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Bollywood film to focus on rights abuse in Kashmir
Krittivas Mukherjee
(from reuters.com)
MUMBAI, March 6 (Reuters) – A well-known Bollywood filmmaker hopes to prick the conscience of viewers about human right abuses in Indian Kashmir with a movie on police killings of innocent people in staged gunbattles to win rewards.
“Dhoka”, or Betrayal, is the latest offering from a Hindi film industry — the world’s largest by number of tickets sold — that has been forced by a maturing audience to diversify from its formulaic song-and-dance fare into more realistic themes.
Mahesh Bhatt, known as much for his fluffy musicals as for handling controversial subjects such as Hindu-Muslim riots, says “Dhoka” will turn the spotlight on “state atrocities” in the insurgency-torn Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir.
“There is a need to speak about the misdeeds of the state, the betrayal of police in each of those regions where human rights are trampled upon everyday,” Bhatt, who is producing the movie and helping daughter Pooja direct it, told Reuters.
“Dhoka” will be partly shot around Kashmir’s verdant valleys and snow-capped peaks but Bhatt did not give a release date.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed or have disappeared in mainly Hindu India’s only Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir during a 17-year-old separatist revolt.
Kashmiris say some of those who have disappeared are innocent people killed by police in fake gunbattles to claim rewards and earn promotions meant for eliminating militants.
In late January and February, protests erupted in the Kashmir Valley following the alleged killing of five innocent Kashmiris in staged gunbattles by Indian forces, who then passed off the dead men as militants.
Seven policemen have been charged with the killing of one of the men — a carpenter and father of five. Police said they were also investigating the four other cases.
SLEEPING CONSCIENCE?
“The conscience of the country hasn’t been questioned on these gross violation of rights of the people of Kashmir,” said Bhatt.
The filmmaker is also completing a movie that delves into the mind of a potential suicide bomber in a story set against the backdrop of the 2005 London train and bus bombings.
In the past, Bollywood’s offerings on Kashmir have generally been populist, patriotic fare which cast neighbouring Pakistan and menacing Muslim extremists as the villains, and the Indian security forces as heroes.
But films like “Mission Kashmir” have generally failed to impress critics.
In contrast, “Dhoka” is the story of a young Kashmiri man grappling with the staged killing of someone close to him and aims to highlight the plight of Kashmiris whose lives have been touched by violence.
The conflict has officially killed more than 40,000 people. Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000 dead or missing.
“Custodial deaths and fake gunbattles of police are a menace in Kashmir,” said Bhatt, who is also known as an activist for creative freedom and religious harmony.
Authorities deny allegations that security forces regularly pick up people in Kashmir and kill them in fake gunbattles.
Bhatt has chosen a Kashmiri newcomer to play the lead in Dhoka, hoping the actor can inject some realism into the film.
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Tags: Bollywood, Freedom Struggle, Human Rights, Hurriyat, India, Indian Army, Innocent Killings, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Kashmir, Kilings, Mahesh Bhat, Massacre, Militants, News, Police, Terrorism, Terrorism in Kashmir
Soldiers go berserk after militant ambush in Sopur
2 civilians killed, 4 soldiers among 7 injured
Ghulam Muhammad
(from greaterkashmir.com)
Sopur/Srinagar, Dec 22: Two civilians were killed and three injured when soldiers of Army’s 80 Mountain brigade resorted to indiscriminate firing following a militant ambush near main chowk Sopur in north Kashmir on Friday afternoon. The incident triggered massive anti-India demonstrations in the town which were going on till late evening.
Eyewitnesses said at around 1445 hour, shortly after the Friday prayers, a group of militants ambushed an Army convoy which was on its way from Bandipore to Srinagar, near main chowk Sopur.
