Row over killing of 'militants'

By Shujaat Bukhari

JAMMU, NOV. 9. The killing of 54 ``militants'' in the Poonch sector during the first week of November has led to a controversy with parents of at least four Kashmiri youth claiming that they were part of 70 youngmen who went missing from different parts of the State since October 17.

In search of their missing wards, a group of people from Shopian village in south Kashmir is camping in Jammu to ascertain the facts about a ``major'' incident in which 54 ``militants'' who, the security forces said were trying to exfiltrate, were killed. The parents of Wasim Malik, Shanawaz Malik, Riyaz Turray and Mudassir Turray went almost to every village in Pulwama district after all the four went missing on October 17. ``There is not a single village in Pulwama or neighbouring Anantnag which we did not visit to trace our boys'', Mr. Abdul Khaliq, father of Wasim Malik, said. They feared that their wards might have fallen in the militants' trap.

A radio news bulletin on November 2, which said that 19 boys were killed in Poonch sector when they were trying to exfiltrate caught the parents' attention. Different versions were heard for the next four days - one being that 7 boys had been arrested by the police. The news of the arrest was authenticated by a Srinagar-based news agency which gave their names as Javed Ahmed, Ashiq Hussain, and Mushtaq Ahmed from Pulwama, Muzaffar Hussain, Jalal ud Din and Sajad from Srinagar and Riyaz Ahmed from Shopian. However, they were not able to get any further information.

The parents insist that the 54 boys killed in four different incidents in Poonch sector are part of the 70 youngmen who are reported missing from Kashmir since October. In Srinagar, the Human Rights Front chairman, Mr. Mohammad Ahsan Untoo, also alleged that the boys were first arrested and then shot dead in the Poonch sector.

However, the Brig. Gen. Staff (BGS) at 16 Corps in Nagrota, Brig. P.C. Das, denied that any of them were arrested. He said those killed were militants who had their initial training in the Kashmir valley and belonged to Jamiatul Mujahideen, Tehreek-e- Jehad Islami and Hizbul Mujahideen.

``Most of them were foreigners'', he told The Hindu, adding that those arrested were handed over to the police. The IGP Jammu zone, Mr. Radhavinod Raju, said ``I have asked the BSF to get the pictures of those 10 who were killed by them.''

Meanwhile, CPI(M) State Secretary and MLA has expressed serious concern over the disappearance of the youth and demanded the Government to come out with facts immediately.

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