Situation in Pulwama

[Imran Khan]

another bloody day .

 

[BERKEKHAN2]

Come bull, do hit me! '

 

[PakSarzameen5823]

Merry Christmas!

Indeed:

2 Army Jawans Killed In Jammu And Kashmir After Pak Ceasefire Violation
Kupwara, Jammu And Kashmir: The two soldiers who were killed were Junior Commissioned Officers.

All India | Edited by Anuj Pant (with inputs from PTI) | Updated: December 21, 2018 19:07 IST

SRINAGAR: Two army jawans have died in a sniper attack by Pakistan, violating ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jumgund at Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

The ceasefire violation occurred at the around 11.55 am today, according to news agency Press Trust of India.

The two soldiers who were killed were Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs). One of the soldiers was earlier injured after the ceasefire violation.

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/2-indian-soldiers-killed-on-loc.592865/

They were Gurkhas too, so much for them being 'invincible' as many have claimed.

 

[ranjeet]

Freedom fighters belonged to Zakir Musa’s AGH.

 

[PakSarzameen5823]

Freedom fighters

Nice to see you using the correct terminology.

 

[Crystal-Clear]

the more they kill the more they provoke Kashmiri youth .

 

[ranjeet]

Nice to see you using the correct terminology.

Glad u appreciated the effort

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

Glad u appreciated the effort

I was about to post this

 

[BRAVO_]

such type of actions clearly shows that these days Kashmiri freedom movement is purely run by locals and pakistani involvement in it is almost no where, and killing someone for just warlike stories mean .. they were killed cold blooded

 

[Osiris]

the more they kill the more they provoke Kashmiri youth .

Contrary to popular belief, Terrorists or militants don't have an unending resource of man power. There comes a tipping point, when they too loose heart against futility of armed insurgency - case in point LTTE, Al Qaida.

In Kashmir, an average of life span of local militant is less than a year .

 

[BRAVO_]

In Kashmir, an average of life span of local militant is less than a year .

Question is .. if they know their life span will not be more than 6 month .. what force change them to chose 6 month life???

 

[ziaulislam]

Contrary to popular belief, Terrorists or militants don't have an unending resource of man power. There comes a tipping point, when they too loose heart against futility of armed insurgency - case in point LTTE, Al Qaida.

In Kashmir, an average of life span of local militant is less than a year .

SKIP TO CONTENTSKIP TO SITE INDEX

GIVE THE TIMES
Kashmiri Teenagers Are Dying to Protect Militants

The funeral procession last month of Numan Ashraf Bhat, center, who was fatally shot at age 16 while trying to prevent Indian forces from killing a militant.CreditTauseef Mustafa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Image

The funeral procession last month of Numan Ashraf Bhat, center, who was fatally shot at age 16 while trying to prevent Indian forces from killing a militant.CreditCreditTauseef Mustafa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By Sameer Yasir

• Dec. 18, 2018

BALSOO, Kashmir — It was well past midnight in the village of Balsoo when Numan Ashraf Bhat’s phone lit up with an urgent WhatsApp message: “Umar surrounded by forces.”

Umar Majid Ganai, one of the area’s most wanted militants, had built a loyal youth following in Kashmir, a Himalayan region disputed between India and Pakistan where violence has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Numan, a gangly 16-year-old, was one of his most enthusiastic supporters — all of the photos downloaded on his phone were of Mr. Ganai.

So when Numan learned last month that Mr. Ganai was holed up in a tiny hamlet, Indian security forces closing in, he jumped on his motorbike and sped through the biting cold to reach the house where several militants were trapped.

Hundreds of Kashmiri civilians had already gathered. They were forming a protective ring to block Indian officers from advancing, part of a new and often fatal development in the decades-long struggle over Kashmir.

ADVERTISEMENT


Violence is rising again in the region, where India has presided over a bloody campaign to hunt down those fighting a quixotic battle for independence. This year, according to police officials in Kashmir, Indian security forces have killed over 240 militants, the highest annual toll in more than a decade.


Kashmiri protesters take cover behind a tin sheet as they clash with Indian security forces in Srinagar in October.CreditDar Yasin/Associated Press

Image

Kashmiri protesters take cover behind a tin sheet as they clash with Indian security forces in Srinagar in October.CreditDar Yasin/Associated Press
But along with the combatants’ deaths has come a new set of casualties: those of civilians who try to defend them. Gone are the days when the sight of an armored vehicle was enough to send entire villages into hiding. Now, civilians are rushing in front of the heavily armed trucks, using stones and their own bodies to try to block security forces.

