Terror In the Name Of Terror
By M Shamsur Rabb Khan
03 June, 2010
Countercurrents.org
A probe report by Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police that has accused an army Major and his team of entering a criminal conspiracy to abduct three Kashmiri youths, who were later killed in an alleged fake encounter, is a chilling reminder of the criminal intimidation of Muslims in the name of terrorism. The probe report was handed over to the 15 Corps Commander Lt Gen N C Marwah, who ordered a high-level enquiry into the case. The J&K Police, in its preliminary probe in the Machhil encounter, has alleged that Major Opinder Singh of 4 Rajputana Rifles and his team members including two subedar majors and a sepoy allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy and kidnapped three youths – Muhammad Shafi, Shehzad Ahmed and Riyaz Ahmed of Nadihal-Rafiabad in Baramulla district – on the pretext of providing them job. Later, all the three youths were killed on 30 April 2010 after being labelled as ‘terrorists’. The army version reported that a team led by Opinder Singh gunned down the three ‘militants’ while they were attempting to enter into the Valley from across the border. However, the ‘terrorist’ claim of the army was severely opposed by the family members of the slain youths.
Brutal killing of these youths is not an isolated case. In recent times, the revelations – one after another – about the disappearance of Muslims and then their fake encounter followed by ‘terror tag’ has been a systemic pattern of prosecution. Whether it is Sohrabuddin’s encounter in Gujarat or Atif and Sajid in Batla House encounter in Delhi or Muhammad Shafi, Shehzad Ahmed and Riyaz Ahmed of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the chilling cold-blooded murder, in the name of terrorism, of Muslim youths is becoming a systemic crimes being committed by the state police, other security agencies and the army personnel. While the whole country suffers from unprecedented loss of life and property due to spate of terror attacks in the last few years, prosecution of innocent Muslims, as part of anti-terror operation, is nothing but revenge killings.
Take, for example, the case of Nazeer Ahmed Khan and Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, a travel agency employee and a student respectively from Kashmir, who were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police on false charges of carrying a huge quantity of RDX, and who spent five and nine years in jail. In October, 2009, the Delhi High Court acquitted both of them, but in all these years, duo were severely tortured and forced to confess their crimes, in addition to being coerced to become IB informer. While delivering the judgement, the court observed how the Special Cell of Delhi Police planned, doctored and executed the whole arrest drama to frame the two innocent youths. Heart-rending stories of Dilawar Khan and Massod Ahmed of Delhi, who were arrested by the Special Cell for plotting a suicide attack on the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun (IMA), who were later branded as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. Like the Kashmir young men, these two youths were acquitted of terror charges but not before they spent five years in jail. The list is long, and in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, UP and Delhi, many Muslim youths have been arrested on false charges of terrorism in recent years.
Given the large number of deliberate prosecution cases, there is no doubt that terrorism has developed a tacit understanding among various stakeholders such as the media, police, army, lawyers, columnists, courts, judges, leaders and common people to highlight, trap, hunt, arrest, harass and kill innocent Muslims. In the garb of fighting against terror, operations, arrests and prosecutions by the army, police and other security agencies, irresponsible and unethical highlight by the media, severe oppositions by the leaders and ministers, obstacles and protests by the lawyers, legal manipulations and delays by the judges, propaganda writings by the columnists, and general hatred among the common people – all are the byproducts of that tacit understanding among these stakeholders focused on how to corner a community on a long-term basis. With political powers and draconian laws under their arms, these stakeholders are on witch hunting prowl to falsely implicate Muslim youths followed by inhuman tortures and painful period of prosecutions, if they are kept alive.
The collective common understanding to prosecute Muslims is one sinister design to kill two birds with one stone: as a policy prescription, it will always put the Muslim community in constant state of ‘guilt feeling’ and ‘burden of terror tag’, and it will also provide the formulae of generalization reasoning for right-wing leaders and communalists to pinpoint their fingers of accusation on the community. The ultimate consequence is that the Muslims always find themselves at the back foot, resulting in the status quo of their under-developed state. Even highly modern, nationalist Muslims will find it difficult to prove their loyalty, leave alone the suspected accused who might take years to prove their innocence, as has been the case with young men of Azamgarh, who were framed in different courts of different states on various charges.
In this sinister game plan, Hindutva terror has added a whole new dimension, which means terror attacks must continue at regular intervals, so that the issue must be alive and Muslims must feel the heat. Since the misleading doctrine that ‘all Muslims are not terrorists, all terrorists are Muslims’ work well with this covert terror plan, Hindu individuals and organizations are found to be busy in terror strikes to transfer the usual blame on Muslims and get away with the heinous crimes. To add tot it, media has worked overnight to create a fertile ground for terror suspects always being Muslims, even naïve rural farmers believe it to be true, and hence, all ‘encounters’ seem to them as ‘terrorist’ attacking the country, while the police and army killing them in self-defense. Thus, the bravery of the security forces is established while the innocent ‘terrorists’ lost their lives along with life-long terror tag.
The government must understand this sinister game plan will not yield a good result; rather it weakens our collective fight against terror. The way all the stakeholders respond to terrorism only gives the impression they are helping create more terrorists on a daily basis. The notorious criminal acts of security agencies give the impression whether the government is really serious about ending the menace of terror or engaged in fanning the fire of terror by indulging in gross violations of human rights. Do we afford to create more terrorists via such covert operations, based on sinister tacit understanding?
