AsiaNet-Pakistan Premier Editorial Content and Press Release Distribution Service
Srinagar, September 02, 2018 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, a report compiled by International Forum for Justice and Human Rights (IFJHR) made a mention of the fateful day of August 31, 2017, when two friends and neighbours got separated in a very painful manner in Diver area of Lolab in northern district of Kupwara in Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Pahari speaking Manzoor Ahmed Khan and Nasrullah Khan of Diver, Lolab saw their fate turning towards them in a very gory manner. The two Khans of Lolab have a lifestyle of shifting to hillocks in summer months and on August 31, 2017, they did the same and reached place called Trimakh Top where there is an army camp that houses 27 Rashtriya Riffles (RR).
On this fateful day, Manzoor Ahmed Khan took his cattle for grazing. He didn’t return till late night leaving his family in a big worry. On the next day, Nasrullah started search for his friend and approached the soldiers of 27 RR, who instead of cooperating with him took him inside the camp and brazenly thrashed and beat him to the pulp.
According to Nasrullah, he was told that his friend Manzoor returned from the camp after making the entry for leaving the camp, which wasn’t the case as there was no exit entry made by Manzoor on the ledger. As Manzoor vanished in a thin air, Nasrullah suffered intense internal organs injury and was treated at Soura hospital for renal rupture. The police registered an FIR in police station Lalpora. Manzoor’s family protested outside the camp to seek whereabouts of their dear son, but to no avail.
According to doctors at Soura hospital, Nasrullah has been put on a dialysis. Nasrullah is father of five children, the eldest being 16-year-old daughter. The doctors also stated that Nasruallah’s body has serious bruises and marks of torture. The doctors said that Nasruallah had developed rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure. A year on, Nasruallah’s condition continues to be critical. The mortality rate in such cases, according to doctors, is 20 per cent world over.
Maryam, the wife of Manzoor Ahmed Khan became half widow on the day her husband disappeared in the army camp and is living a miserable life as she waits for her husband to return. She has been hoping against the hope that one day her husband may return. “I am sure Manzoor will return,” she says. The family members of Manzoor Ahmed Khan met top army officials in Kashmir to seek justice but nothing happened even after passage of one year. The High Court of the territory directed the local administration to inform it about the status of cases related to two persons from Kupwara including a man who has been missing for more than last two months. “Nasrullah Khan was later released and handed over to his family members with third degree torture; he was not able to walk and was shifted to hospital from where he was referred to Soura hospital for advance treatment.
On September 6, 2017, human rights activist Muhammad Ahsan Untoo filed a petition before the Human Rights Commission seeking an in-depth inquiry into the disappearance of Manzoor Ahmed Khan and torture of Nasruallah.
On October 30, 2017, the then IG Kashmir Munir Ahmed Khan in his reply to the HRC said: “A Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Additional Superintendent of police Kupwara was constituted for the logical conclusion of the case on merits expeditiously.” However, till date no clue of the whereabouts of Manzoor Ahmed has been found.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org