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| July 4, 1995: Al Faran abducts 6 foreign tourists from Aru | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, July 3: Enforced disappearance has been widely agitated in the state especially in Kashmir for the past two decades. However, very rarely have the human rights defenders made a mention of people who disappeared in the `custody' of the militants. Every month the members of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) assemble at the Municipal Park to seek the whereabouts of their disappeared wards. However, never has the organization talked about the disappearance of six foreign tourists abducted by the Al Faran in 1995. On the contrary, the aggrieved wives of the tourists expressed sympathy with the relatives of the disappeared in Kashmir repeatedly during their unsuccessful search for their missing husbands. Al Faran, an outfit that abducted six foreign tourists from Aru, a health resort in the Valley of Shepherds in South Kashmir on July 4, 1995 vanished on December 4. With it vanished into thin air the surviving tourists. Nothing has been heard about them till date. The abductees, Donald Hutchings (American), John Childs (American) Keith Mangan and Paul Wells (British), Dirk Hasert (German) and Hans Ostro (Norwegian) would have never imagined that their treckking trip would meet a tragic end. Hans Ostro was executed a few days after captivity and the police recovered his beheaded body. John Childs somehow managed escape and was rescued by a reconnaissance helicopter. The whereabouts of other tourists are still unknown.
The relatives of the hostages visited Kashmir several times. Match boxes with photographs of the hostages were widely distributed. They also promised cash awards but all in vain.
On August 4, 1996, wives of Keith and Don Hutchings, Julie and Jane addressed a press conference in Srinagar. The aggrieved ladies said" "We have not lost hope. We need concrete information about our husbands' condition and whereabouts.
Earlier a parliamentary delegation from Germany comprising Vera Lengsfed, Johannes Selle and brother of Dirk Hasser, Bernd Hessert addressed the media persons. They said: "We have brought with us two lakh signatures of people expressing sympathy with Kashmiris and appealing for prompt release of the hostages."
Wives of Donald Hutchings and Schelly also addressed a press conference on June 26, 1996. "Holding four innocent tourists hostage serves no purpose. It is against glorious traditions of Islam", they said. |
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