SRINAGAR: Hundreds of people in occupied Kashmir staged protests on Wednesday, accusing government forces of killing an elderly man in front of his minor grandson during a gun battle with Kashmiri fighters, which also left a trooper dead.
The Kashmiri fighters opened fire from a mosque attic in the northern town of Sopore, setting off a battle with security forces, paramilitary police spokesperson Junaid Khan told media.
The family of Bashir Ahmed Khan alleged that he was dragged out of his car after the showdown and shot dead by paramilitary troopers. His three-year-old grandson, who was travelling with him, was later pictured sitting on his chest.
“Locals said that he [Khan] was brought out of his car and shot dead by the forces,” Farooq Ahmed, a nephew of the deceased man told media.
“They told us that someone in uniform then put the child on his chest as he lay dead on the road and took photographs,” Farooq Ahmed said. The photo of the child sat on the body of his dead grandfather was widely shared on social media.
Paramilitary spokesman Khan said the allegation was “baseless”. Police also denied the claims, saying legal action would be taken for “false reports and rumours”.
“There was no retaliation from the security forces,” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar told reporters.
Hundreds assembled at the man’s funeral near the main city of Srinagar shouting, “We want freedom”.
Government forces have intensified counterinsurgency operations against Kashmiri fighters since a coronavirus lockdown was imposed in March.
Since January, at least 229 people have been killed during over 100 military operations across occupied Kashmir, including 32 civilians, 54 government forces and 143 fighters, according to the Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a rights group.
Condemnations pour in
Reacting to the incident, Amnesty India said that officials had violated the law by disclosing the identity of the minor.
“It is also a breach of the ‘best interests of the child’ principle as required to be the basis of any action by authorities under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a state party.”
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the image of the three-year-old sitting on his grandfather’s lifeless, bullet ridden body” exposed the real face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “fascist India”.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the killing.
In a tweet, he said: “Widespread human rights abuses by fascist Modi govt constitute an acid test for the international community.”
Tweeting the picture of the deceased’s grandson sitting on his chest, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said she was “searching for words to describe […] the grief & helplessness of the Kashmiri people.”
An aged Kashmiri civilian was mercilessly gunned downed by the Indian forces in Sopore district of the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) during the relentless ongoing onslaught to target the innocent civilians.
The Indian occupation forces and Indian media as usual were quick to blame the Kashmiri fighters responsible for the tragic incident.
The gory pictures showing grandfather lying on the ground drenched in blood while his 3-year-old grandson sitting on his dead body and walking around the Indian police personnel, went viral on the social media.
The 65-year-old man was identified by the local media as Bashir Ahmed Khan
The incident reminded the heartless killing of 12-year-old Palestinian child Muhammad al Durra in September 2000, whose father Jamal al Durra also took several bullets in order to shield him from the Israeli gunfire.
As shared on social media on Wednesday, a member of the deceased person’s family was seen narrating the tragic incident.
He said the incident took place early in the morning around 6:30 a.m. when the Indian forces dragged their elder out of a vehicle and killed him mercilessly.
Former puppet chief minister of IOJ&K Omar Abdullah slammed all the reports and tweets of pro-Indian media outlets that had portrayed the police as the saviour of 3-year-old child.
Last week , Kashmir Solidarity Council on its twitter account posted picture of another young boy martyred in Kulgam area by the Indian forces.
The Indian occupation forces have unleashed their fresh wave of atrocities upon the Kashmiri civilians after the Indian government illegally annexed the internationally recognized disputed territory in complete contravention of the UN Security Council Resolutions and the Geneva Convention.
Recently, dozens of young Kashmiris had been martyred on the pretext of militancy to discredit the legitimate freedom struggle of the Kashmiri people, striving peacefully for their just right to self-determination under the UNSC resolutions and international laws.
Figures as provided by Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, an umbrella organization of human rights groups, in its report revealed that more than 229 Kashmiri people had been killed so far during the so-called search operations by the Indian forces in this year.–Agencies
