The newest upsurge all over the valley witnessed hundreds of thousands of protestors on the roads. These were massive crowds of unarmed civilians demanding the basic right of self-determination. In several cases the crowds drastically outnumbered the security forces. For Police and Paramilitary it was an unprecedented task of crowd control. The Paramilitary and Army had been deployed during last two decades in the valley and other places for countering armed militants. It has been acting as a counter insurgency force. They have been trained and mentally prepared to tackle armed militants. During these operations they have been trained to shoot to kill.

It was for the first time after more than a decade that they were facing unusually large unarmed civilian crowds. There were a number of instances during which the security forces used force to either stop the processions or disperse gathering crowds. This crowd control resulted in over 40 dead and hundreds injured. To justify excessive use of force, it was alleged by the security chiefs (without any eye witness confirmation) that in a solitary instance in Narbal someone fired from the crowd. However, in most of the cases there were clashes between unarmed civilian protestors and fully armed paramilitary forces.

Apart from the incidents involving stone throwing which resulted in clashes with police and paramilitary, there were numerous instances of these forces barging into houses of people and thrashing inmates and damaging property. They did not even spare mosques and shrines and there was a gross desecration of the famous shrine of Dastgeer Sahib in Sarai Bala. Thus there are two sides to this excessive use of force. The first one pertains to crowd control. By and large the crowds were peaceful. However, there were some instances of provocation and at times the security forces did exhibit restraint. These provocations came from younger generation in the form of slogans, some against India and some pro-Pakistan, burning of effigies and in many cases incidents of stone throwing.

The crowds did not start stone throwing on their own but resorted to it when the paramilitary forces tried to disperse processions or prevented them from assembling to take out protest marches. In some places after the paramilitary had retreated, their bunkers were dismantled by angry crowds. The main instance of the use of excessive force was against a massive crowd marching towards Muzaffarabad which was stopped ahead of Baramulla after being initially allowed to assemble and proceed ahead. According to press reports the crowd was very large and one correspondent put the procession almost 17 kilometres long! In rest of the cases, it was mostly preventing gatherings and dispersing already gathered people. There has been extensive media coverage of these incidents especially on local TV channels which were subsequently banned for sometime.

One thing which is starkly visible in these visual clips is that the method of crowd control is anything but what is expected of a disciplined and trained force in such incidents involving unarmed civilians. Normally, such crowds are stopped by the use of water canons, tear smoke, and baton charges. Firstly let us take the use of tear smoke. In normal course the tear smoke gun is held at an angle on the shoulder. The shell is to be fired in a parabolic fashion so that it falls on the ground from the sky near the crowd. The shell detonates on impact on a hard surface and releases large amounts of tear smoke. However, in Kashmir the police and paramilitary forces are visible on all TV channels firing these shells directly into the crowds. Secondly for controlling large crowds in open areas simple tear smoke shells which detonate on impact are fired. However, it has been observed that in many instances the police personnel have been using penetrating or piercing shells.

These shells are normally used for enclosed spaces to control groups of people such as militants inside a building. The baton charges have also been excessive and indiscriminate. Even old people and children were not spared. There were many instances were even journalists, and medical staff were beaten mercilessly. As per norms all contingents of forces going for crowd control should normally be accompanied by magistrates who order use of force of different types depending upon the gravity of the situation. This legal requirement has been done away with in Kashmir thanks to Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act which empower security forces to use unreasonably excessive force without any accountability. This unbridled power gives the forces a psychological advantage and they feel free to give hell to common masses.

The next comes the use of live ammunition. It is the last resort in controlling unarmed civilian crowds only when these turn excessively violent. Normally police use rubber bullets which are supposed to be less lethal. (In one case, a boy was killed by a rubber bullet which must have been fired on vital organs at point blank range!) These were used only towards the end. In all earlier cases live ammunition was used. Here again the drill is to fire below the waist to disable people. However, in most of the cases the casualties had bullets above waist aimed at vital organs. In many cases the bullets had entered in the back which shows running crowds were fired upon from the back. Secondly, even if live ammo is to be used, it has to be of short range so that the bullets lose the lethal power at a distance.

In the instant cases, the forces have been using normal long range ammo which is sure to kill. One may even be prepared to concede without any logical justification the argument that all the above gross deviations from normal procedure of crowd control are due to the inexperience of the forces presently attuned to counter militancy operations but what about the second phase of the use of excessive force? This pertains to barging into homes of people and not only beating them but damaging their property! There have been wide spread complaints on account of this harassment of the common people. Any disciplined force cannot indulge in such activities unless they have tacit approval of their immediate commanders and patronage of the political and administrative bosses. One starkly visible act of indiscipline is the forces sent to control mobs themselves indulging in stone throwing and giving a fresh supply of missiles to the crowd.

It is like a stone throwing match! This is not a deviation by the psychologically tense members of the forces but a deliberate use of brute force to cow down people. The soldiers do not go berserk all the time everywhere unless they are specifically told to do so! There are instances where the uniformed personnel may lose control when their colleagues get hit but they do not lose control all the time without any rhyme or reason. It appears that these troops have been given a green signal to brutalise Kashmiris and bring them to their knees. Unfortunately, the authorities in Delhi have not learnt any lesson from history and are repeating it to the detriment of the real national interest. Government of India has tried every thing available with them to dissuade Kashmiris from the path of Azadi but to no avail. They arrested from time to time all the leaders during last 61 years.

They offered thousands of crores as developmental funds and even bribed the local leadership to toe their line. They used excessive force to suppress common masses. However, after every phase of turmoil and suppression, the people are as they were. They continue to harbour the wish for total freedom. Government of India must be fully aware of the fact that excessive violence against civilian population is a clear violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Humanitarian Laws, and the Geneva Convention. Such violations are bound to attract international attention. Apart from these gross violations, the use of force has never been able to suppress the aspirations of the people anywhere in the world. There is a strange dichotomy in the Indian polity. One section wants to go by the democratic process and welcomes peaceful protests.

They advocate dialogue to address the basic issues. The other section behaves as the worst colonial masters and is pushing the people to the wall by their aggressive and arrogant attitude. This section seems to be ascendant at the moment and is advocating fascist measures. One fails to reconcile the ideals of Rabindra Nath Tagore and Mahatama Gandhi with the actions of this Hindutva brigade which go totally against the image of the largest democracy in the world aspiring to be a super power. Unfortunately, the victims of this dichotomy of internal conflict are the hapless Kashmiris who continue to suffer! There is still time for the saner elements in Indian Polity to assert and arrest the drift to a bottomless abyss. Dialogue is the best bet and is any time better than “Excessive Force”! Sooner one starts it, the better it would be.