Press Censures Terrorists

NC, Cong, PDP, Hurriyat unmoved over Gopalpora massacre

By Ahmed Ali Fayaz

SRINAGAR, Dec 26: As both, mainstream as well as separatist politicians, have been thriving over 13-year-long era of bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir, no political party has shed even the proverbial crocodile tears over the cold-blooded carnage of three members of a family at Gopalpora. As already reported, a Government schoolteacher, Mohammad Shafi Wani, and both of his sons - Zahoor Ahmed Wani and Jehangir Ahmed Wani - were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at their residence, in Srinagar, outskirts of Budgam district last evening. Since the assassins are widely believed to be members of a Pan-Islamist 'guerrilla' organisation, politicians have strictly stuck to the wisdom "silence is the best policy".

All the nouveau rich Hurriyat leaders, whose entire structure of politics is based on "human rights violations", hartal and condemnation, remained totally indifferent to the "white blood" that spilled in the Budgam hamlet. A full-page statement that came out from the Hurriyat headquarters today does not make even a passing reference to the Gopalpora killings. It sheds plenty of tears over the arrest of Al-Omar supremo Mushtaq Latram's brother, over the interrogation of several relatives of militants. But the statement, which can fetch money and favours from across the border, has conveniently ignored the Gopalpora killings.

A Hurriyat activist, Javed Mir, made yet another enactment of "protest" over a Delhi court's pronouncement of death sentence over three Kashmiris held guilty in the Parliament attack incident. He, however, did not dare to utter a single word over the gory episode that shook hearts in Srinagar and Budgam districts. All the prominent Hurriyat leaders, who claim to be the "real representatives" of Kashmiri people, enjoyed their day in cosy bungalows and luxurious cars. The moment they learned that it was an act of militants, they adopted silence as their best policy.

Democratic Freedom Party chief, Shabir Ahmed Shah - otherwise known for condemning everything around - was also silent over the triple murder that occurred in close vicinity of his Rawalpora mansion. His estranged separatist colleague and chairman of National Front, Nayeem Khan, too was not heard or seen over the Wednesday carnage anywhere in the Valley.

High Court Bar Association, which takes pride in introducing itself as a constituent of the separatist Hurriyat Conference and organising seminars and protests over "human rights violations" was also deaf and dumb in case of the Gopalpora family. So were the self-styled human rights activists, Mohammad Ahsan Ontoo and Pervez Imroz, who have carved out a niche for themselves in Kashmir's lucrative politics of protests and condemnations over the last several years. None should blame men like the former Chief Justice Mufti Bahauddin Farouqi, who have since taken retirement from this kind of dirty politics.

While as the Peoples Conference chairman, Sajjad Gani Lone, was the one-odd politician from the entire separatist camp, who showed guts to condemn the massacre, from the whole mainstream political camp it was none but the NC leader and MLC, Abdul Qayoom, who came out with a word of condemnation. Significantly, the ill-fated family actually belonged to Qayoom's Chrar-e-Sharif town.

Failing to perform as the state's major political party, Omar Abdullah's National Conference did not bother to issue a statement of condemnation. Though the former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah is untraced and Omar has been sticking to his ministerial bungalow in New Delhi - even after his resignation has finally been accepted - none of the NC leaders present in town bothered to utter a word of condemnation. Even after losing power, NC is the largest political party in the State Assembly with 29 members. Its firebrand leaders like Ali Mohammad Sagar, Maulvi Iftikhar and Ghulam Nabi Shaheen are still licking the wounds of their party's defeat in the September elections.

Interestingly, witnessing the arch rival PDP taking electoral dividends by making pro-militant statements and selling the green colour of their party flag in Kashmir, die-hard guerrilla-bashers like Dr Abdullah and Sagar have been advised by their colleagues to sit calm. After the results were over, a section of their party leadership made a point that speaking against militants and Pakistan had isolated the NC from the common man.

Ghulam Nabi Azad's Congress party has been rather generous in condemnation the killings committed by militants in the state. However, this has been observed with marked interest that none of the Congress leaders bothered to condemn yesterday's killings.

Alongwith his power ally Azad, the ruling PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, were also in Kashmir yesterday as well as today. Crying over the death of civilians and militants killed by Task Force and Army has become the Muftis' mark of identification in Kashmir's politics since 1996. The Chief Minister as well as the PDP's rudaali enjoyed the day at Gulmarg and returned to Jammu today without paying a visit to the Gopalpora family. The massacre had occurred virtually in the Mufti's backyard in Nowgam-Chadoura belt.

Nothing was heard today of the ebullient PDP MLA (Chadoura) Javed Mustafa Mir, who attempted to become a hero on account of the death of a mason in Police custody early this month. Mir had not only forced the Government to announce a magisterial inquiry into the death of the poor mason, but it was he who even locked the police station where the poor man had been found dead. The young Chadoura MLA, whose politician father was killed by Hizbul Mujahideen and the militant brother by BSF, seems to be in a misplaced dilemma over the red and white colours of the blood of his fellow Kashmiris. Hence the silence?

(Source: The Daily Excelsior)

Previous

Index

Next