Journalists working in Jammu and Kashmir while covering the protest face chances of harassment or injury, both by the protestors and police.
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net,
Kakpora (Pulwama): It was like any normal day for me to cover protest in Kashmir valley which runs as formulaic script- protest, stones, tear-gas, and pellet guns. Journalists working in Jammu and Kashmir while covering the protest face possibilities of harassment or injury, both by the protestors and police.
On Thursday, August 6, Talib Afzal Shah, a Lashkar-eTaiba militant was killed by security forces in an encounter which took place in Kakpora, a Tehsil of Pulwama District in J&K. On the following day, his funeral was going to take place.
On Friday, August 7, as I along with two other journalists started our march towards Kakpora which was 20 KM from Srinagar, we got calls from our fellow journalists who were stopped by J&K police personnel from entering the town. We decided to take a different route, unfortunately which didn’t work either as we too were stopped by Special Operations Group of J&K police.
The local people helped us by informing us about an alternate route was to go through the orchards. Finally we reached the venue of funeral inside the Playground of Government Higher Secondary School, Kakpora where dead body of the slain miltant was kept. The ground was filled with sea of people who came from different parts of the district to offer their last homage to Talib Afzal Shah.
On the other side of ground, women, amid wails and sobs were waiting to catch a glimpse of Talib, whom they referred as the hero of ‘motherland’ – Kashmir. In between wails, some women stood up and started slogans, “Hum Kya Chaahate, Azadi! Hum Chheen ke le ge, Azadi!” (What do we want? Freedom! We should snatch this freedom!) This steamed up the atmosphere as all women started marching towards the main road which leads towards a Railway bridge nearby. A huge deployment of 200 Police and Para military troopers were already deployed there to tackle any untoward incident in the town.
Around 400 women amid ‘pro-freedom’ and ‘anti-India’ protest were marching towards the Railway Bridge; a huge procession of over 1000 men joined them. The intense ‘freedom slogans’ charged up the air. As the procession reached some 30 meters close to the deployment, a volley of tear gas shells and pellet shots fired by the Police landed in the middle of protesting women which forced them to run for shelter in nearby houses.
Repeated requests from an old man “Sahab dekho ye chale gaye, ab fire mat karna, sahab dekho” (Sir, see they have gone, kindly don’t do it again) to SOG officer, not to use tear gas shells and pellets on women, fell in deaf ears as it continued, more brisk afterwards.
An officer of SOG, while using forces on protestors can be clearly heard by me, shouting, “Agar Azaadi chahiye to Pakiatan jaao, Oye (directing police men) laga laga (referring to tear gas and pellet fires) Sal**n ko” (If you want freedom, go to Pakistan (directing police men) load it (referring to tear gas and pellet fires).
In no time, youths following women started stone pelting at the security forces and the thus the everyday ‘battle’ began.
I have covered many stone pelting incidents in the past; sometimes protestors begin it, sometimes the security forces. But I never saw this kind of brute use of force on unarmed protestors which I saw on Friday in Kakpora town of Pulwama.
The armoured vehicle of Police which is often used to give cover to the security forces from stones was used for chasing protestors with an intention to mow them down.
It was for the first time, I feared that security forces could make us, journalists also their target. As I along with another photo journalist moved some 25 meters away from police towards protestors’ side to have police men using force in frame, at once Police and SOG men resorted to intense pellet and aerial firing on protestors who were pelting stones on the security forces.
In the melee, pellet shots hit my left hand injuring my two fingers and I also received a pellet shot in my stomach, fortunately not piercing the skin. Everybody started running for shelter and in the meantime as I was putting up a cloth on my hand, a tear gas shell landed some meters away from me, which gave a very harsh burning sensation on my face with unending tears and coughing.
When I finally got back into my senses, the used tear gas shell was still lying nearby. I examined the shell and to my utter shock, I found it had passed its expiry date months back in February of this year.
Some fellow journalists, who were also hit by pellets, took me to a nearest hospital which was already pre-occupied with the injured people either hit by tear gas shells, pellets or bullets. The doctors bandaged my hand and prescribed some medicine and discharged me from the hospital.
By evening, I got to know that two dozen protestors were injured in the clashes with the security forces.
(Author is Srinagar based Correspondent of TwoCircles.net.)