Jagdish R Sharma
Some events in the recent past in Jammu and Kashmir have ignited hopes that an ecosystem that protected and promoted secessionist elements might be smashed to smithereens. Gradually we are witnessing the shattering of the environs that ruled the roost in the erstwhile State of Jammu Kashmir that promoted and sheltered the antinational elements and punished the nationalist forces. It may seem bizarre, but it was the common practice of the separatists and some political outfits to stage fake narratives to tarnish the image of security forces and India. A well-orchestrated ecosystem was working 24×7 at the behest of across-the-border mastermind handlers to promote and hatch fallacious propaganda. These fallacious incidents created law and order problems for several days. Precious lives were lost, and property worth crores was damaged due to public unrest. The administration had to face tough times to deal with the situation. The atmosphere used to be emotionally surcharged during these fabricated allegations. Sometimes security forces had to use force to quell the unruly mob. Many times, security forces had to retreat to prevent the loss of civilian lives.
Anti- India forces sitting across the borders were agog with happiness and the foreign media took keen interest to grab the opportunity. Special coverage with headlines was given to the specific events, to portray Jammu Kashmir in a debased manner. While picking up these selected incidents, human rights activists cursed India and condemned it for human rights violations. The human rights of perpetrators of violence received more attention as compared to the peace-loving people and security forces.
There are several examples when the people at the helm of affairs in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir didn’t care pertaining to the prevailing ecosystem that acted in tandem with the perpetrators of violence. Rather they allowed it to take an ugly turn. They did not bother to take any serious action to unearth the evil designs of the anti-national elements. The truth remained hidden, and their narratives were touching the sky. To corroborate these facts, I would like to remind the readers of the news item published in the media23rd June 2023,that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha dismissed two doctors under Article 311 of the Constitution.
The two doctors were sacked from Government services for colluding with Pakistan-based terror groups and fabricating evidence to make the death by drowning of two women Asiya Jan and Neelofar of Shopian as rape and murder with a view to creating unrest in the Kashmir valley which eventually lasted seven months in 2009 in which seven civilians lost their lives and 103 others were injured.
On May 30, 2009, Asiya Jan and Neelofar, were found dead in a stream in Shopian. Under a well-planned strategy, the drowning of these two women was projected as rape cum murder by security personnel. The allegations gained credibility due to tampering with evidence by the two doctors that they were raped and murdered. Four policemen were arrested; not even remotely linked with the case.
The doctors dismissed from services by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir were on the payroll of J &K Govt. but were obeying the orders of the people sitting across the border who were hell-bent to see the J&K burning by all crooked means. Nighat Shaheen Chilloo, who was working as Consultant Gynaecologist at Sub District Hospital in Government Health Department at Chadoora, Budgam and Dr Bilal Ahmad Dalal, Medical Officer posted at NTPHC, Government Health Department Takiya Imam, Shopian turned out to be the important key players in hatching conspiracy against the Indian state at the behest of Pakistan and terror outfits with a view to generate unrest and keep the pot of militancy boiling in the Kashmir valley.
Consequences of such fabricated and designed unrest take a toll on both sides, the law-and-order enforcing agencies and the civilian population. It may be in the form of the unceremonious exit of honest and dedicated officers or physical loss to the force and the loss of life and property of people. It amounts to a collateral loss for India. The antinational elements sitting across the border always want to bleed India. The traitors who are on the payrolls of Govt. and political outfits who encourage and shield them should be identified and eliminated timely to defeat the designs of the enemy of peace.
Many officers belonging to Army and security forces with good service records have been discouraged and unceremoniously shown the door for no fault of theirs.
The political bosses were also of no use at that time, as they couldn’t gauge the situation and evil designs of the enemy, or they were in consonance with them. This unrest followed by a simple drowning incident of Shopian has also led to the unceremonious exit of top police brass including the then Special Director General of Police Dr Ashok Bhan and the then Inspector General (Kashmir) B Srinivasan. In addition, four police officers including a district SP were arrested during the initial investigations and put in jail. However, the CBI investigation later revealed that they were falsely implicated. Thanks to the fantastic investigation done by the CBI that played a crucial role in bringing down street violence and in pushing back the false narratives. It gave much-awaited respite to the officials.