Last week, seven civilians were killed after inserting themselves between militants and advancing officers.

“This is a new phenomenon,” said Sheikh Showkat Hussain, an international law professor at the Central University of Kashmir. “Civilians have always supported militants, but never with such conviction.”

ADVERTISEMENT


This year, rights groups say, at least 148 civilians have been killed. Many were teenagers.

For decades, Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan have fought for control of Kashmir, sending millions of troops to square off along a disputed border hundreds of miles long.

In June, the United Nations released its first report on atrocities committed in Kashmir, calling for an international investigation into reports of sexual violence and torture. Indian security forces were sharply criticized for using excessive force on protesters, and particularly for firing shotguns into crowds, with hundreds of people struck in the eyes by pellets, leaving many of them blind.

India has pushed back against criticism of its methods. After the release of the United Nations report, the government called its contents “fallacious, tendentious and motivated.” Last year, Bipin Rawat, the Indian Army chief, said that people who “obstruct our operations” would be “treated as over-ground workers” — in other words, collaborators.


Villagers carrying the body of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a charismatic militant leader, during his funeral procession in 2016.CreditDar Yasin/Associated Press

Image

Villagers carrying the body of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a charismatic militant leader, during his funeral procession in 2016.CreditDar Yasin/Associated Press
In 2016, the nature of civilian protests took a turn when Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a charismatic militant leader with a vast following on social media, was fatally shot in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir.

ADVERTISEMENT


Kashmiris poured into homegrown militant groups like Hizbul Mujahideen. A network of locals who fed information to Indian intelligence officers temporarily broke down, allowing the number of militants to swell.

Pakistan’s role in supplying arms and recruits also receded, according to Kashmiri police officials, though Western intelligence officers say Pakistan is still actively supporting several militant groups.

Yasin Malik, a separatist leader who led an armed struggle against Indian security forces in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said the ranks of militant groups would continue to grow. A peaceful resolution in Kashmir became impossible, he said, when locals who tried demonstrating against the police continued to meet “brute force.”

“There is no space for a nonviolent political movement,” he said. “They are fighting because everyone has failed them.”

ADVERTISEMENT


Of the approximately 250 known militants today, Kashmiri police say only 50 or so are from Pakistan. Most of the rest are poorly trained and have never left the Kashmir Valley. Though Indian security forces stationed in the valley have cracked down on armed insurgents, outnumbering the militants 1,000 to one, they are struggling to stem fresh recruitment.


Numan Ashraf Bhat’s parents, Mohammad Ashraf Bhat and his wife, Naza Bano, at home. “If he would not have died like this, he would have died as a militant,” the father said.CreditShowkat Nanda for The New York Times

Image

Numan Ashraf Bhat’s parents, Mohammad Ashraf Bhat and his wife, Naza Bano, at home. “If he would not have died like this, he would have died as a militant,” the father said.CreditShowkat Nanda for The New York Times
Numan Ashraf, a high school student, knew the risks of traveling those 15 miles to the village of Batgund, where Mr. Ganai was holed up in a house with other militants. His friendship with a wanted militant is a window into the growing civilian support for the homegrown fighters — and the deadly risks of such a relationship.

Numan, the oldest of three sons of a woodcutter, was born into a tense security situation and seemed acutely aware of it. Every summer, his family said, Numan and his friends dressed up as militants or Indian army officers, hid behind apple trees and fired fake wooden guns at each other.

Over the years, Numan also met Mr. Ganai, 27, several times, his friends said. They played cricket and went swimming in a pond together. During a chaotic funeral for another militant, Numan spotted Mr. Ganai and hugged him.

ADVERTISEMENT


It is unclear who told the Indian authorities where to find Mr. Ganai, a senior member of Hizbul Mujahideen who had avoided detection for several years. The authorities said the list of charges against him was long. Last year, he was implicated in killing several police officers guarding a bank’s cash van.

In the early morning of Nov. 25, hundreds of Indian army and police officers blocked roads leading into Batgund with barbed wire. A crowd of civilians gathered, hurling stones from narrow alleys and screaming anti-India slogans from their balconies. The authorities fired tear gas canisters, creating a choking, eye-stinging pall of gray smoke.

