Khaki footprint

Forensic tests merely confirm what is well known 8212; that the five people who were killed by the security forces immediately after the Ch...

Forensic tests merely confirm what is well known 8212; that the five people who were killed by the security forces immediately after the Chhitisinghpora massacre were not terrorists but local villagers.

The manner in which they tried to dispose of the bodies and the cock and bull story they spread about the 8216;8216;encounter8217;8217; they had with the 8216;8216;terrorists8217;8217; were a giveaway. But all their attempts to hide the identities of the slain men failed to convince the local people who knew that they were their fellow villagers, who unfortunately fell into the police net.

The spontaneous reaction from the villagers who protested against police highhandedness only evoked further retribution from the security forces. Journalists who have covered the state know only too well that villagers do not react in such a manner when real terrorists or their accomplices are nabbed or even killed in police action.

It should not have been difficult for the government to see through the game of the security forces who were too eager to 8216;8216;crack8217;8217; the case involving the murder of 38 Sikhs and, perhaps, win trophies for their accomplishment. Of course, they did not foresee that the DNA samples of their victims buried deep in Anantnag would expose their cover-up bid.

Now that the DNA tests have exposed the police, what next? Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah wants the CBI to investigate the case, fix responsibility and punish the guilty. It will be in the fitness of things if the Centre entrusts the job to the premier investigating agency of the country in view of the significance of the case. There are sections of public opinion which believe that the police have been doing a difficult job in the Valley and focusing the searchlight on them in this manner will only demoralise them. This is not a sustainable argument.

By taking action against the guilty policemen, a message will be sent to the people at large that no leniency will be shown to those who take the law into their own hands, even if they are in uniform. Such an attitude will strengthen public confidence in the efficacy of the penal system. It will also send out signals to the world that the state will never approve of human rights violations, whether committed by the militants or the security forces.

Those who are sympathetically inclined towards the police often cite the success of the Punjab police but they do not realise that it was ultimately the lack of public support for the terrorists and the democratic process set in motion in the state that helped contain terrorism there.

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If anything, all this highlights the need for rigorous application of the rule of law in the conduct of all organs of the state.