Mohammad Altaf Bhat was slain in an encounter in Hyderpora; however, the family insist he was not a militant and not on the premises when he was killed. In frightening sequence, other civilians have also been killed in firings, including a dental surgeon and others killed in the Hyderpora encounter included a foreign ultra, a local militant and two other locals.
The IGP of Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said, “The house owner who was injured in a terrorist fire succumbed to his injuries.
A tweet from the Kashmir Zone Police: #SrinagarEncounterUpdate: The house owner who was injured in terrorist fire, succumbed to his injuries. #Terrorists have been hiding on top floor of his building. As per source and digital evidence, he has been working as #terror associate. Search is still going on: IGP Kashmir.
Saima Bhat, the slain man’s niece, said her uncle was an innocent man and not involved in any militant activity. “My uncle has been murdered. He was used as a human shield in a staged encounter. He runs a hardware shop and owns the complex where the forces had come for checking,” she said.
The family state that the encounter did not take place in the complex and states that the police and Army searched the premises thrice and then took Altaf Bhat along.
“#SrinagarEncounterUpdate: The house owner who was injured in the terrorist fire, succumbed to his injuries. #Terrorists have been hiding on the top floor of his building. As per source and digital evidence, he has been working as #terror associate. Search is still going on: IGP Kashmir (sic),” the official Kashmir zone police tweeted.
Police had surrounded the Hyderpora locality in the evening and within a few hours said it killed two unidentified militants in the gunfight. “During the ensuing encounter, two unidentified militants were killed, while a search operation was going on,” police tweeted a second time.
His family asserts that Altaf Bhat had no terror links and one of his nieces says that “My uncle was murdered, he runs a cement and hardware shop and owns the complex which the police searched.” She asserted that he had no militant-terrorist connections, directly or indirectly. She said that they were on the Barzulla Bridge, searching for his body after they failed to get it on visiting the PCR and police station. They want to at least give him a decent burial.
Bhat is survived by his wife, two daughters, and son.
Out of the four killed in the encounter in Srinagar, Altaf Bhat was used as a human shield and had no links with any militant group. On Monday night, the family staged protests demanding the body of Mohammad Altaf.
Police officials said that the house owner was injured in a terrorist fire and later succumbed to his injuries. “Terrorists have been hiding on the top floor of the building. As per source and digital evidence, he has been working as a terror associate. Search is still going on,” said Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir.
Video from family where the daughter says that there was no proof that there were militants in the building and claimed that innocent civilians were shot. There was no back firing as would have been had there be terrorists. She said they took her father once and sent him back and then again took him and the first time, they fired at him along with others and claims they were not terrorists. She said father was innocent and through tears said that brother is in class 3, asking for his father, and does not know he is dead. She asks, “What can I tell him?” In the video she is heard begging the government to give them his body and she claimed that there were no militants in the vicinity, but they killed three innocent citizens because they were Muslims.
Daughter of Altaf Ahamad Bhat who was killed in Hyderpora Srinagar encounter talking to media.#kashmir pic.twitter.com/mHbcjGnmAy — kamran yousuf (@kamranyousuf_) November 16, 2021
In another heartbreaking video daughter of Altaf Ahmed who was killed in the Hyderpora encounter said sobbingly that around 10 a.m., there was a call from her uncle who was crying telling her the news, and then she heard horrible screaming. She ran to the spot and saw her father dead and she asked the security forces, “Uncle why did you do this? How could you think my father was like this?” In answer, they laughed at her mockingly when she asked them how could they kill her innocent father. She said that her cousin told her that her father was taken three times, and the third time, they shot him down.
"How shall I explain it to my brother. He is much younger than I am. He doesnt know anything. He is so attached to his father and so am I." Daughter of Altaf Ahmed who was killed in an Hyderpora encounter. pic.twitter.com/5ILXTGP86D — Basit Zargar (باسط) (@basiitzargar) November 16, 2021
The family weeps: Family members of Dr.Mudasir who was killed in Hyderpora encounter vehemently deny police claim that he had any links with militants and seeks his body to perform his last rites.
Family members of Dr.Mudasir who was killed in Hyderpora encounter vehemently deny police claim that he had any links with militants and seeks his body to perform his last rites. pic.twitter.com/ioBjXOZYaT — Basit Zargar (باسط) (@basiitzargar) November 16, 2021
Meantime, a dental surgeon, Mudasir Gul, was killed in the firing in Kashmir taking the death toll to four after he was shifted to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, reports said.
For the last two years, the police authorities in Kashmir do not hand over the bodies of militants killed in encounters to the family for last rites claiming that their funerals will create a law and order situation.
Mohammad Altaf Bhat was the house owner while the terrorists had been hiding on the top floor of his building and Mudasir Gul was killed in the cross firing in Kashmir. Innocent civilians are being killed.
In turbulent times, it is easy to frame anyone in the line of fire as a terrorist and the public soaks it up gullibly. Without verifying such claims, it is important to provide clear evidence before declaring anyone a terrorist because many may just be innocent civilians caught in the line of fire and it affects their families negatively. Taking refuge in complexes cannot be stopped, especially under the threat of a gun, so a militant in your home does not prove you are a terrorist. One can ask whether these are brutal encounters just to subjugate the people in fear or to reveal efficiency by shooting down innocent civilians. Definitely, the state of affairs in Kashmir is miserable at the present time.
At the end of the day, can we say that Kashmir is in good and safe hands? Despite being the most militarized zone in the world with the heaviest security, atrocities and killings are going on each day and increasing and for the first time as well, even migrant workers are being killed along with innocent civilians in targeted murders. Was the removal of article 370 the death knoll of deeper disasters to hit Kashmir and a big mistake with no good plan ahead of such a major move, such as building economy or lives of the people and providing jobs and destroying tourism? The government of India stirred up a hornets nest by making a critical move without a strong foundation and backup plan. The situation is out of control amid broken hearted Kashmiris and who in the world is listening to their bitter weeping?
We are hardened and indifferent today and hide behind a mask to cover our weaknesses and revel in calling anyone terrorist at the drop of a hat.
Rita
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