Militants at funerals a new flashpoint in Valley conflict
Militants attending the public funeral of their slain colleagues and offering gun salutes has been a trend for some time now. But over the last few months, not only has the frequency of such appearances increased, they are getting brazen like never before, firing several rounds in the air and mingling with the crowd in full glare of cameras.
Abu Dujana, the top LeT militant in Kashmir killed by security forces on Wednesday, had reportedly attended the funeral of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani on July 9 last year.
This Sunday, Riyaz Naikoo, a 30-year-old A++ category militant from south Kashmir, appeared at the funeral of a slain militant Shariq Ahmad Sheikh. Dressed in a grey T-shirt and brandishing an assault rifle, Naikoo was filmed addressing a large gathering of villagers about his “struggle for freedom from India”, before hurriedly making his way out of the funeral.
In the last three months, Naikoo's was the fourth militant presence at the funerals of slain insurgents.
“If we do anything when they
come to funerals amidst a large gathering, there will be heavy civilian casualties. And, I do not want civilian casualties,” DGP SP Vaid told HT. Vaid adds that they will continue neutralising militants, which will automatically stop their appearance at funerals.
Earlier, most militants used to avoid the cameras, quietly appearing at funerals and leaving soon after giving a "gun salute". But now, photos of their brazen appearances are splashed across newspapers and on television .
On May 7, a group of four militants appeared at the funeral of slain insurgent Fayaz Ahmed alias Setha in Kulgam district, and fired several rounds in the air. Photos of all four dressed in traditional overcoat and automatic rifles in hands, made to the front pages of many newspapers.
Funerals of slain militants often see huge turnouts and several rounds of prayers. Security sources say militants attend these for several reasons: first, to “express their love for their departed accomplices”, second “spread propaganda and garner support for militancy" and third, as a show of strength against frequent neutralisation by forces.
“In the early 90s, militants used to appear in public without fear. But over the years, the trend changed. But now, since Burhan Wani’s killing last year they have started coming out in the open and on social media. It cannot be explained through any logic,” said Kashmiri political scientist Noor Ahmed Baba.
“Today, postWani, civilian support for militants is at a peak. They rush towards encounter sites in an attempt to save them and often end up losing their lives. Militants know this and therefore they come without any fear,” explains journalist Sheikh Mushtaq, adding that it means the militants trust the villagers.
It is not just consumers who are seeing red as tomato prices hit the roof across the country. Farmers in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch-Mandsaur belt are feeling cheated as well. Just two months ago they were facing police bullets for demanding better prices for their bumper crop of onions, which they had to dump by the truckloads on the streets.
In January-February, the same region had seen protests over a tomato glut, with prices crashing to as low as ₹2 per kg. The subsequent onion bumper crop dragged its price to ₹2 a kilogram, forcing many farmers to let their produce rot in the fields.
“We have noticed that whenever farmers have perishable items with them, the prices are in the dumps, and when it goes into the hands of traders, there is a massive price spike,” says Bhupendra Patidar, a farmer from Neemuch’s Barbariya village.
Six farmers were killed in clashes with police in the Neemuch-Mandsaur region in the first week of June, leading to protests across the state and a demand for government assured minimum price at local markets. The protests forced the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government to procure onions at ₹8 per kg.
Two months down the line, when the farmers have nothing to sell and are busy sowing for next season, the prices of most agriculture products have shot up.
In May, the average price of tomatoes in Mandsaur’s wholesale market was ₹500-700 per quintal. In August first week, it touched ₹4,500. Similarly, the price of onions almost doubled from ₹400 to ₹800 per quintal during the same period.
With local traders adding their profit margin, tomatoes are retailing at ₹100 or more per kg in most parts of the country. The retail price of onion has crossed ₹30 per kg, with a further spike expected till the fresh produce lands in September.
“Small and marginal farmers who constitute 85% of the farming community rarely get the benefit of high prices. The reason being they don’t have storage facilities to take benefit of the price fluctuation,” says Patidar
“After last year’s losses, we did not grow tomatoes this season. But now prices are high and only the traders have it,” says Jaswant Carpenter of Pipliyamandi.
Traders, however, blame low production for tomato price rise. “There is less production this year and therefore low supply. Most of it is in the hands of big traders who are releasing it slowly from the cold storage so that prices don’t reduce,” says a government official in Indore.
Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh president Shiv Kumar Sharma blames the government for the price fluctuations. “In the last 14 years, the government failed to increase storage capacity for onions or tomatoes due to which they rot during bumper production and only traders benefit by hoarding them.”
Given the current spate of rains and floods, traders see no relief in sight due to supply disruption, which may continue till August-end. In fact, prices of other vegetables will also rise due to reduced supply as the summer vegetable season comes to an end.