Srinagar: On May 15, the internet was flooded with reports about the killing of a civilian in Turkwangam, a sun-dappled hamlet of sycamore and walnut trees off the Rambiara river in the South Kashmir district of Shopian.
Visuals shared online showed a crowd carrying the dead body late in the evening as dozens of mourners flashed their mobile phone lights in the dark.
The killing sparked protests in Darazpora, the neighbourhood from which deceased 20-year-old Shoaib Muhammad Ganai hailed.
Shoaib owned a store which sold car accessories on the main road along the river, just 50 metres from the alleged site of his death. Dozens of women rushed to the spot, weeping bitterly as they started a protest against the killing.
The Kashmir Valley has already seen multiple demonstrations by Pandit groups against what they see as the government’s “inability” to control the murders of members of their community as militants escalate a campaign of targeted killings.
Last week, militants in the central Kashmir town of Budgam shot dead Rahul Bhat, a Pandit man working with J&K’s revenue department.
Yet, Shoaib’s death is a stark reminder of a different but persistent dynamic that has always been a hallmark of the conflict in Kashmir – purported actions intended to contain militancy often come at the cost of civilian lives.
A statement issued by the J&K police described the incident that led to the Ganai’s killing as a “chance encounter.”
“At about 1310 hours (1:10 pm), terrorists indiscriminately fired up on a patrolling party of police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Turkwangam-Litter area,” the police statement read. “During the crossfire, one civilian was seriously wounded.”
The statement added that it was the joint patrolling party of the 182 battalion of the CRPF and the Special Operations Group (SOG) unit of the J&K police that came under assault.
“During the exchange of fire between terrorists and joint team of forces, one civilian, identified as Shoib Ahmad Ganai…received critical gunshot injuries,” the statement read.
“Although the injured civilian was immediately evacuated to the hospital for the treatment of his injuries, he succumbed. The terrorists…managed to slip into nearby orchards.”
The area where the incident took place is situated on the banks of the Rambiara river and is mere metres from the bridge which connects Litter in the Pulwama district to Turkwangam in Shopian. On a clearing next to the river, there are over half a dozen makeshift tents where members of Kashmir’s nomad community put up.
On Tuesday afternoon, scores of mourners gathered inside Shoaib’s small house near Darazpora.
Based on interviews with the family, the nomads, the shopkeepers and other eyewitnesses of the killing, the picture that emerges of the incident is a far cry from what was described in the media release.
Several shopkeepers who work in shops on the road where Ganai’s shop is located allegedly witnessed the incident in which he has killed, as did members of the nomadic community present at the scene as well as 22-year-old Shahid Muhammad Ganai, Ganai’s older brother, who was allegedly with him when the “chance encounter” took place.
“He had been running this shop for the last three months,” said Shahid. “I was with him when he said he was going to urinate near the stream.”
Shahid’s attention was then caught by a black auto-rickshaw from which the three uniformed soldiers disembarked. These men started running in the direction in which Shoaib was headed. Alarmed, Shahid said he sprang to his feet and shouted, loud enough to alert his brother to the movement of the troops.
Several Gujjar nomads were herding their goats at the spot as well. The Wire spoke to Arshia and Shabir Mir who were grazing goats. A young nomad boy, who did not give his name, also spoke to this reporter.
All three of them confirmed that Shoaib was confronted by the uniformed men.
“I saw the soldiers coming in a huff and asking, ‘Bhagne wala kidhar gaya? (Where did the guy who was running away go?)’” Mir said. “The last we saw of him was when he folded both his hands in front of the soldiers. Then we were asked to go inside the tents.”
According to Shahid, the troops trained their weapons at his brother – who raised both hands in a gesture of surrender – and fired. “I saw it happen in front of me,” he said. “The bullet went in his chest.”
Another man who claimed to have witnessed the whole incident was Javid Ahmad Mir, a labourer who was working nearby. “Initially I thought they fired to scare him,” he said. “Then I saw the soldiers carrying the body on their shoulders as they walked to where their vehicles were parked.”
Ghulam Ahmad Ganai, Shoaib’s father who had also reached the spot by then, said that the uniformed men didn’t allow the family to go near the body.
“For 10 minutes, the body was lying there,” he said. “Then they took him. We were aghast. We asked them to return the body but to no avail. They went to the other side of the bridge.” The Wire
