Nearly two years ago, when Srinagar voted in a Lok Sabha bypoll, Farooq Ahmed Dar, was used as a “human shield” to “ensure safe passage for army soldiers as they came under intense stone-pelting,” but now he finds himself posted on election duty.
“Farooq Ahmad Dar is working on consolidated terms assweeper in the Health department. He has been posted on election duty,”said Budgam Chief Medical Officer Nazir Ahmad.
In 2017, a picture of Dar tied to the bonnet of an army jeepsplashed across the front pages of newspaper, invoking sharp but dividedreactions.
Investigations later found he was on his way to his sister’splace for a condolence meet after casting his vote in the bypoll on 9 April,2017 when the army picked him up and tied him with ropes, parading him throughnearly 28 villages.
“What was my mistake? Going to the polling booth andcasting my ballot?” Dar had told PTI in a video interview last year.
At this village, nearly 40 kms from the Srinagar city, whereDar was tied to the army jeep, the incident is still fresh in the minds of thelocals.
After the polls opened at the Utligam polling station, onlytwo of the registered 1,016 voters had cast the ballots in the first 100minutes.
The residents allege the stone-pelting was in response tothe “unprovoked harassment of the locals by the security forces and thevandalism by them.”
“It was the security forces personnel who went berserkand started beating up people and broke window panes of many houses that day.The youngsters were infuriated and retaliated by pelting them withstones,” Nazir Ahmad, a local resident, told PTI.
Ahmad admits the stone-pelting was very intense, whichprobably forced Major Leetul Gogoi to catch hold of Dar and use him as a humanshield.
“He is not even from our village. He is fromCheill-Brass village, 15 kilometres from here. That incident has brought onlyunwanted attention from all sides to our village. If we vote, it is a problemand if we do not vote, it is a problem,” he said.
Muhammad Aslam, another villager, said the police picked up22 youth from the village over the past couple of days without any charge.
“Most of them are labourers and students. We are leastbothered about if any one comes to vote or not. We have formed a committee toensure there is no law and order problem in our village this time because weare concerned about our boys,” he said.
There is a sense of deja vu among some residents here.
A young woman died Thursday morning due to brain hemorrhage.Preparations were underway for her final rites at the graveyard right next tothe polling station.
“You would not have been able to come here had it notbeen for the death of the woman this morning. The scenes here would have beendifferent,” said a youth, who wished not to be named, indicating thatdisturbance in the area was planned.
As this PTI reporter travelled to Cheill-Brass, a remotevillage just at the foot of the mighty mountain, Dar was not at his home. “He has gone for election duty,”his mother Fazi Begum said.
She said Dar was appointed as a daily wage employee in thestate Health department and has been on election duty since Wednesday.
Asked if the eligible members of her family had cast theirvotes, Fazi Begum said, “I almost lost my son due to voting two years ago.Do you think we will go to vote again?”
The 65-year-old woman said her son had to seek daily wageemployment in the government department as he could not work on shawls anymore.
“His thumb has been damaged after he was tied to the jeep.Now he cannot work on shawls,” she said.
The State Human Rights Commission had awarded Rs 10 lakhcompensation to Dar but the state government refused to pay up.
“We have not got any help from the Government. (Thenchief minister) Mehbooba Mufti did not honour the ruling of the SHRC,”Fazi Begum said.
She has now pinned hopes on the court where the case is under consideration.
PTI