IT defies all logic that an Indian army officer responsible for using a man in India-held Kashmir as a human shield should now be commended by his chief for making “sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations”. Major Gogoi had caught the eye of the world when a young Kashmiri man was forcibly tied to the bonnet of his military vehicle so that the officer could protect himself as he went about his duties during an election in the occupied region. And yet, no news emerging from IHK shocks any more. The list of human rights abuses perpetrated on the people of this scenic land is long and full of ugly innovations. Many of those who have been persecuted in full public view were diehard protesters resisting the might of an increasingly aggressive — desperate — India seeking to quell the calls for liberties and freedom for a subjugated lot. Caught in the vicious momentum generated by the security forces are also individuals not present in the swollen rows of those bent upon responding to the Indian actions with stones — such as the young man who was tied to the four-wheeler. He said that he was not a stone-thrower but an embroiderer; he has suddenly been empowered by the brutality of the Indian soldiers to make a most enduring, vivid impression on the minds of the Kashmiri revolutionaries. There are many others among the Kashmiri youth, including young girls, whose protesting images are creating an impact outside the held valley despite the Indian state’s clamping down on social media there.

But just as there are those who support the Kashmiris’ call for freedom, there are others who defend the soldiers’ actions. There is the Indian defence minister who has supported the actions of Major Gogoi, while actor Paresh Rawal has threatened writer Arundhati Roy as she spoke out against the incident. Whereas the rational world has protested both the incident, and the certificate of commendation to the officer involved, the Indian government wants to use the image of the young man tied to the jeep as a statement of its intention: the state of India is determined to crush the Kashmiri uprising. What New Delhi does not realise is that this kind of state brutality will only increase the resentment of the Kashmiris and cause the world to take serious note of their protest.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017