however did not touch us but they came inside the rooms with their dirty shoes on”. We asked, “Are you sure they did not steal anything while searching our house.” Mother replied, “Allah knows, but they were tricked by us as we did not let them search back room where gold ornaments and other valuables has been kept. But still they ransacked our store room, overturned the rice drums and other food stuff.” My mother fearfully however could not hide something very important from us. She said, “We all were in too much fear because Fayaz Dar was in the house hiding”. We all were taken aback and asked, “What Fayaz Dar ?. How did he enter the house and how did he save himself from getting caught”. Mother , “As soon as you all left for the crackdown, Fayaz jumped over the boundary wall into our compound. He wanted to flee from the locality. He wanted to cross the lane into the other locality but he could not cross our compound as there were too many army men guarding the lane. He got stuck up here”. After a long pause my mother continued,” As I saw fear in his eyes, I told him do not risk to cross the lane. We will try to save you from them. I asked him to put off his jacket and start washing all the clothes piled up in the laundry. He obeyed and started to wash the clothes. I brought all the bed sheets and table cloths to him. I gave him too much of stuff for the whole day”. As army men entered our house, they had enquired about him and asked, why did not he join the men in the field to which my mother had replied that the guy was a domestic servant. “He has a lot of work to do here”. She had even cursed Fayaz in front of army men for being too lazy. She had told army men that,” this man will be happy to sit idle in the field with others as he loves laziness”. The officer among the army men had laughed at my mother and had asked her to send the guy for the identification parade next day. As the crackdown for lifted for the day, Fayaz had fled to some other location leaving behind heaps of washed clothes, Lenin and other stuff.

We were expecting that siege around our locality will be lifted during the night but to our surprise it was further intensified. We all went to bed one by one. We were again awakened by loudspeaker announcement the next day. No Azaan was called in our mosque that morning.

It was 6.30 A.M. We all were again herded back to the empty field. This day the morning was bit chilly. We all were again asked to sit in lines. As the field started filling up I was looking at every face and every face was frightened. Looking forward to a less tiring day I started to look for the neighborhood boys with whom I was friendly in my line. On the back, I found my younger cousin sitting and in the front, I was surprised as well as frightened to see Fayaz Ahmed Dar sitting with his head down. He was reciting Quranic verses silently. I called him by name, “Fayaz” to which he quickly responded in a very low pitched voice. He said, “Do not call me by this name. Pretend you do not know me.” I understood what he was expecting and what he was conveying. He carried on with his recitation of Quranic verses. Fear had left his mind. He was preparing for the worse. He did not stop even for a minute. He kept on reciting.

Then there was a call for the identification parade. As the soldier asked the line next to us to stand up for the parade, Fayaz started to recite, “Ashadu’an Laillaah il Lallaah, wa Ashadu’anna Mohammadur (SAWS) Rasoolul Laah” (There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger) all bit more loudly. I became fearful for him and everyone else. I too started to recite with him. As our turn came, our line stood up. We started to walk in front of the vehicle in which the informer was sitting. I was 7th or 8th in the line and Fayaz was before me. We walked slowly. 1,2,3,4,5,6, including Fayaz passed the informer without any problem and horn started buzzing. Army men pounded upon me and caught me by neck. They took me closer to the vehicle and showed my face to the masked man inside. He shakes his head and whispers, “ not him but the other one” pointing his finger towards Fayaz. I was left with a kick on my back and Fayaz was caught. He was thrown inside the vehicle in which the informer was sitting. After half an hour, Army men ordered us to leave to our houses. They had got the man, they were looking for.

We went to our homes relieved and this time too early. People were having a sigh of relief except me. I was frightened to death. We all were predicting the fate of Fayaz sitting at our homes. My mother was too sad. She was praying for his safety. I could see tears in her eyes. She was all the time narrating about the sequence of events of the other day. She had become hysteric.

It was 5:30 in the evening. Gunshots were heard. After a pause of five minutes, gunshots were heard again. This time they were more intense. We were all frightened. Everyone in our house had taken a cover. After a wait of 15 to 20 minutes, I peeped outside through my window. I could see army vehicles were leaving one by one.

After an hour we heard wails of women and some shouts outside on the road. I came out. Before I could ask what has happened, I saw wife of Fayaz had fainted on the road. I now understood Fayaz has been killed. They had taken Fayaz after his arrest to his home, in search for weapons and then to his in-laws house and then to the nearby abandoned Pandit house. There in that house he had been showered with bullets.

Fayaz had received in all 20 bullets on his body and had died instantaneously. After few days of his martyrdom we came to know that Fayaz was asked to hand over weapons by army men. He told them that he has hid them in his house. They took him there. He met there with his father and mother. He could not find his wife and children there in his house. His father told him that his wife has gone to her father’s home along with the children. Fayaz tricked army men again and told them that he had hidden his weapons in his in-laws home. Army men had beaten him ruthlessly in front of his father and mother. They took him to his In-laws house. There he meets his wife and children. Tried to kiss his son Waseem who was just two years old then but army men did not allow him. After that he tells the officer that, he has no weapons. He only wanted to have a last glance of his family. He was straight away taken for the execution from there. Fayaz left behind his two years old son and few months old daughter along with his widow and old parents. Fayaz was a militant who had never harmed any innocent. Fayaz was a pious and fearless man. He was just too brave to die naturally.




Back to 2010:

His son was arresting for street protests. Then he was accused of stone pelting which he never indulged in. He was slapped with PSA (Public Safety Act). Presently Waseem is lodged in a jail too far for her poor mother to visit. I am sure when Waseem will be released; it will be too late for him. He will come out from the jail not as Waseem but as Fayaz Ahmed Dar. He has been punished for his father again and again and their thirst for the punishment is unending. And the cycle carries on……



All the events narrated above are true but names of people have been changed.

© 2011 Koshur Mazloom