By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Srinagar: Relatives of victims of the Sailan massacre that happened in border district of Poonch in Jammu lodged a strong protest on the 17th anniversary of the incident protesting the “inaction of the CBI and the violence of Indian army and Jammu and Kashmir Police.”
The protest demonstration was held on Monday at Srinagar’s Press Enclave where the relatives of the victims decried inordinate delay in justice and vowed to continue their struggle for bringing the accused to book.
The details about the massacre were documented by Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society in August 2014 in a report titled “The Anatomy of a Massacre: The Mass Killings at Sailan, August 1998,” which exposed the horrific details about the massacre.
On the night of August 3-4, 1998, as many as 19 people, including 11 children, ranging in age from about 4 to 15 years old, and five women (including one woman in an advanced state of pregnancy) were reportedly shot at point blank range in their homes in Sailan. The bodies were thereafter mutilated with axes and sharp instruments. A total of 13 females and six male members of three closely related families were killed by personnel of 9 Paratroopers, Indian army, and ‘SPOs’ (Special Police Officers) armed state backed local operatives recruited to the police and affiliated to the 9 Para Army Camp, that report had documented.
The survivors, relatives of those massacred, recounted the incident with tearful eyes during a silent protest. “From Poonch, we arrived in Srinagar to expose the killers and narrate our ordeal,” the protesters said.
Less than a year after the Sailan massacre, on June 29, 1999, 15 members of related families were killed in Mohra Bachai, Poonch district, they said. “The houses of the families were razed to ground and burnt with the bodies of the dead inside. Once again the accused were the Indian Army, SPO’s and then Superintendent of Police (Poonch) J P Singh. As in the Sailan case, where the CBI has sought to cover up the case, it appears the police have also ensured a cover up in the Mohra Bachai case,” said a protester.
The family members of the murdered Sailan people said day before the massacre, unidentified gunmen had killed an SPO Zakir Ahmad of Sailan on Mughal road. They said the personnel from 9 Paratroopers accused their relative, Imtiaz Ahmad, who was a militant for the killing.
“Zakir worked as an informer for Army. The Army personnel had threatened Imtiaz’s family to face consequences for Zakir’s killing. To save their lives, Imtiaz’s family took refuge in two houses including mine. During night, SPOs, Muhammad Younis alias Tiger and Muhammad Rafiq alias Pathan, who were close associates of Zakir asked for whereabouts of Imtiaz ,” said Abdul Ahad, a witness.
Ahad said the SPOs thrashed Imtiaz’s brother Maqsood forcing him to reveal whereabouts of his family members. “Tiger and Pathan were joined by army personnel. They barged into my house and made 20 inmates including my family members to sit on floor like school children,” said Shabir Ahmad, another witness.
“An officer wearing a cap and jacket severely tortured Imtiaz’s father. Tiger fired upon his legs and his family rushed to the spot to save him. My father caught hold of the army officer’s collar who directed Tiger to open fire on him. In the melee I escaped from a small door trap toward maize fields,” he said adding, “After 10 minutes I heard cries of my family members. My worst fears turned true after I heard single gunshots after intervals. The forces abruptly left my house, however, I remained in maize field for whole night.”
Shabir’s brother, Muhammad Latief who was 24-year-old then accused the police and Army of trying to destroy the evidence including bodies after the incident. “However locals foiled their evil plans and buried the bodies,” he said.
“A week after the massacre, the then Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, visited the area to know facts about the incident. I categorically told him (Farooq) ‘your dreaded men executed the massacre of innocents.’ Ironically, despite evidence and passing of 17 years, we are still awaiting justice,” the aggrieved said.
The protesters said the Jammu and Kashmir High Court ordered fresh investigations by the CBI in this case in November 2012 but “despite the passage of almost three years (and 17 years since the massacre) very little by way of investigations have taken place.”
(With Inputs from CNS)