‘When alone at home, our families still feel scared after dark’

The legal battle saw its latest development on November 18, when the J&K High Court accepted a petition by the families challenging a CBI court’s decision to end the case. The court had accepted a two-year-old CBI report seeking saying the families, which blame the Army for the deaths, were “untruthful”.

The Army and police had then blamed an internecine rift between the militants for the massacre, claiming it was sparked by Imtiaz.

The families, however, say that on August 3, 1998, after Imtiaz and his associates had killed Zakir on Mughal road at Sailan, one Major Gaurav of the 9 Para Commandos publicly vowed vengeance. The gunmen in ‘Army uniform’ landed up at their village less than 12 hours later, they allege. Apart from the Army officer, the families have identified SP (operations) Sewak Singh and SPOs Mohammad Yunus, Mohammad Rafi, besides Mohammad Akbar and Maqsood Ahmed ,as having carried out the killings. While Major Gaurav is reportedly a Lt Colonel now, SP Sewak Singh was jailed for allegedly killing a junior officer. The SPOs continue to work with police. Imtiaz was killed in an encounter three months after the massacre.

Latief says Imtiaz crossed over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir during the initial days of militancy. “When he returned after a few months, his father handed him over to the Army, which let him off after some days,’’ he says. He was later arrested but escaped from police custody while being shifted to Jammu and rejoined the militancy ranks, says Latief, who now works in Dubai.

The aggrieved families’ petition in the high court is the fourth time they have sought reopening of the case; the first was in 1999, when the case was closed as the accused were “untraced”. Following protests, it was reopened in 2000 only to be closed again in 2003, despite a State Human Rights Commission report ruling out involvement of militants and recommending an inquiry.

Citing the SHRC findings, the families approached the high court, which on November 21, 2012, ordered a CBI probe. In 2015 the CBI filed a status report seeking closure of the case. “The then CBI judge kept the report, pending disposal, as he knew that the agency had not investigated properly,’’ says Latief. “On August 25, 2017, a new judge accepted that report. But he announced his decision without even listening to our advocate’s arguments,” alleges Latief, who escaped the encounter as he was at a cousin’s house. His brother Shabir, now a government school teacher, fled the scene by jumping out of a window.

They only wanted to kill Lassa Sheikh and his family, recalls Abdul Ahad, the lone surviving member of Hassan Mohammad’s family. “My family got killed as they had sheltered Sheikh’s family,’’ says Ahad. The families also say they are “disgusted” by the CBI’s stand. “They betrayed us,” says Maqsood, who now works at the Power Development Department.

“We will continue our struggle for justice, and after us our children will continue the fight,” says Maqsood. “Marney walon ke saath koi nahin marta, jeena padta hai. Hum bhi zinda lagtey hein, par andhar se mar gaye hein (Though no one dies with the dead, one has to live on. We appear alive, but are dead inside). We only want justice now,” adds Latief.

While justice still seems far away for the survivors, they face another problem. Last year, the three families were evicted from the government quarters they had been allotted at Surankote in 1998, following SHRC recommendations to ensure their safety. As a result, they have all moved back to Sailan.
Only this time, the men have their own families. While Abdul Ahad married four months after the killings, Latief married in 2000. His younger brother Shabir in 2007 and Maqsood in 2009.

“When alone at home, our families still feel threatened after sunset. There is a camp of security forces nearby and policemen patrol the area,” says Maqsood, who has one son. “Our families stay here only when we are with them. If we have to stay away for some days, our wives take the children to their parents’ homes at night,’’ adds Latief, who has four children, including a daughter.