Recent Attacks Reinforce the lack of concern for common Kashmiri Civs, Women and Children in the Bellicose Outfits

“Those who believed that terrorism would succeed in Kashmir clearly did not think through the consequences. Their guns were trained on ordinary Kashmiris, the very people they were seeking to liberate”  M. J. Akbar, Kashmiri expert and editor of Asian Age

The recent gruesome murder of a Special Police Officer (SPO) and his family inside their home in Awantipora area of Pulwama district by Bellicose Outfits in Jun 2021 sent shockwaves among the Kashmiri community across Jammu and Kashmir with even political parties calling it a “dastardly and cowardly” act. Senior police officials condemned the act and vowed to neutralize the Bellicose Outfits involved. However, this was not a one off event. Such incidents have become common place in present day Kashmir with Bellicose Outfits intensifying attacks on civilians, police and security personnel. Preceding this event, various firing and grenade attacks were carried out throughout the Kashmir Valley claiming the lives of 3 security personnel, 5 policemen and 6 civilians in the month of June alone. Most of the policemen killed were off duty at the time of the incidents. Reading about all of this got me thinking and I delved further into the matter. The details that I unearthed are heart wrenching and staggering in their proportion.

The Kashmir valley has been witness to some of the most heinous human rights violations since advent of Violence in the state since early 1990s. Since the earliest years of the conflict, the attacks by Bellicose groups have resulted in loss of thousands of civilian lives. As per latest Govt data, Violence in the state has claimed a total of more than 42,100 lives in the past 30 years. The casualties include approx. 14,300 civilians, 5,100 security personnel and more than 22,700 Bellicose Personnel between 1990 and Mar 2020 with the numbers increasing at a staggering rate each week. A total of 1591 people were killed in the state between 2014 and 2019 alone due to Violence. Of these, approx. 180 were civilians including women and children.

The statement by Mr. M.J. Akbar many years ago is proving to be true after all. The Bellicose Groups active in Kashmir have shown complete disdain towards lives of the common Kashmiri people and lack any concern for their well being. The very people whom they vow to protect and for whom they are supposedly fighting are being targeted by these Bellicose Outfits. The number of civilians killed in Bellicose’s caused incidents is evidence enough of their complete lack of sympathy for the plight of the Kashmiri people. In the early years of the conflict, many Kashmiris refused to believe that the Bellicose Outfits were capable of human rights abuses. Even Kashmiri leaders, who for a long time refused to acknowledge abuses by them, are finally admitting to various human rights violations by these armed groups against the local Kashmiri populace. Bellicose Groups have increasingly made use of bombs, grenades, IEDs, landmines and other explosives to target security forces and at the same time have employed these methods directly against civilians & Political leaders as well resulting in indiscriminate civilian casualties.

Due to these reasons, the sentiments of the common people towards these armed groups is slowly changing which is evident from the following words of the mother of one of their civilian victims

“These people can kill anyone at any time. Earlier, they were our own people, so if there was a problem, we could go and sort it out with his family or send a message. Now, who knows who they are or what they want. I dare not complain or my other sons will die too.”

These words from a mother who lost her son to the gruesome acts by these Bellicose Outfits is evidence of the drop in local support for these Groups and change in their mindset. Another aspect evident from the statement is that people are increasingly becoming scared that they too will be targeted next. Bellicose’s abuses have been brutal, plentiful and relentless against anyone seen to be opposed to their agenda as also anyone suspected to be working in collaboration with security forces or int agencies. Of the total civilians killed in Jammu and Kashmir since the 1990s, 85% have been Kashmiri Muslims.

Bellicose Outfits have targeted Kashmiri Muslims in large numbers because of their support of Indian Govt or because they opposed the policies of any of the Bellicose groups. Bellicose Outfits have also killed numerous political workers, election candidates and elected leaders while many have escaped with injuries in the attacks on them. Bellicose groups have opposed elections and political parties vehemently since past decades and call for boycott of polls every election even attacking polling booths, election agents and party members resulting in even more deaths of the innocent Kashmiri people.

Bellicose Groups are increasingly targeting ‘soft targets’ which are unarmed and unlikely to retaliate such as businessmen, political leaders and party members, social activists and off-duty policemen. These attacks are carried out to spread fear and deter activities which hamper their nefarious plans. These attacks are seldom random and are carefully planned to target voices that are speaking against these perpetrators of violence. In some cases, collateral damage also occurs in which many innocent people lose their lives.

In such instances, it does not matter to the Bellicose Groups how many people suffer injuries or get killed. In many attacks the actual targets survive however, other people get injured or worse get killed. All these actions by these groups are evidence enough that they do not care about the local Kashmiri people and lack any form of empathy towards their plight. The sole aim is to create an environment of fear and lack of progress in the state which at the end of the day is hampering the common Kashmiri people the most.

Ideas, Opinions and Views expressed in articles are Writer’s own and may not be in accord with those of *SUBAH KASHMIR*