No protest over murder of women by Hizb men

No Shopian-type protest over murder of women by Hizb militants

PTI
June 23, 2009

Srinagar In the uproar following the Shopian rape and murders, two separate brutal killings of women by militants in Jammu and Kashmir have almost gone unnoticed.

While the first case was that of 17-year-old Nigeen Awan which took place barely few kilometres away from the place in Shopian of South Kashmir which is witnessing protests over the alleged rape and murder of two women, the second took place at Sopore where the 45-year-old lady Rashma Jan was shot dead because her daughter and son-in-law worked with police force.

But these two deaths -- barbaric in their own way -- have gone little noticed. Police reasons that its because of the fear as these gruesome killings were undertaken by militants of prominent terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, armed wing of Jamaat-e-Islamia.

According to the police files, Awan was allegedly killed by Latif Theuuda along with Riaz of Hizbul Mujahideen at her residence on the intervening night of June two and three because she had spurned advances by the former.

Quoting eye-witnesses, the police alleged that Latif pumped over a dozen bullets into her at her residence in Dohnado in Shopian district and instructed that no one to take her to hospital.

The young girl died in front of her family members and villagers after struggling for 45 minutes.

Ironically, in the FIR 109/07 registered in police station Keller, police have quoted unnamed eye witnesses who refused to come on record because of the fear of gun except her father Sharief Ahmed Awan who told the police that he was "instructed" by the duo to bury the body and not to make any hue and cry.

While the Jamaat cadres in the Shopian district spread the word that Awan was working for police, senior officials brushed aside the charge saying that the victim had not even attained the age of 18 years which is mandatory for working as Special Police Officer .

Another killing by Hizbul Mujahideen militant was that of Rashma Jan on June 16 at Sopore in North Kashmir. This area is a Jamaat-e-Islamia stronghold and pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani also hails from here.

The 45-year-old Jan, work ing as an employee of UCO Bank, met her death when terrorists barged into her house at Sopore on June 16 and fired indiscriminately. She died on her way to hospital as she had received bullets in her head and chest.

She was allegedly killed by Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Basharat, who had nurtured a grudge against her because she had a fight with his mother over marriage of her daughter.

The daughter -- Shameema, a police constable – was married off to a Policeman and at present posted in Baramulla.

When approached, neither leaders of the ruling coalition of National Conference and Congress nor the opposition PDP are willing to comment about the two incidents and are even refraining from saying on record that culprits need to be brought to book.

..another report published in Hindustan Times.

Arjun Sharma, Hindustan Times
Srinagar, June 24, 2009

Amid protests over the Shopian rape-cum-murder case, two separate killings of women by militants in Jammu and Kashmir have almost gone unnoticed.

While the first case was that of 17-year-old Nigeen Awan, which took place barely few kilometres away from Shopian, the second took place in Sopore where the 45-year-old Rashma Jan was shot dead on a doubt that she was a police informer.

Superintend of Police, Baramullah, Viplav Kumar said: “The members Hizb-ul Mujahideen entered the house of Rashma Jan on the intervening night of June 2 and June 3 and gunned her down. The militants have been identified as Basharat, Latif and Riaz.”

But these two deaths have gone little noticed.

Police reason that it is because of the fear as these gruesome killings were undertaken by militants of Hizb-ul Mujahideen.

Justice for Nilofer and Asiya

Omar Abdullah-The Apathetic Idiot

Shopian looks like a ghost town today. There are no people on the streets. The shops are shut wide and the atmosphere of gloom looms large over an otherwise bustling suburb. The rape and murder of two young women has left the town full of bitterness, anger and hopelessness.

There obviously are no two ways about the fact that the ghastly murder and rape should invite severest possible criticism with a strong call for finding the perpetrators of this heinous crime and punishing them in a manner as to make an example of them. But here we are. The young prince dismissed their rape and killing as a simple case of drowning. As a Chief Minister of the State shouldn’t he have been a little more prudent than this clownish dad. He should have at-least bothered to know the depth of the water in Rembyaer Nallah in this season. As someone who has crossed this Nallah even without his knees getting wet I must say that the Chief Minister was at his apathetic and ignorant best. Little did he realise that a man as perverse as Yasin Malik or Bitta Karate is roaming free to commit more crimes.

The day the badly bruised bodies of Nilofer and Asiya were recovered, they bore marks of what seemed like molestation if not rape. Their clothes were torn and bodies disfigured. Yet the Police dismissed it as a case of drowning. Forensic reports now confirm the rape of a pregnant Nilofer and a studious and intelligent Asiya.

Two grown up women drowning in knee deep water!

This led to huge protests all over the valley. A simple word of acceptance of the crimecould have avoided all that happened later. The separatists were quick to latch on some food. After all the Young Prince had given them a stick to beat with which they could beat him, the army, the establishment and India. The beastly Mehbooba wasn’t the one to be left behind. Despite the fact that her party-men were beaten on way to Shopian, she looked at it as opportunity she was in no mood to let go off. The sexually frustrated Asiya Andrabi too took to streets with her band of Dark Scary Images. The calls for justice soon got lost in the din of cries for Azadi and removal for AFSPA.

This obviously is no time for politicking. Unequivocally we condemn the State governments handling of this entire episode. What was ideally a law an order problem has now spun into a huge controversy thanks to the kid who our National Media projects as the best thing to have happened to India after the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. Apart from firing the SP of Shopian(who obviously deserves to be fired) the Chief Minister should also have resigned for the way he led Kashmir to one more crisis.

Nilofer’s husband, Shakeel Ahmed has said time and again that he wants justice and not Azadi. Unfortunately what he gets is denials and more denials and now an enquiry commission. The State ought to show its concern for its people irrespective of their political alignments. But then that virtue is lost long time back.

In this hour of grief we are with the family of the victims. May God give them power to overcome this grief .We at Roots in Kashmir will do our best to ensure that the family gets justice. Although we are in exile,yet we mourn alongside the family of the victims.

The need of the hour is that the Chief Minister personally meets the family and apologises for his errant comments and asks the commission to submit a report in a time bound manner and then act fast to punish the culprits of this sick crime. It may not bring them their dear ones back but at-least it would restore the confidence of the people in the State.