Pseudo-secular media biased towards valiant cops fighting on streets in Kashmir
Deepak Zazia from Srinagar
Within hours after Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh landed at Srinagar on August 24 to review situation in the Valley, a group of terrorists lobbed two grenades on security forces in Pulwama district in which 18 persons were injured including one Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and one Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP). Terrorists hurled two grenades, followed by firing, at security personnel who were on duty near the Degree College in Pulwama town.
Attacks on security forces including cops of J&K have become routine affairs but biased media never reports such attack on the men in uniform,
reasons best known to the liberal
fundamentalists, who have launched a vicious campaign against security forces, fighting terrorism along with agitational terrorism.
On August 15, a commander of the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) had attained martyrdom while fighting with terrorists but our so-called secular media does not have time to say few words for that martyr. CRPF jawans from different parts of the country are fighting against stone pelters on one hand and terrorists on the other hand.
Over 4,000 security force personnel and nearly 2,500 civilians were injured following severe protests and stone pelting incidents in J&K.
According to official data over 1,200 incidents of severe protests and stone pelting in J&K after July 8 when dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani was eliminated.
There were 730 incidents of severe protests and stone pelting in the entire 2015 in which five civilians were killed and 240 injured while 886 security personnel were also injured.
Union Government has already advised security forces to strictly adhere to the Special Police Officers (SOPs) and resort to use of non-lethal weapons while handling law and order situations. There were 158 incidents of terrorist violence in the state till mid August this year this year in which 38 security force personnel lost their lives. In the entire 2015, there were 208 incidents of terrorist violence in which 39 security force personnel were killed.
While the pseudo secular media is running stories on people with damage eyes round the clock but no one has care for the security on Shafkat Ahmed, a personal security officer of SSP Srinagar, who was chased by unruly protesters on July 14 as he was leaving from Parimpora Police station, and his vehicle was put on fire. He was assaulted on face damaging both his eyes. Shafkat is now being treated in ICU of 92 Army Base Hospital in Srinagar. During the first 10 days of Kashmir unrest, according to the government, some 2,000 civilians and 1,500 security personnel have got injured, and the most critical are being treated in the Army Hospital Srinagar.
Brigadier MS Tivetia commandant 92 Army Base Hospital told media after first week of violence, “28 CRPF and police personal have been operated in Hospital, who had multiple injuries of stones and splinters”. He said it took 8 hours for doctors to operate on one of the injured police personal who had multiple fractures on his face.
While the violence has started to abate a bit, the tension between the men in uniform and people who waged protests will take time to de-escalate.
A police driver Feroz Ahmad was killed after a mob pushed his mobile bunker vehicle into river Jhelum at Sangam in Anantnag district. After hectic efforts his body was fished out but there is no media to air story on the family of that Kashmiri cop who was killed in such a gruesome manner by the agitators.
Protestors, on the directions of their political masters across the border, have been giving threats to the cops of J&K Police to resign otherwise they will attack their families. It was result of the these threats that some cops have sent their families to the camps of security forces and couple of them have publically announced to resign.
Fear on cops can be gauged from the fact that on August 23 two SPOs had publicly resigned in Sopore in Baramulla district of north Kashmir. They were garlanded by the stone pelters after they announced their
resignation. SPOs Waseem Ahmed and Firdous Ahmed announced their
resignation during a rally at Baharampora in Sopore, where one of them raised pro-freedom slogans.
These SPOs were associated with the J&K Police’s counter-insurgency unit, the Special Operations Group. They resigned after threats from local residents.
“I have quit my job and seek forgiveness if anyone has suffered because of me,” Waseem said during the rally. He later told reporters that his family had been threatened and harassed and some people had tried to torch his house, some media reports suggested.
Following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani last month, anger had been rising against the J&K Police, engaged in handling the law and order situation on the streets of Kashmir.
There had been calls of social boycott of the police. On many occasions, separatists and protesters had threatened certain police officers for alleged atrocities on protesters
during the current unrest. Posters had appeared in various areas threatening police officers with dire consequences.
Despite such pressure on them the J&K Police have registered 537 cases against rioters in four districts of south Kashmir which have been the epicentre of the present unrest.
“In the past 44 days, the police have registered 537 cases against the rioters and anti-national elements. As many as 381 miscreants have been arrested and booked under relevant provisions of the law,” an official spokesman said in Srinagar on August 23. “Numerous rioters also got injured in action by the police and security forces while
controlling the law and order situation,” he said.
The spokesman said the police had remained on the forefront while dealing with the law and order
situation all over the state. “All police stations and posts in south Kashmir are fully functional and are working round-the-clock with the aid of other security agencies in
bringing the situation under control. The police have risen to the occasion and faced the challenges with
tremendous restraint despite grave provocations in the form of mobs attacking police establishments,
vehicles and personnel,” he said. “Due to the ongoing problems, there is a very high concentration of security forces deployed at Tral and there are no inputs regarding running of any terrorist training camp,” the spokesman said.
