On the night of Shab-e-Qadr, when devout Muslims ask their God for forgiveness, a mob said to comprise of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s followers traditionally known as ‘Bakras’, mercilessly lynched a Kashmiri Muslim DSP Mohammad Ayyub Pandith of J&K Police while hundreds of other Kashmiris watched. This horrific spectacle reminiscent of Talibani-rituals, took place in Nowhatta, downtown Srinagar. DSP Mohd. Ayyub Pandith was part of the Mirwaiz’s security detail and was on duty outside the mosque when he was attacked.
As the shock and disbelief gave way to anger, there were those who tried to ‘justify’ the lynching by saying that the DSP Ayyub Pandith had been caught clicking pictures/videos of the mob shouting anti-India and pro-Zakir Musa slogans.
These Kashmiri apologists tweeted that after being caught, the ‘Indian Agent’ had been heckled and he fired causing injuries to some people thus leading to the lynching. There were others who tweeted that Ayyub Pandith was ‘punished’ for the sacrilegious act of carrying a pistol to the mosque.
However, media reports clearly mentioned that Ayyub Pandith was outside Jama Masjid and never entered it.There were Morons who even blamed their favourite whipping boy ‘India’!
Soon another ‘face-saving’ explanation had been contrived. Some Kashmiri Muslim journalists offered the rather implausible excuse that the mob had mistaken the DSP for a Kashmiri Pandit and therefore decided to attack and kill him. This ‘sensational’ reason was quickly taken up by several people who decided that this was it! This, they decided, must be why DSP Pandit was victimised. Since Kashmiri Pandits have always been convenient targets for these terror games, most people lapped up this red herring!
There are several loose ends that expose the fictional nature of this rather pat story.
1. This story implies that the DSP Ayyub Pandith was wearing a badge with the surname ‘Pandith’ which led to the mob to believe that he was not a Muslim. The news reports about the unfortunate incident mentions that he was NOT wearing his uniform so where does the question of a ‘badge’ come in?
2. Even if the said badge had been there, it would bear the police officer’s full name: Mohd. Ayyub Pandith. There is nothing remotely ‘Hindu’ about that name. ‘Pandith’ is a surname common to Kashmiri Muslims as well as Pandits and every true Kashmiri would be aware of that fact.
3. The Pandith family lived in the vicinity of the mosque which would make the cop a familiar face, especially to Mirwaiz’s followers. Would they not be familiar with a man who had been protecting their leader for several years?
4. Firstly, Anybody who has lived in Kashmir knows that people in the Valley can identify an ‘outsider’ in a flash, its a closed society where most people know each other. Secondly, the question of ‘confused or mistaken identity’ is hardly possible in post-1990 Kashmir where the number of Hindus is miniscule.
5. Which non-Muslim police officer in his right mind would venture into the danger-zone of Mirwaiz territory, alone at night and on a day when a big crowd was expected?
6. The recent spate of cop-killings in Kashmir should make it clear that Mohd. Ayyub Pandith was targeted solely because he was a policeman.
Now we come to the next question, why was there an indecent haste to offer ‘reasons’ for the lynching of Ayyub Pandith?
Earlier on in May, when Lieutenant Umar Fayaz was shot dead by Kashmiri militants, several TV Channels reported that there was stone-pelting at the funeral. This report was soon retracted by the local journalists who had obviously been made to realise how damaging this could be for the ‘Azadi’ Cause. So there was complete denial, followed by belligerence, however the damage had been done!
Similarly, in this case too, damage-control was initiated to cover up the fact that Kashmiri Mobs are now turning upon their own. There is so much propaganda being fed to these aggressive minds that it takes one spark to inflame uncontrollable violence. It would have taken one voice to mention the presence of a cop for the mindless cruelty to start. Not only was the Ayyub Pandith mercilessly beaten up, his face and body were badly mutilated and the corpse was left unclaimed outside the mosque till the next morning while prayers continued inside.
People who are used to taking media reports as the Gospel truth should remember that the local correspondents are Kashmiris first, their stories would obviously have a local bias.
Therefore, Kashmiri Pandits– the eternal punching bag- cannot by any stretch of imagination be used in this case to salvage the ‘image’ of a Community ashamed (?) of the barbarism displayed against one of their own members!
The chants hailing Zakir Musa, during and after the barbaric act, are significant. Musa recently created the ‘Taliban-ei-Kashmir’, was this bestiality a sign of the Taliban rearing it’s head in the Valley?