Death in the afternoon

Kashmir is again on the edge. The death of a 28-year old man Rizwan Assad Pandit of Awantipora in SOG custody has sparked outrage across the political and peoples’ spectrum. Politicians of all hues are enraged over the gruesome incident. On Wednesday valley shut under a protest strike called by the separatist Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL). It cannot be a mere chance that Rizwan died when he was in custody. Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police has a shameful history of arresting people, killing and torturing them in custody. Some police officers associated with SOG have earned the notoriety of kidnapping and killing people for ransom. They have often been shielded by their seniors and political masters and even promoted in ranks merely for the brutality they did. Soura triple murder case would always haunt the minds in this regard. A DSP (Abdul Rashid Khan alias Rashid Billa) arrested three persons on June 23, 1999 who were part of a baraat. During frisking the police found some cash with them (reportedly Rs.30, 000) which ultimately became the cause of their death. Three after their arrest their bodies were found in Uri Baramullah. Instead of taking any cognizance of the crime the concerned officer committed, he was given full protect by his senior officers. One of the senior officers from Punjab reportedly sheltered him in his farm house in Punjab to evade the arrest under court orders. Though a court in Jammu acquitted him in 2008 but the families of the victims were never satisfied with the court direction. On 3o July, 2011 Nazim Rashid Shalla of Sopore town was picked by a joint party of SOG. He was returned dead to his father Abdul Rasheed Shalla next morning. Shalla, who visited the police station to see his son after his arrest, saw SOG men beating Nazim. He saw his son laying flat on the floor in half-dead condition. He was forced to leave the site only to receive his body next morning. State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), a government appointed body, in 2013 confirmed the concerned Superintendent of Police (SP) involved in Nazim’s killing and recommended action against him. No action was taken against the SP. The same officer (he was DSP then) was found guilty by the SHRC of raping and torturing mother-daughter duo at Zachadara in Handwara in 2008. Despite these findings by SHRC, he was promoted as a SP. He was also awarded the Director General of Police’s Commendation Medal for 2010, Gallantry award on 26 January 2012, a Presidents Police Award for Gallantry on 15 August 2012. That is how criminals are rewarded in Jammu and Kashmir.
The list of criminal actions of the SOG is quite a long one. Rizwan is the latest addition to hundreds of persons who have been done to death during custody. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the death of Rizwan but people in Kashmir know how such commissions are used as a façade to hide murderous actions of the police. Not a single case referred to the commissions set by various governments in the state was ever completed. The farce of inquiry commissions is played to pacify the anger among the common people. If government is serious in dealing with Rizwan’s case sincerely and judiciously, the concerned members and officers of the SOG should immediately suspended till inquiry is completed. Since that has not been done, and that would never be done, Rizwan’s case too would be buried in official files soon. Since events and incidents occur in Kashmir so quickly, people barely remember what had happened yesterday. If the governor’s administration wants to be remembered for some good things in Kashmir, Governor Satpal Malik should immediately act against the SOG men involved in Rizwan’s killing.