It was not the first time I was dragged, and humiliated, by the cops. But unique about the incident that happened on 2ndFebruary 2019 was that after keeping me under day long house arrest, to prevent our party’s protest march against handing over Ratle Power project to NHPC, at around 06:00 PM Jawans of J&K Police entered my house and asked me to accompany them to police station. My two guests from Uri are witness to all what I faced; from my bedroom to police vehicle. When I asked them the reason, the officer in-charge roared, “Order Ouper say aaya hay”. The officer continued arguing with me in the room along with few cops. I never knew that they had bundled the entire family in the kitchen, including women and children. All of a sudden, around fifteen cops, most of them with covered faces entered the bedroom and dragged me from there to the vehicle. Even a criminal would not be dragged from his bedroom, but I, even today, fail to understand the urgency of the situation that compelled local cops to cross all limits. I have no personal grudges against the cops or their masters, despite the fact that I found myself so helpless and could not stop tears in the eyes of my kids – perhaps first time in last many many years. No doubt there are good cops and bad cops in police, like in any other organization, but the fact is that J&K police despite being a local force, very often justifies its harsh measures used against Kashmiris.
No doubt J&K police has professional compulsions, and it is not possible for officers and Jawans to deny the orders of their superiors. But let me remind every single cop that there has to be a limit beyond which by no means their individual or collective actions have any justification. How can it be part of their duty that they humiliate political workers, and militant families; arrest people without warrants, blind unarmed protesters or keep people in extra judicial custody.
From common masses to politicians, and from militants to local cops, everyone has to understand the compulsions of each other. Kashmiris must minimise the level of hatred against local cops, as they are part of the society. But it is not possible unless the local cops stopped themselves proving more loyal than the king.
Let the local cops not forget that from 1989 to 2000 local cops would remain far away from anti-militancy operations and even many cops were terminated from their services for not agreeing to use force against their own people. JK Police has to answer, what has changed from then to now that a section of local cops has turned so brutal. The local cops are not aliens and cannot afford isolation from the society. The important thing local cops need not to remember is that despite doing everything to be in the good books of the masters, their loyalty is always doubtful. It can be understood by the fact that KPS officers have been thrown out from the key postings, and the the process is on. It is high time for local cops to stop justifying their illegal, immoral and inhuman acts by giving lame excuses, so that their own integrity, self-respect and credibility don’t get further eroded.
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