Not to speak of justice, even they haven’t returned my cell phone: Human Shield victim

Srinagar/May,23: A day after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Commendation Card was awarded to Army Major Gogoi for tying Kashmiri youth Farooq Ahmed Dar with an army vehicle, the human shield victim Tuesday said that he doesn’t need justice but only want the said Army Major should return his Micromax mobile to him which according to the victim the army officer snatched from him on April 9 last month in Central Kashmir. On the contrary Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi, the Indian Army officer who used a Kashmiri man as human shield on his jeep on Tuesday said he did that to “save more lives”.
“Not to speak of Justice, even they are not returning my micromax cell phone. What sort of State is it where an Army officer loots and torturers anyone at will. Awarding that Army Major doesn’t surprise me at all as I knew the end-result. I am not the only one who was denied justice. There are thousands of people in Kashmir Valley who roam from pillar to post in search of justice. Like any other Kashmiri I too have no faith in the justice system here,” said human shield victim Farooq Ahmed Dar as quoted by local news gathering agency CNS adding that he was targeted for being Kashmiri.
“My simple question to those who awarded this Army Major for making me human shield is what would have been their reaction if their kith or kin would have been in my place. I was not a stone-pelter but had voted before I was lifted and tied to army vehicle,” he said and added that he has lost his state of mind and peace after the incident.
Farooq Ahmed Dar, a shawl weaver by profession said that those who awarded the army officer for such an offence have supported the oppression and coercion. “I wish everyone gets justice but the reality of Kashmir is altogether different. Justice eludes every Kashmiri. This is the harsh reality and we must live to it,” he said.
Meanwhile Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi, the Indian Army officer who used a Kashmiri man as human shield on his jeep on Tuesday said he did that to “save more lives”.
“I did this (tie Farooq Dar on the bonnet of my jeep) to save more lives of the local people,” the 53 Rashtriya Rifles Major told reporters, a day after he was given the Army Chief’s Commendation Card for “sustained efforts” in counter insurgency operations.
“If I had ordered firing then more casualties would have been there,” Gogoi said, recalling the events of April 9 during the by-election in Srinagar.
A video of Dar tied to an army jeep as human shield had gone viral on social media, and was widely condemned.
Explaining the events of the polling day, Gogoi said, “I received a call from an ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) personnel that a crowd of 400-500 people had gathered outside the polling booth in Bandipora and were pelting stones and hurting the polling staff.”
“When we reached there in 30 minutes, me and my boys brought the situation under control, but then around 10.30 a.m. I again received a distress call that around 1,200 people were pelting stones and also hurling petrol bombs in Utligam,” he said.
“Without wasting time, we moved to Utligam which was 1.5 km from there,” the Rashtriya Rifles officer said, adding that after reaching there they were unable to move out of their vehicles.
Gogoi said he made repeated requests to the crowd, including women and children, to stop stone pelting but they didn’t stop.
“Then I noticed this man (Farooq Dar) just 30 meters away from my vehicle, he was the ring leader, and I asked my QRT (Quick Reaction Team) boys to get hold of him. After noticing my boys coming towards him he started running towards the crowd and took the bike to flee the spot,” he said.
Gogoi said that Dar was a resident of Kashmir’s Budgam district.
He said army personnel managed to capture Dar and took him inside the polling station.
“But soon there was an announcement made from a mosque after which more people gathered outside the polling station and they even hurled petrol bombs at us,” he said.
“When we were unable to move out, I announced from my mega-mic to tie the captured man on the bonnet, after which the stone pelting stopped for sometime and we got time to come out and get into our vehicles,” he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir police, which has lodged an FIR against Gogoi, said that investigations will continue.