Editorial: Mindless killing

 

Another mindless killing at the hands of government forces. A teenager student was killed once again by the troopers who believed that the young boy proved a disruption to a cordon-and-search operation that was laid by the troops to trap some militants reportedly hiding in the area.

19-year-old Adil Ahmad Magray son of Farooq Ahmad of Ganapora Shopian, was fired upon by the troops when protests broke out in the area following the cordon. The young boy was rushed to a hospital, however, his injury was so grievous that doctors declared him as brought dead. Adil, a BA first year student at Shopian degree college, was eldest among five brothers.

The incident once again brings to mind the sad and gory reality of how a low a value the troopers have set upon the human life in Kashmir.

Ironically, protests in Kashmir Valley have taken a completely new turn. Earlier during troops-militant standoff, people used to run for cover but now the reverse in being witnessed across the length and breadth of the Valley.

No longer the people care for their lives anymore. They in turn make it a point to reach the encounter site and help the militants to escape the security cordon.

What is more ironic is that the new trend of protests that has emerged over the last three months has hardly persuaded the government to frame a considered security response which ends the avoidable civilian killings.

Worse enough, the government’s response to such public protests has witnessed no change at all. For the trooper on the streets there is no other option than to open fire at the civilians making them a direct target.

For the government and the security agencies, including the police firing on the protestors remains the preferred recourse even if the mob that attacks the troopers comprises of a motley crowd of few young men.

One fails to understand that why the security agencies are not being roped in by the government and asked to exercise due caution and handle crowds more scientifically. This will ensure that there is little possibility of losing a human life. But considering the recurrent deaths during protests in Kashmir, one is inclined to believe that the security agencies are dangerously complacent about the loss of lives in Kashmir.

The phenomenon is too dangerous as the present government has failed to learn any lesson from the past seven years. In 2010 around 120 youth fell to bullets and the aftermath of those killings is still haunting the present setup in the state. Let the government wake up to the harsh reality of dissent in Kashmir, the sooner the better.

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