By Maariyah Siddique and Ieshan Wani for Twocircles.net
As tension escalates for the fourth day in the Valley, the death toll in Kashmir has officially reached 30. Adil Ahmad Mattoo, who was injured in police firing at Bijbehara in South Kashmir, succumbed to injuries last night at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital in Srinagar.
As a journalist, our job is to inform. We will be very direct and personal while informing the readers for their right to be informed.
While the deceased include a 13-year-old boy, a 24-year-old woman, and many youth protesters, the injured 1,300 includes children, women and even passers-by who were directly not involved in the protests. Among the civilians are those killed either by immediate police firing or succumbing to their injuries during treatment. According to locals, many of them died due to delayed treatment as officials kept attacking ambulances while on their way to hospitals.
Why such brute force to quell unarmed protesters?
Also, on one hand, J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti questions the use of “disproportionate force” against civilians and appeals to locals to maintain calm, but lets Kashmir go unrepresented in the high level review committee meeting called by the Home Ministry on Tuesday morning. Even if we assume that she he is sensitive enough towards her people to not leave the State at such a crucial moment, why couldn’t she arrange for a video presence when such an arrangement can be made for all sorts of ceremonious events?
Mobile internet services remain suspended for the fourth day in a row, and the whole of South Kashmir suffers total blockage of communication lines. After a temporary two-day suspension of the Amarnath yatra, pilgrims from Jammu resumed the Yatra amid heavy security. Public life remains stagnant with shops, private establishments, and business enterprises closed for the fourth day. Public transport continues to remain off-the-roads and only private vehicles, in scant number can be seen on streets. A visibly complete lockdown prevails in the entire valley.
While the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh claimed on Sunday that the situation in the Valley has been brought “under control”, the news of death toll rose to 23 from 19.
The sudden unrest sparked off by the killing of the 22-year-old Burhan Wani, also triggered an unprecedented number of mourners at his native village in Tral, with back-to-back 50 absentia funerals. Massive protests rocked the State. With a fresh batch of 800 CRPF to be dispatched to the State, security is being kept beefed up in the Valley.
Major hospitals across the districts fearing a shortage of staff and scarcity of equipment have declared a medical emergency. Hospitals are witnessing an uncontrolled rush of crucial injuries and emergency cases. Hospital beds are filled with those who have lost their vision permanently, those with severe muscle and bone injuries, and those with “injuries in vital organs”, according to reports from local news agencies.
Gathering from ground reports, it is known that forces even tried to barge into hospital complexes and tried upsetting the order of things. Police inside the buildings tried to meddle with the staff while admitting patients, leading to clashes between patients’ families and officials.
“Teargas shelling was done which caused severe suffering of those with COPD (lung disease) who were being managed in emergency rooms. This is in gross violation of international laws,” said Dr Aadil Ashraf, President, Resident Doctors Association, SMHS, Srinagar.
Ashraf, along with associated hospitals expressed serious concern and has lodged a strong protest against harassment of hospital staff on Sunday evening. “The staff has been working tirelessly without any breaks in the emergency section but still we are having a shortage of staff,” added Ashraf.
He, along with the associated staff are constantly reaching out to the victims via the Facebook page of Resident Doctors Association of SMHS, requesting all resident doctors and paramedical staff to come to hospitals in whatever ways they can.
Due to the continuous imposition of curfews in several districts, the locals complain of running out of their rations. “Earlier in the morning we were warned by the officials against stepping out of our homes or strict action will be taken against us,” said Aasiya, a resident of Bandipora.
An ambulance carrying two injured was attacked by police forces Monday evening as it passed through Bijbehara in Anantnag district of South Kashmir. The vehicle was obstructed and glasses were shattered while on the run. One of two injured is being treated for severe abdomen and leg injuries while other succumbed to injuries last night.
“I have talked to my family in Nowshera and they are very scared. My two daughters who are both less than ten years of age haven’t slept for nights as they fear that due to an absence of male members in the family there is no one to protect them,” says Shehzad Shafi, a Kashmiri shop owner in Kolkata who is stuck in the city due to cancelled flights.
“My relatives stay in Kulgam and there is no way they can reach my family in Srinagar at the earliest so I am really worried,” says Shafi. He has been waiting for normalcy to return so he can make his Eid-visit back home in Nowshera, a few kilometres north from district headquarters, Srinagar.
Meanwhile, we have heard three versions of the story in various TV channels in just four days. The first was, Burhan’s indulging in lavish ‘love affairs’ leading to his death as one of his girlfriends, unhappy of her relationship with the youngster became an informer for the police. The second one, Burhan being lionized by the Kashmiris is only their misjudging of a local poster boy who wasn’t even involved in any serious ‘liberation’ activities. The third and the latest one, ”Pakistan is behind the terrorism in Kashmir.” Yes, let us play blame-game when we are incapable of bringing a situation under control. Waiting for more creative opinions, our mind races back to the moment we heard about a 5-year-old victim of pellet injury in a hospital in Srinagar.
For once, keep aside your religious bias. For once, forget your boiling debate on nationalism. And for once acknowledge the fact that deeming something ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ is more than just a matter of words. Sitting in posh offices and a voracious browse-through of a dozen online portals doesn’t grant you the expertise to comment on longstanding issues like these. The issue of Kashmir is a grave one. It needs to be addressed, discussed, and settled immediately.
The authors are students of M.A in Convergent Journalism at A.J Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi