- Army’s actions generate debates on social media, public platforms
After India’s parliamentary by-polls in Srinagar constituency, shocking videos of protesters and Indian forces have surfaced, generating debates on social media and on other public platforms.
Moments after the authorities restored Internet on Thursday, social media was abuzz with the videos depicting the scenes outside polling stations in Budgam district, where seven of the eight civilians killed on the day of sham polling on April 9 (Sunday) were shot dead by Indian forces.
In one such video, a youth can be seen tied to the front of an armoured Indian army vehicle as a human shield against stone pelters on the polling day at Gundipora in Beerwah area of Budgam. In the video, a soldier can be heard warning protesters to face same fate for pelting stones on Indian forces.
The video has evoked severe anger and criticism from the masses. “For some reason, this recent image from Beerwah, of a human shield, a young man strapped to the bonnet of an army jeep (ahead of a mine protected vehicle, if you watch the full video) is really, really disturbing. And a pointer to the extreme crisis that Indian troops in Kashmir find themselves in,” shared Kashmiri filmmaker Sanjay Kak on his Facebook.
Emma Varley, a Facebook user, has responded to the post by equating it with the war-torn Syria, where reports of people being used as human shields have emerged. Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister, took to twitter to express his anger. “A warning can be heard saying stone pelters will meet this fate. This requires an urgent inquiry and follow up,” he wrote.
Human rights activist Khurram Pervez, in his post, wrote that this was not the first time that the army has used a civilian as human shield in the disputed state, but it has been happening for the past many decades. In another video shot probably by the polling staff at Rathsona, Budgam, the soldiers can be seen chasing protesters and shooting dead a youth from point-blank range.
The video generated anger among the masses, with people contesting the authorities’ claim of restraint being exercised by Indian forces. One of the videos circulating, shared by Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on his Twitter account, shows four Indian troops holding down a youth with their boots and using sticks to beat him.
He said the video was made in the area of Pulwama, a hotbed of unrest in the disputed state. Initially, two Indian soldiers are seen forcing the Kashmiri youth to the ground and straightening his legs. One soldier stands on the legs while the other starts hitting him repeatedly with a stick, making him scream in pain.
When the young man tries to get up, two more soldiers appear and grab his hair, forcing him back down, with a trooper putting his foot on the youth’s upper back while the other soldier resumes his brutal beating. Another video, also shared by Farooq, shows six Kashmiri youth, held in an Indian security forces vehicle, forced by Indian troops to chant slogans against Pakistan.
The young men are being repeatedly struck and abused by the security troops, who demand they shout anti-Pakistan slogans on cue. “Do you still want freedom,” an Indian troop can be heard asking one youth, who is being repeatedly hit and is bleeding from his head. In the latest surge of violence in the state, at least eight people were killed and more than two dozen injured on April 9.
