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| Crowds surface at encounter sites to help militants flee | | | Anew trend has emerged in the troubled Kashmir valley where large crowds of people trying to help militants in fleeing from the encounter site. And this is the reason for killing of civilians or injuring some of the civilians. In fact the trend is as old as the coalition Government is and the security forces have to fulfill a very delicate task. In one sense operations against the militants lead to the killing of civilians whenever and wherever they gather in groups and divert the attention by resorting to stone pelting. This is what has happened in Khudwani in Kulgam where during the operations against militants crowds of people appeared from nowhere and started pelting security personnel with stones and the results were on the expected lines. Since it was an operation carried out by the Army, the Army personnel are not equipped with lathis to disperse the crowd. They invariably are equipped with guns and this time they had been equipped with teargas shells which is evident from the injured who were admitted to hospitals in Kulgam and Anantnag with teargas shell and pellet wounds. And if the civilians get killed this is the result of their daredevil task of helping militants to flee from the encounter site. And once the Army or the security forces or the police carry out search operations on specific inputs these crowds fear that not a single militant would be saved and they believe their intervention could protect these militants.
Four civilians and an armyman were killed and more than 80, including 2 army men, were injured in an ongoing encounter here in Khodweni area of South Kashmir's Kulgam district. One of the three militants who engaged security forces in a gunfight was also killed. The body, however, is yet to be retrieved. The encounter was triggered last night in Khudwani area after security forces laid a cordon and search operation, acting on inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area. After initial firing on previous night, there was a lull till around 6 am. The firing has resumed since and is on Three army men were injured during the gunfight and one of them succumbed to his injuries. The other two are undergoing treatment in Srinagar. As soon as the encounter resumed on Wednesday morning hundreds of people marched towards the site of the encounter to try and make the militants flee. Security forces have used bullets, pellets and tear smoke shells to disperse the ever-growing crowd of the civilians, sources said. Anantnag and Kulgam hospital reports indicate the injured had wounds with bullet, pellet and teargas shell injuries.
Crowds do appear during the encounter sites and during the burial ceremony of militants in order to show peoples' support to militancy which was not there. In 1992 and 1996. It was there in the initial stages of militancy in 1989-1990 when people were scared of militants. But gradually this scare was gone and people started helping security forces and intelligence agency with specific information about the hideouts and plans of militants which led to killing of several thousand militants who crossed into Kashmir from across the border. During the last three years or so there are number of people who, secretly, pass on the information to the security and intelligence agencies about the hideouts and plans of militants. But agencies from Pakistan and the separatists have issued directions to crowds that they should surface during the encounters or during the burial and start pelting security forces stones which may force security forces to retaliate by using gun, pellet or teargas sheels which could either kill or injure civilians allowing Pakistan agencies and separatists to cry over human rights violations. If the crowds have nothing to do with militancy why do they appear during the encounters indicating that they support militants and wish to help them fleeing from the encounter sites because they know it well that when the Army cordons off the area there is no room for militants to flee and they do so after the crowds engage the security forces with stone pelting |
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