According to some media reports, though the CBI did a herculean job, yet the justice remained elusive. You can guess the confidence and audaciousness of the prevailing ecosystem that the local CBI Counsel was threatened by the terror outfits and their assets not to pursue the case. The CBI investigation also exposed the devious and diabolical role of some other elements of this ecosystem that include, lawyers, doctors, and others who subverted and obstructed justice.
The CBI’s local Counsel who was treated like a lame duck, repeatedly failed to appear, and represent the CBI’s case in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in an adverse order that had grave national security implications. Such was the fear prevailing in the mind of the CBI counsel, that out of 40 hearings, he appeared only on six hearings because he was threatened by the terror ecosystem ruling the roost prior to August 2019. It went on unnoticed and unaddressed for a shocking period of around eight years and three months.
CBI was able to expose the nexus of the doctors, lawyers and many others who were acting at the behest of the Pak handlers. It took the assistanceof an AIIMS forensic team comprising Dr T D Dogra and Dr Anupama Raina, who got the bodies exhumed and found that Asiya Jan’s hymen was intact. In December 2009, the CBI concluded that the two women were neither raped nor murdered. As such no case can be made out. It said the lawyers had hatched a conspiracy and forced two persons to become witnesses.
The CBI filed the charge sheet against six doctors, five lawyers and two civilians, including the brother of one of the deceased women, for fabricating evidence.The 66-page CBI report absolved the policemen, who were in jail for around 47 days in connection with the case and against whom a state-appointed judicial commission had levelled charges of destruction of evidence, of all the charges. Apart from this, the CBI report accused all these 13 accused of hatching a criminal conspiracy to stir public anger against the security forces.
The CBI report quoted the medical opinion of AIIMS doctors who conclusively stated that the deaths took place “due to asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem drowning”. They said the lacerated wound on Asiya Jan’s forehead was not sufficient to cause death.
Besides Dr Dalal and Dr Chilloo; Dr Nazia, Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi and Dr Maqbool Mir mentioned such false facts in their different post mortem reports which supported the theory of rape and murder of the women whereas it has been conclusively provided by the findings of AIIMS/CFSL New Delhi that the deceased women had died due to ante-mortem drowning besides there being no evidence to support any attempt to rape .
“Investigations showed that there were four sets of post-mortem reports having variations in all of them and all of which had been signed by Dr Nazia. False post-mortem reports had been prepared by the doctors in connivance with Dr Ghulam Mohammad Paul.
According to the CBI report, “During Investigations, it came to fore that Dr Bilal Ahmad Dalal, Dr Nazi Hassan, Dr Nighat Shaheen, Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi, Dr Maqbool Mir and Dr Ghulam Mohammad Paul though being public servants were party to a criminal conspiracy to prepare false post-mortem reports, wrongful replied to questionnaires and fabricated/fudged slides with an object to defame police and security forces”.
This is not the one case; several such cases have taken place so far. The unrest ofJuly 2016 after killing of terror outfit commander has taken a toll of many lives and loss of property.
There were many occasions when fabricated narratives were set to defame and malign the image of the security forces as they were obstacles in their way to spread mayhem in Jammu and Kashmir. On a few occasions, militant outfits also wore military uniforms while killing people to generate sentiments against security forces.
On the other side, the same ecosystem downplayed the case of Girija Tickoo, in June 1990. She was brutally gang-raped and horribly tortured. Girija was cut into two pieces using a mechanical saw while she was still alive, right from the middle of her body. Her family still awaits justice, just like the hundreds and thousands of other Kashmiri Pandits whose suffering has been deemed ‘propaganda’ by the ‘liberal’ section of the media and society.
The fabricated and false narratives need to be smashed in time so that the truth prevails. In a democracy, such elements have no place in society who are perpetrators of violence. We can agree to disagree with our opinions but cannot impose our thoughts. No one can compensate for time and life. Let the truth prevails.