The fake encounters and mysterious killing of Kashmiri leaders, intellectuals and civilians including females has become order of the day in occupied Kashmir. The main motive behind such inhuman and cowardly acts is to create fear, confusion and distrust among the Kashmiris engaged in a just struggle for securing their right to self-determination.
A prominent religious scholar and President of Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith (JAH), Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah was killed in a blast outside a Masjid in Maisuma locality of Srinagar on April 8, 2011. He had to deliver a sermon and lead the Friday prayers. The deceased was born at Qalamdanpora-Nawabazar in Srinagar. He is survived by his wife, mother, a son and a daughter.
Thousands of people from across the Kashmir Valley paid last tributes to their beloved scholar. Amid pro-freedom slogans and wailing, the people shouldered his coffin and offered the Nemaz-e-Jinaza at Lal Chowk. The APHC Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF Chief, Mohammad Yasin Malik addressed the gathering on the occasion. Hurriyet leaders including Professor Abdul Ghani Butt, Bilal Ghani Lone, Agha Syed Hassan and Nayeem Ahmad Khan were also present while Syed Ali Gilani was put under house arrest by the authorities.
Maulana Showkat Shah succeeded professor Mohammad Ramzan, who incidentally was also injured in an attack by unidentified persons on January 29 in 1999. He was coming out of a mosque in Chattabal area of Srinagar after offering Friday prayers and succumbed to his injuries seventeen days later in a hospital.
Prior to professor Ramzan's killing, a prominent religious scholar of the Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith, Salim Javaid was also killed by unknown persons.
Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah was considered a soft-spoken saintly figure. He was known as the best organizer and a person who streamlined Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith (JAH) in the Valley to make the organisation cadre-based. It was under his supervision that the JAH surpassed its membership many-folds to reach the mark of 15 lac valley-wide. He also headed 814 mosques affiliated with the organisation.
Maulana Showkat who sported a free flowing grey-beard had a modest beginning. He worked for 30 years in Indian city of Kolkata selling shawls and was known for his honesty. Being the nephew of Maulana Noorudin, who is regarded as one of the pioneers of the JAH in Kashmir, Maulana Showkat remained fully involved with the organisation since very young age.
For his exemplary contribution, Maulana was elected three times for the post of the head of Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith with the last elections held in 2010. He was also known for his philanthropic work. He established a diagnostic centre and was working hard to get the approval of establishing Trans-World Muslim University from the Government of India and its authorities in occupied Kashmir. He met Imam Kaaba on March 27-28, this year in New Delhi and extended him invitation to visit Kashmir which the Imam accepted.
However, his tenure as President has not been always peaceful. He was a pro-freedom scholar. He was arrested several times for his association with pro-freedom movement. In 2008, he was arrested and was sent to jail after the authorities booked him under the draconian law, Public Safety Act during the uprising against the transfer of Kashmiris' land to non-Kashmiris.
Unidentified gunmen had earlier fired at Maulana Showkat's car in 2006-2007 in Barbarshah in Srinagar while in 2008 his house was attacked with a grenade in Lal Chowk area of the city. He was among the first to demand a fresh enquiry into the killings of liberation leaders including Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq, Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone and Dr Qazi Nissar Ahmad.
The last two decades of military violence has witnessed deaths of thousands of people by men in uniform and others who fell to the phenomenon called unidentified killing. However, such killings have always remained a mystery for the people of Kashmir. From commoners to famous, these unidentified persons have spared none in Kashmir. Unidentified persons in last two decades killed several leaders, scholars and intellectuals. Who is sponsoring these unidentified killers? This is a serious question which needs answer.
Assassinations of prominent people began in 1990. The first victim of these unidentified killers was the Chairman of Awami Action Committee, Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Farooq who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen after barging into his Nageen residence on May 21 in 1990.
Hriday Nath Wanchoo, a Kashmiri Pandit and a noted human rights activist was assassinated by unidentified gunmen on December 5, 1992. Wanchoo, a retired civil servant and trade union leader, had documented and filed writ petitions in courts against hundreds of custodial deaths. The Amnesty International in its report has also stated that Wanchoo may have been extra-judicially executed because he was one of the most vocal human rights activists in Kashmir.
Dr Abdul Ahad Guru renowned Kashmiri cardiologist and the founder of a Medical College was killed in Srinagar on March 31, 1993. He was one of the prominent faces of pro-freedom camp during early 90's.
Professor Abdul Ahad Wani, who was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on December 31, 1993, from Kashmir University's Department of Law and later his bullet-riddled body was found at a deserted spot outside the university premises.
Dr Qazi Nissar Ahmad, a prominent religious leader and one of the founding members of Muslim United Front was assassinated on June 19, 1994. A popular liberation leader and a scholar, Dr Ghulam Qadir Wani of Bandipore was murdered in Bandipore.
Hurriyet leader and the Chairman of Peoples Conference, Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone, was killed on May 21, 2002. He was shot dead by unidentified gunmen when he was returning after addressing a rally in Srinagar to mark the death anniversary of Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq.
Similarly, APHC leader and the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League, Sheikh Abdul Aziz was martyred on August 11, 2008 in Uri area of Baramulla during a rally against the economic blockade of the Kashmir Valley by extremist Hindu groups of Jammu with the tacit support of the Indian government. He was a strong advocate of right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people and believed that an independent plebiscite under the UN supervision could bring lasting peace in South Asia.
Unfortunately, the perpetrators of all these incidents have not been brought to justice so far. This indicates that the killings have been executed with an intention to malign and weaken the ongoing freedom struggle in the occupied territory. The involvement of personnel of Special Operations Group, Indian army-sponsored terrorist group (Ikhwanis), intelligence agencies and the persons moving freely with guns could not be ruled out in such heinous acts. These agencies, armed forces and person indulge in the killing of pro-movement leaders, activists and common people to create wedge, confusion and hatred and mistrust among the people.
Therefore, there is a dire need for exercising utmost restraint to foil such nefarious designs who are hell bent to sabotage resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the Kashmiris' aspirations. Time has come now for the Kashmiri leadership and people to forge greater unity among their ranks to expose all the overt and covert enemies of the Kashmir movement.
