In the just concluded session of the state legislature, the chief minister said the 110 youth killed in last four months by his police and paramilitary forces were “parts of his heart”. He prayed their “sacrifices” should benefit the state of J&K.
This obviously is an effort to play from both ends. Let this effort be judged by the political scientists who are still undecided whether politics is a science or a fine art.
But the larger issue that merits debate is how the state government presented the details of the mess in the legislature.
The Home Department led by chief minister Omar Abdullah informed the legislature on October 6 that only 98 killings have taken place between June 11 and October 4. In response to a question, the government said that in this period only 534 persons were injured. In response to a separate question, the home department said of the 29 persons undergoing treatment in various hospitals 13 persons were permanently and temporarily disabled.
The police and CRPF have been saying that some 1274 CRPF men and 2747 cops were injured between May and September.
Interestingly, in response to another question in the legislative council, the government, this time the health ministry, said their hospitals have received 964 persons injured by bullets, pellets, beating and stones. These included police men as well. But this data pertains to peripheral hospitals, mostly district and sub-district hospitals. It lacks statistics about SKIMS, and associated hospitals. If their trauma admissions are added they definitely will tell the whole story.
The immediate case that the data provided by two appendages of the government to the state legislature makes, is that state is either misleading the lawmakers or simply confusing them. Or may be the government is making serious efforts to hide the magnitude of the crisis that has engulfed Kashmir.
The Chief Minister in his speech said that he will be doing justice till he holds the fort. If he means it, should his government rely on the police figures? There are two parties to the crisis right now – the society and the police. Why is police saying that there were only over 500 civilians injured while it has over 2700? Who will prove it and what is the motive?
Before the chief minister’s government makes any efforts of providing justice to the people, it claims it represents, there is a dire need of a larger survey. Hospitals need to be the primary source of this survey and the police must establish its claims. Otherwise the government is encouraging the faulty and biased statistics as yet another tool of its “non-lethal” warfare against the society with an avowed objective of demonizing the common man.
