Srinagar
At least three incidents of fights between personnel of police and Indian soldiers have taken place since India revoked Kashmir’s special status, Kashmir Media Service reported quoting Associated Press.
Citing police officers in Occupied Kashmir, the US news agency reported that the incidents of fight between police and Indian soldiers have led to injuries on both sides.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity fearing retribution from their superiors, Kashmiri police officers told the news agency that they have been sidelined and in some cases disarmed by New Delhi-based authorities.
Police officers feel spiritless, caught between the Indian security forces and the friends and neighbors who question their loyalties like never before.
“At the end of the day, we neither belong to our own nor are we trusted by higher authorities,” the news agency quoted an officer as saying.
“Days before Kashmir’s special status was revoked, tens of thousands of troops were deployed to the region. Authorities cut internet, cell coverage and even landline telephone service, leaving Jammu and Kashmir’s 12.5 million people unable to contact each other or friends and relatives outside the state.”
Officers described Kashmir’s sudden re-organization as a betrayal by the Indian authorities they had been serving at the risk of social alienation in their communities.Many of the policemen said their department-issued firearms were taken away from them days before Modi government’s order was presented in Parliament because authorities feared they could rebel.
Some officers said they were unclear about their role.
In contrast to the Indian paramilitary soldiers manning a maze of checkpoints armed with assault rifles, shotguns, tear gas canisters and two-way radios, police are only carrying batons.— AP/KMS
