“We say freedom and they shoot”

During siege we faced atrocities: Varmul residents

Greater Kashmir Sept 4

HILAL AHMAD/ARSHAD HUSSAIN


Varmul, Sep 3: Women of old Varmul town released their pent up anger on Tuesday morning against the crushing curfew and atrocities by armed forces by throwing grotesque barricades on the old Varmul Bridge into the Jhelum. The barricades—made of blocks of welded angled steel topped with one or two rows of concertina wire— had been put at the two ends of the bridge connecting old town with the district headquarters.
“We say freedom and they shoot,” said Muhammad Ramzan, standing on the bridge, “For the past fortnight we were like Palestinians facing siege and cruelty. Across they were aiming guns at us after having cut us off from the highway and other areas, and on this side we were like caged birds constantly threatened, beaten, and humiliated.” He said the signs of violence by the troops can be found on the bodies of scores of civilians.
Almost every civilian we spoke with accused the police, CRPF, and army of committing atrocities, including violence on children, women, and handicapped people. They said the troops aimed the tear smoke shells directly at the protesters.



Disfigured
Aijaz Ahmad Dar lost sight in the left eye when a tear smoke shell fired by police hit him. His right eye is sparkling brown. His damaged eye is the scary colour of a crushed grape. The two eyes make a horrifying contrast. At SMHS the doctors operated on him twice. Hesitantly he says, “Doctors have told my family that I won’t see with that eye again.” His uncle Muhammad Ashraf Dar said they try to console Aijaz by telling him that he would regain the sight. Javed used to sell fruits on a pushcart. He had dropped out of school because of poverty. The treatment so far has cost him Rs 10, 000. He would be operated again for a fractured nasal bone. With the impact of the tear smoke shell the upper set of teeth has loosened a bit. Multiple traumas are likely to keep him out of job for a long time to come. Javed was wearing dark goggles, which doesn’t match up with his shabby attire. Anybody could have mistaken him for a street urchin who is trying to show off. Before the tragedy he had never worn goggles.
“I don’t know how it will affect my life. For the time being I only know that mother weeps all the time and I am no more the same person,” he said.



Family ‘shelled’
Tear gas shells fired by the CRPF troopers and Police hit the cousins Khurshid Ahmad Malla and Tanveer Ahmad Malla of Mohalla Mir Sahib. Khurshid, a graduate student of arts, is bed ridden with a wounded thigh. His mother Raja Begum, 47, had gone to the district hospital for treatment. A tear smoke shell had hit her knee during the demonstrations last Sunday. Tanveer Ahmad, 22, a tailor, has 14 stitches in his upper lip.
“They were aiming tear gas shells directly at people. No warning shots were fired,” the Malla cousins said.



‘No respect for age’
Sonaullah Hajam, 65, said he was not among the protesters but the forces, CRPF and Police, fired a tear gas shell which hit him on the right arm. He said, “After the protests the troops have started to terrorise people. They have been so frustrated by the peaceful demonstrations that they want to stop them at all costs.”



Child protester spends
3 days in jail
“I was the youngest among many adults who were detained in the police station,” said Aqib Majeed Halwai, 13, son of Abdul Majid Halwai of Jalal Sahib Mohalla. Aqib was arrested during a demonstration a fortnight ago, and released three days later. “When his grandfather Ghulam Rasool Halwai went to the police station to seek Arif’s release he too was arrested and released four days later,” said Aqib’s mother Afroza. She said the troopers had ransacked her house.
“On the first day they beat me up and everybody else they had arrested,” Aqib said, showing his bruised left arm.
Aqib’s uncle Shabir Ahmad, with a humpback and deformed leg, was hospitalised for back injuries. He said, “I can’t even stand properly on my legs and they said I was throwing stones at police and CRPF.”
“When the troopers came to collectively punish the entire locality for pro-freedom demonstrations, they entered their house and dragged Shabir out of the house. Several women tried to save him but they took him away, dragging him all along on this rough lane. How can they be so cruel with a handicapped man,” said Maimoona, a neighbour, who said she sustained knee injuries when a trooper hit her with a bamboo stick. Her ankle was wrapped in crepe bandage.



Women face violence
Bilquees, 32, was attending to her brother Muhammad Rafiq Malla, a fruit vendor, in her home. Malla too has been hit by a tear smoke shell. Due to the injuries he has developed fever and looks quite weak. Bilquees said while his older brother is lying in bed at home, her younger brother Zahoor is living under constant fear of being arrested and beaten by an army officer “Captain Gaurav Sharma” of 46 Rashtriya Rifles battalion.
“Before the fresh agitation Sharma called Zahoor to the camp and beat him up ruthlessly,” Bilquees said, adding, “three days back the CRPF and police entered our homes and beat up several women, but we chased them away and pelted stones at them.” Sometimes he says he is a Muslim, but we don’t know what his real name is.
The residents said the captain always carries with him a camera. “He would sling a gun from the shoulders of children and then shoot their pictures. We don’t know the reason why he does this,” said Fatima of Jalal Sahib.
Shahzada of Mir Mohalla said, “They smashed glass panes of our windows and the shards fell over my pregnant sister Mehbooba sitting beneath the window. While leaving they struck a blow on her belly.”
Noora, 90, said, “They are real terrorists. One of them pointed a gun at me.” Her daughter in law Amina said, “My son (named Javed Ahmad) was caught on the road and his hands were burnt.”
The women of the area said the troopers come into their houses in the absence of men.