Indian army commends ‘human shield’ officer
NEW DELHI: India’s army has commended an officer accused of tying a Kashmiri man to a jeep and using him as a human shield, media reports said, sparking strong criticism.
Video footage showing Farooq Ahmad Dar bound to the front of an army jeep as it led a convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir went viral last month and caused a public outcry in the restive Himalayan region.
The incident last month came at a time of heightened tensions in the divided region, one of the world’s most heavily militarised spots, where anti-India sentiment runs deep.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said Leetul Gogoi, who is still under investigation over the incident, was given the award last week for his efforts in counter-insurgency.
“Major Gogoi has been awarded chief of army staff ’s Commendation Card for sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations,” army spokesman Aman Anand said yesterday.
Responding to the news, the vic- tim’s brother Ghulam Qadir called the inquiry a “mockery”.
“He has confined himself to his room. Had this kind of an incident taken place elsewhere then justice would have been done,” the Indian Express daily quoted him as saying.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947 but both claim the territory in its entirety.
An armed insurgency has significantly weakened since its peak in the 1990s, but over the last year there has been an upsurge in civilian protests against Indian rule.
Last year, more than 100 people died and thousands more were injured in clashes between protesters and government forces, the worst violence to hit the Himalayan region since 2010.
In April, eight people were killed by police and paramilitaries during local election violence, and since then students in Indian Kashmir have held regular and at times violent protests.