Kellar Killings: A Case Study In Selective Condemnations (Sualeh Keen, 2020)

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Sheeraza Akhtar, Kellar, Shopian District, Kashmir.

 4 April 2009: RESHMA BEGUM (60)
31 May 2009: SAIFUDDIN KALLAR (48)
3 June 2009: NAGEENA AKHTAR (18)
17 July 2009: PARVEENA AKHTAR (17)
23 July 2009: MOHAMMAD ASLAM AWAN (?) & SON (3)
16 Dec 2009: SHEERAZA AKHTAR (21)*

None of the above assassinations in Kellar by Jamaat-e-Islami and Hurriyat linked terrorists evoked any protest in 2009 or cry for justice. Their deaths were carried in a couple of local newspapers as a small news item, like "Fyi, unidentified gunmen kill a woman, police is investigating." That's all, folks! They never really explore it for obvious reasons. No editorial. No condemnation. No outrage. No cry for justice. None at all, except in * #SHEERAZA's case...

When Sheeraza was killed by terrorists, NC's ex-CM Farooq Abdullah made an attempt to take political mileage of the killing, because the people of Kellar comprised of Jamaat-e-Islami cadre who were pro-PDP: https://www.deccanherald.com/content/41590/woman-shot-dead-militant-shopian.html

It was an embarrassing situation for the separatists, as SHEERAZA was the daughter of MUHAMMAD MAQBOOL MIR, a willing Over Ground Worker (OGW) of "underground" terrorists. Her death by the hands of the same terrorists deserved an explanation, so as not to antagonize other OGWs in Kellar.

Thanks to Farooq Abdullah's interest in the death, Sheeraza's assassination inside her home in Kellar, unlike those of other victims who died in similar circumstances, even evoked a token condemnation from separatist leaders in what must be seen as "PR Disaster Management" and damage control.

NDTV, known for proximity with separatists and terrorists, came to the rescue of separatists by covering this news where the killers are the only ones condemning the killings, making no mention of Abdullah's prior condemnation: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/woman-shot-dead-by-militants-in-shopian-406936

Separatist journalist Peerzada Ashiq too came to save the good name of his leaders, though in panic mode he doesn't even get the victim's age right consistently: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/militants-kill-20-yr-old-woman-in-shopian/story-4RMG3m6Xtec35U2NlJyTvK.html


What stands out, through triangulation of all these accounts captured by various publications, is the BEWILDERMENT of the father of the deceased. Muhammad Maqbool Mir, an OGW, is genuinely perplexed as to why his daughter was shot when he had served the separatist cause and terrorists well for years.

Speculations can be rife, from hackneyed labels of "mukhbir" on all terror victims (likely), to her family not supporting terrorists (likely), to the victim having spurned the advances of some terrorist commander and taught a lesson for her haughtiness (likely). You tell us. Like her father, we also don't know why terrorists killed her.

Talking of speculation, I wouldn't put it above NC to get a person killed only to blame the opponents or terrorists, and vice versa. In Kashmir, terrorists go dressed in Army fatigue and massacre entire villages, while so-called Mainstream sends "bearded" criminals to assassinate problem people who create obstructions. In Kashmir, all crime operates under plausible deniability afforded by the Unknown Gunman, with a supari by separatists or the political families, two sides of same Pepsi-CocaCola rivalry. In Kashmir, separatists and mainstream politicians should both be treated as anti-national criminals.

It was an Unknown Gunman who came to kill Sheeraza. An unknown bearded Gunman asked each member their names. As soon as Sheeraza gave her name, the Unknown Gunman pumped bullets in her in front of her family.

Common sense would suggest if the terrorists had a problem with their OGW, they would warn or lecture them or, at least, name the sin before pumping bullets. Why would they send an unknown shoot-and-scoot gunman, who asks names and leaves without explaining why? A key part of any threat is the message, which is missing here. Are we assuming the affiliation of the gunman based on our biases that terrorists generally wear "beards"? Could it be Sheeraza was not killed by "terrorist terrorists", but by "mainstream terrorists"?

 This calculated ambiguity—both from the side of the terrorist terrorists and the mainstream terrorists—weighs on people's thoughts all the time. The very anonymity and ambiguity of the shadowy enemy who can barge into your home from any side, even inside, but always accompanied with the sound of the midnight knock, is why rational brains can't and don't function in Kashmir. Inability to ascribe clearly the source of a threat to your life has a chilling and paralyzing effect on Kashmiri minds and they are often left as bewildered as Sheeraza's father.

Kashmiris have just learnt to reflexively obey the loudest voice and swear their allegiance towards it, until a bigger bully comes. Protests are seldom spontaneous and often stage managed. Kashmiri just do what powerful people—whom they look up to or are scared of—direct or force them to do. Kashmir requires a deep cleanse of all mainstream, separatists, bureaucrats, police officers who have been beneficiaries of this Shadow War. In case of Confusion as to who's who, Confucius says: When a fox gets too many parasites pestering it from all sides all the time, the fox jumps into the river and comes out clean, relieving itself of all pests through the daredevil deed. Will Modi-Shah-Doval do the #OperationOverhaul in Kashmir already?

But overall, all said and done, Sheeraza's death was just a tempest in a tea cup in Shopian 2009 and the buzz died in two days. Not like that high profile storm caused by political exploitation of drowning of two women in a river, that unnecessarily got scores of nameless stonepelters killed that year, whose sacrifice was expected for the bloodbath that was preplanned.

CONCLUSION: Even when some deaths are special, some are even more special.

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