Sopore: The haunted town

Tawfeeq Irshad Mir

Sarcastically, driven by typical horrors, aggravated by miraculous norms, vibrant in gene pool, an entire business club adsorbed by wit, patience, a meticulous onset and much more, just a time clause to describe the generosity of the town, an oceans of ink will run out.
While I am half awake, mild conscious, slightly peeping through window with glossy eyes, minute snowflakes, hardly I could see and some hidden scars that continue to regain hold on my eyes.. 6th January and the town: running blank of words to designate these monstrous hours unleashed on the town and the aftermath that continuously atrophies the environment around the massacre.
Perhaps there is a special corner in hell reserved for those who fire their weapons indiscriminately into a crowd of unarmed civilians
“As if demons were ionising in the environment around the town and this time with perturb onslaught and the sinister was such, even the dogs didn’t barked, in a manner which even today sends jitters up one’s spine & puts to shame the wildest beast in a jungle.
It was on the morning of 6 January 1993 that a group of JKLF militants attacked a platoon of Border Security Force soldiers at Baba Yousuf Lane near Sopore killing one of them. In retaliation, the Indian forces fired at any one &every one coming in their sight & set fire to residential homes and business premises. The soldiers also indiscriminately fired at a public coach killing the driver and 15 passengers, including women & lap children, on spot. They also attacked three private cars and subsequently put them on fire.
The most heinous part of the crime was to herd local residents into nearby commercial establishments. The people, thinking that they were to undergo a cordon & search operation (Crackdown), which was a common feature those days, obeyed the instructions. These establishments, some of them containing inflammable material like cloth, paper etc., were set ablaze after sprinkling some combustible material(Paraffin or Gun powder) on them. People inside in these live infernos were made to perish, among sky shaking screams & shrieks. Anyone who tried to escape was fired at & killed. Fire brigades & ambulances were not allowed to go nearby & render any sort of assistance.
Official reports admitted that 250 shops and 50 homes were burnt down although local sources claim that as many as 450 structures were burnt down. Soon after the incident, a commission of inquiry under Justice Amarjeet Choudary of the Punjab and Haryana High court was set up, but it was soon called off after the judge refused to take up the assignment for reasons best known to him. Probably “National interest” was playing heavily on his mind. It was also rumoured that one of his closest relative was involved in the heinous massacre. The documents furnished by the government, in response to an RTI query later had revealed that government did not extend the time of inquiry commission. Rather, it had termed its existence “unnecessary” on the grounds that “purpose for which the commission was set up has not been achieved. “Later, no effort was made to inquire the incident.
While an FIR stands lodged against the forces, the police, on the directions of higher authorities has transferred the case to CBI which has not taken any action so far in the matter. The case is now being heard afresh by the State Human Rights Commission on a Public Interest Litigation which has instructed the CBI to file a status report.
“Kill them, burn them alive “with those words on his lips, how can a human be like this, living with impunity, carrying the gun”
Years have passed and the carnage still vibrant, the scars reconciling the memory lane triggering the massive inter neuronal alacrity and today while passing through these lanes, the establishments are reborn, the families multiplied but don’t know, the aura around is voracious as if air is deprived of oxygen.
(The writer is a nursing student at GMC Srinagar and can be reached at: [email protected])