On December 21, scores of protesters demonstrated in Srinagar city, shouting slogans against the Indian military and accusing them of forcibly picking up a local from northern Kashmir’s Kupwara district and allegedly subjecting him to “enforced disappearance.”
Abdul Rashid Dar, according to sources in his family, was picked up by 41 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) of the Indian Army during a raid on December 15. “It was about 8:30 pm and my brother was having dinner. They came without the police or Sarpanch but we called the village head later and he was taken. They (the army) said he had to be questioned,” Rashid’s brother Hilal Ahmad told reporters.
The protesters, including family members, relatives, and a number of locals from north Kupwara’s Kunan Poshpora, sought the direct intervention of interim administrator Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha in in tracing Rashid’s whereabouts. They said they had serious apprehensions regarding his safety.
A family from Kunan Poshpora area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration in Srinagar alleging that their kin went missing in army custody.@OfficeOfLGJandK@NorthernComd_IA@PRODefSrinagar
Watch full Protest: https://t.co/M7P0bXewQB pic.twitter.com/g3mI4Jh2HV— Kashmir News Bureau (KNB) (@kashnewsbureau) December 21, 2022
Rashid is a daily wage worker in his 30s. According to his family, he sometimes worked as a driver and otherwise would do other jobs to support his ailing parents and sister.
“They (the military personnel) did not even let him wash his hands. My father has been bed-ridden for the last nine years. They trampled upon him. I tried to grab my brother but the military soldier pushed me away. They did not even allow him to wear his own shoes,” Rashid’s sister claimed.
When the family asked an official, who they identified as the ‘town commander,’ about the modus operandi of the raid, they were informed that he was being briefly detained for questioning. The family members then visited the nearby Trehgam camp where he was kept: “We were not allowed the next day. They kept telling us that an investigation was underway,” Rashid’s sister said.
The next day, when the family did not receive any response, they informed the local police about the incident and were told by the SHO that Rashid had escaped from the army’s custody. The family, however, do not believe that Rashid could have escaped from a camp where hundreds of soldiers are deployed.
Demonstrators also voiced apprehensions about his safety. According to the family, he had recently undergone two head surgeries. The family informed a military official about his injuries and pleaded that his head not be hurt. They allege that in response, the town commander said that he was actually beaten up only in his lower body. “If he was beaten up in his body, how did he manage to escape,” the family asked.
"How did he escape from the Army camp where hundreds of forces are deployed."
Visuals of a protest staged by the family of Abdul Rashid Dar from Kunan Poshpora on Wednesday demanding the whereabouts of their kin who allegedly went missing from the army's custody. pic.twitter.com/62JS15nR3P
— The Kashmiriyat (@TheKashmiriyat) December 21, 2022
The family said that local authorities have not been able to do anything so far.
“Seven days have passed and the local authorities have not been able to do anything. We want our brother back,” his wailing sister said. In response to the allegations, the police officials have lodged a complaint following a complaint from the army. Yougal Kumar Manhas, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kupwara, said that they are considering it as a missing person case. “There are some clues and we are hoping the case will be resolved soon,” SSP Manhas told NewsClick.
