The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday night handed over the bodies of Altaf Bhat and Dr. Mudasir Gul, who were among the four killed in an anti-militancy operation at Srinagar’s Hyderpora on Monday, to their families for burial.
On Friday, a shutdown was observed in Kashmir valley in protest against the killings of “civilians” in Hyderpora. Shops, business establishments and private offices remained closed in most districts in the valley. There was skeletal traffic on the roads. People preferred to stay indoors. The killings have triggered a series of protests in Kashmir from the families, locals and political parties.
The bodies were exhumed around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday from the two graves located at far-off hillock Wadder Zachaldara in north Kashmir’s Handwara before a local magistrate.
Official sources said the bodies of Bhat, who owned the building where the incident took place, and Dr. Gul, who had a rented accommodation in the building, were taken to the Police Control Room (PCR) in Srinagar from Handwara. The close relatives were called and the bodies handed over to them for burial at their ancestral graveyards in Srinagar.
Also read: Probe ordered into J&K encounter
Family sources of Bhat and Dr. Gul said the bodies would be buried before the sunrise at the Barzalla and Pirbagh graveyards. With relatives and locals wailing, emotional scenes were witnessed at the residences of the slain “civilians” when the bodies arrived.
Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu, while confirming that the bodies were exhumed at Handwara, said, “This is the first step towards ensuring justice is done in this case. I also hope the magisterial probe is now changed into a judicial probe.”
One body not exhumed
However, the body of third slain local Amir Magray, son of Abdul Latief Magray who had won the bravery award for killing a militant with a stone, was not exhumed and handed over to the family yet.
Political parties, including the National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Peoples Conference, have urged the administration to return the body of Magray too “for a dignified burial”.
“The return of two bodies is a step forward. But what about Aamir Magray of Ramban? His body ought to be returned as well,” PDP spokesman Suhail Bukhari said.
Earlier, Section 144, which bars assembly of more than five people, was imposed in three villages of Magray’s native place Ramban.
The families of Magray, Bhat and Dr. Gul had contradicted the police statement that the they were killed in exchange of fire in an encounter or had any links with militants. They accused the security forces of staging the encounter and using the civilians as a human shield.
The administration has already ordered an inquiry into the incident.
Gupkar writes to President
The Peoples Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of regional parties, on Friday wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind on the Hyderpora issue.
“The incident calls for a time-bound judicial probe. Such unfortunate incidents widen the gulf between the people of J&K and the Government of India. We would also bring to your notice the practice of taking away bodies of the victims of such incidents and depriving their families of the right to organize their burial in accordance with religious practices. Your Excellency, the right to decent burial is well recognized in the Constitution of India as well as in the international humanitarian law,” Gupkar alliance president Dr. Farooq Abdullah, also a Member Parliament, said in the letter.
He requested the President “to intervene in the matter and ensure that the bodies are returned so that the families can perform the last rites in accordance with their respective religious practices”.
Mirwaiz’s charge
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has alleged “inhuman treatment of the families of the slain civilians and the bodies of those killed in the Hyderpora operation”.
Kashmir-based Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC) has expressed “shock on the recent spurt in killing of the innocent civilians”. Demanding a judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge, its secretary, Dr. Rafeeq Masoodi, said: “The probe cannot be assigned to the very same executive (the police establishment included) that happens to be the only accused in the mass public and media outrage, which the government has so quickly taken cognizance of.”