Indian security forces had the house where Mr. Ganai was hiding out completely surrounded. By the time Numan reached Batgund at 7:30 a.m., the security officers had already killed several insurgents. Mr. Ganai was one of the last holdouts.


Nadeem Ashraf Bhat, center, the 14-year-old brother of Numan, has also tried to get between Indian forces and trapped militants.CreditShowkat Nanda for The New York Times

Image

Nadeem Ashraf Bhat, center, the 14-year-old brother of Numan, has also tried to get between Indian forces and trapped militants.CreditShowkat Nanda for The New York Times
Young protesters, desperate to save the fighters, tried to drive the Indian forces back or create enough chaos to distract them to give the last militants a chance to slip away. It had happened before that insurgents melted into a sea of civilians and vanished right in front of security officers.

ADVERTISEMENT


Mr. Ashraf and several friends moved closer. They entered a small, relatively unguarded lane in the house’s courtyard, looking for a way to help Mr. Ganai escape. The scene was quiet for a moment.

Numan shouted, “Umar, come out!”

Gunfire rang out. Numan clutched his chest. “I am hit! It is burning inside,” he told his friends as they carried his bleeding body to a motorbike.

Numan died on the way to the hospital. Later that morning, Mr. Ganai was shot dead.

When asked about the shooting, Indian officials said it had been an accident; Numan had been too close to the militants.

“Who wants to kill a young boy?” asked Swayam Prakash Pani, the area’s police chief, who was not present for the shooting but had been briefed about it.

ADVERTISEMENT


Several witnesses contested that claim, saying they had seen a soldier pointing a gun at Numan from a balcony and that the shooting had been deliberate.


A relative visiting the grave of Numan Ashraf Bhat earlier this month.CreditShowkat Nanda for The New York Times

Image

A relative visiting the grave of Numan Ashraf Bhat earlier this month.CreditShowkat Nanda for The New York Times
Over the next couple of days, thousands of mourners gathered for a marathon of funerals, one after the other, spreading the grief. In Balsoo, the streets were so clogged with people that prayers for Numan were divided into four sessions.

Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, tall and broad-shouldered, said he could not fault his son for trying to protect Mr. Ganai.

“The mind says if you jump into fire, you will burn,” he said. “But love doesn’t understand that. If he would not have died like this, he would have died as a militant.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Two days after Numan’s death, his younger brother, Nadeem, 14, took his place. He traveled to a village near Balsoo where more militants were trapped. He picked up stones and threw them at police officers, who shot a pellet into his leg.

That night, he did not eat or tell his parents what had happened. A single emotion consumed him: passion.

“The sentiment of freedom is in our blood,” he said. “It will outlive us.”



Follow Sameer Yasir on Twitter: @sameeryasir.

Fascism cannot kill passion
Kashmiris will never forgive indians for this genocide

"Two days after Numan’s death, his younger brother, Nadeem, 14, took his place. He traveled to a village near Balsoo where more militants were trapped. He picked up stones and threw them at police officers, who shot a pellet into his leg.

That night, he did not eat or tell his parents what had happened. A single emotion consumed him: passion.

“The sentiment of freedom is in our blood,” he said. “It will outlive us.”



Follow Sameer Yasir on Twitter: @sameeryasir.

https://t.co/BTXOshsPlg

https://t.co/BTXOshsPlg

 

[Wrath]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1076337066663989249

Despite the presence of Large number of Indian forces , terrorists keep entering Kashmir and even get support and supplies . Or maybe it's just another excuse for killing Innocents by using of force to suppress their movement for independence ?? .

 

[LASER1]

Despite the presence of Large number of Indian forces , terrorists keep entering Kashmir and even get support and supplies . Or maybe it's just another excuse for killing Innocents by using of force to suppress their movement for independence ?? .

haha correction. Freedom fighter, be watchful about that, there are salty mods who are austere about semantics.

 

[Osiris]

Question is .. if they know their life span will not be more than 6 month .. what force change them to chose 6 month life???

What propels a suicide bomber to don a suicide vest and end his life. Naivety, and a belief, that their deaths will achieve some higher purpose.

When their deaths fail to achieve that purpose(as hardly, any country is giving into terrorism/militancy these days), other would be suicide bombers/terrorists/militants get demoralized and realize the futility of wasting their lives, going down the same path.