A Delhi-based assistant professor from the Indira Gandhi National Open University has alleged that some soldiers had assaulted him and his family in Nowshera in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district Thursday night, prompting the Indian Army to initiate an inquiry.
According to sources, the assistant professor, Liaqat Ali, whose family is based in Rajouri, was returning from a wedding with his younger brothers in Lam near the Line of Control Thursday night when a group of soldiers conducting checks allegedly assaulted him.
While the army has said it had initiated an inquiry, J&K Police have registered a case.
“I was sitting in the vehicle and as an Army personnel came to me and asked for my identity card, I came down and showed him my official ID mentioning my particulars as Assistant Professor, IGNOU, Delhi,” he told the media about the incident.
“Perhaps one of the soldiers got irked thinking that I was showing off and he hit me on the head with his rifle butt,” the IGNOU professor said, adding that when he fell down, others too began beating him.
When he looked around, he saw his younger brother, a trooper in the Indo Tibetan Border Police, lying in a nearby drain, he said. “I soon lost consciousness,” he said, adding that he was eventually taken to the hospital, first in Nowshera and then to the Government Medical College Hospital, and that he got nearly half a dozen stitches on his head.
In a social media post on Facebook, he claimed that his “entire family is in the Indian Army”.
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“I’ve always been proud of that. Proud of the uniform, the service, the sacrifice. But today, what I experienced shook that pride to the core. Without any reason, without any question, I was assaulted – hit on the head with a weapon by the very people I once trusted blindly. It made me realize one terrifying truth: if the system chooses to, it can ‘encounter’ any human being – without evidence, without trial, without justice. There’s no apology that can undo this wound. Only one haunting question remains – has justice now become the privilege of the uniform alone?” the post said.
On its part, the Indian Army called the incident a “scuffle” but added that the Army had intelligence reports on “the likely movement of terrorists in a vehicle” and that search operations were being conducted.
“An incident has come to light wherein certain individuals were allegedly manhandled by Army personnel in Rajouri District,” Army said in a written statement here.
It further said: “The Army had input on (the )likely movement of terrorists in a vehicle in this sensitive area. Accordingly, search operations were being conducted. Preliminary information suggests that on being stopped, the individual tried to snatch (the) weapon of the soldiers on duty and initiated a scuffle with them”.
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“However, an enquiry has been initiated. Should any personnel be found guilty of misconduct, strict action will be taken in accordance with the existing law,” it said, adding: “Indian Army remains steadfast in upholding the highest standards of professionalism and discipline in the conduct of counter terror operations. All sections of the society are requested to continue to cooperate and collaborate with the Indian Army for collective and comprehensive security in this sensitive area”.
Meanwhile, the Nowshera police have registered an FIR on the back of a complaint from Ali, a senior police officer said, adding that the investigations were ongoing.