As the militants managed to escape from the spot, the soldiers went berserk, resorting to heavy firing causing instant death of two civilians identified as Bashir Ahmed Khan son of Ghulam Ahmed of Badambagh Sopur and Muhammad Ashraf Bhat son of Ghulam Ahmed Bhat of Nowpora Sopur. The three injured civilians, Fayaz Ahmed Kaboo, Muhammad Ashraf Bhat and Haji Muhammad Abdullah Kababi, were rushed to a hospital.
“For sometime I couldn’t understand what was happening; I saw soldiers firing randomly; two people were hit by bullets,” said an eyewitness Muhammad Shafi. The incident led to panic with people and shopkeepers running for safety.
“Two civilians were killed after the road opening party of the troops fired directly upon them. They kept on firing even after the Army convoy passed from there, “ local news agency CNS quoted locals as saying.
As the troops left the spot, hundreds of people came out on streets, chanting slogans against the Army and in favour of freedom from India. They alleged the soldiers killed the civilians in cold-blood, a charge denied by a Defence spokesman.
“The civilians were killed when our soldiers retaliated to the firing by militants. The militants were firing from a building on the Army convoy,” said the spokesman Lt Col Hemant Juneja.
Carrying the body of Bashir Ahmed Khan, one of the slain civilians, the people staged a massive demonstration outside the Army camp in the Ganjoo House.
As the number of protesters swelled, police swung into action and resorted to baton-charge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse them. The protesters retaliated by hurling stones on the police and soldiers.
Another procession proceeded towards police station Sopur to get the body of another deceased person. The situation in the town was tense when reports last came in. Meanwhile, a caller who identified himself as spokesman of the Al-Mansoorain claimed responsibility for the attack. He claimed that five soldiers were killed and 10 more wounded in the attack.
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RR kills numberdar, 70
Police Registers Case After Massive Demos; Army Regrets
Malik Abdus Salam
(from greaterkashmir.com)
Islamabad, Dec 17: Soldiers of Army’s Rashtriya Rifles shot dead head of a village here on Sunday morning, triggering massive anti-India demonstrations. Police registered a case against the accused soldiers while the Army, which has ordered a probe, regretted the incident, terming it “a case of mistaken identity.”
Reports said Sanaullah Magray, 70, son of Ghulam Muhammad Magray, the numberdar of Tarigam village was shot dead by the soldiers of 49 RR when he was on way to a mosque for the morning prayers.
After hearing the sound of bullets, local residents rushed to the spot and took Magray’s body in a procession. Shouting pro-freedom, anti-Army and anti-India slogans, the protesters demanded action against the accused soldiers.
The protesters marched towards Qazigund and tried to block the Srinagar-Jammu highway but they were stopped by police which led to a scuffle in which at least six civilians, including two women and two policemen, were injured, reports said.
The protestors charged that Magray was killed in cold-blood and refused to bury his body till the officials of the Army, the civil administration and the police reach the village and take action against the guilty personnel.
Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag G A Peer immediately rushed to the spot and assured the protestors that strict action would be taken against the accused Army personnel. He said ex-gratia relief would be given to the relatives of the deceased.
On the Deputy Commissioner’s assurances, the villagers agreed to give burial to Magray.
Later police registered a case under FIR No 131/2006 under section 302 against the accused soldiers and started investigation.
Terming the incident as a case of mistaken identity, a Defence spokesman in a statement said: “On the night intervening December 17 a cordon was laid in village Tarigam. At around 0630 hrs, an ambush party noticed a man approaching them. They challenged him a number of times but the man did not stop instead he bent, which the troops thought he was taking out a weapon under his phiran. The ambush party was still in doubt and fired two single shots, one of which hit him on leg and the other his stomach, The individual died on the spot.”
“The complete incident is due to a case of mistaken identify. The Army regrets the incident and a court of inquiry has been constituted to investigate into the matter,” the spokesman added.
Earlier on December 10, the World Human Rights Day, massive protests broke out in Qazigund area of Islamabad district when a soldier of RR opened fire on a youth following an argument over the checking of his identity card.
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