Indian soldiers to be court-martialled for staging encounters in Kashmir

Indian army killed 3 labourers in a fake 2010 encounter and over 120 more civilians in the ensuing protests. PHOTO: FILE

SRINAGAR: India has decided to court-martial two Indian army officers along with four soldiers for staging an encounter in Indian-occupied Kashmir in which three labourers were killed, according to BBC Urdu.

Colonel Rajesh Kalia, the Defence spokesperson for Indian Army’s northern command said the concerned ‘encounter’ occurred three years ago, and the decision to take action against the soldiers came after investigations over the incident had been completed.

The incident happened in the last week of 2010 in a village called ‘Maazhil” in District Kupwara, Northern Kashmir. Local police had investigated the incident and filed cases against nine Indian soldiers plus two Kashmiris working for the Indian army.

The army conducted its own investigation though, headed by Brigadier Sanga.

Colonel Kalia said: “The people want rapid justice for the incident and our decision reflects their sentiments.’

When news of the sham encounter first broke in 2010, Kashmiris led large-scale protests against the killings for a long time. To quell the protests, Indian paramilitary troops and police fired at the protesters and shot dead over 120 civilians, injuring hundreds and arresting a large number of young boys as well.

A few months ago, the army conducted a two-week operation to hunt down suspected rebels in disputed Kashmir after a series of gunbattles in which at least eight alleged militants were killed.

Not the first fake encounter

BBC Urdu reported that in a separate incident in 2010, some time before the then US President Bill Clinton arrived in India for a visit, as many as 35 Sikh civilians were killed in an area in Northern Kashmir.

Subsequently, the Indian army claimed to have been in an ‘encounter’ in which they had killed the alleged terrorists from Pakistan who perpetrated the above incident. To quell the demonstrations, Indian paramilitary troops and police fired at the people, killing over 120 civilians, injuring hundreds and arresting thousands of young boys.

As official investigations disclosed later, though, the people killed by the Indian Army were innocent civilians, who were burned down alive inside their houses