STRUCTURES OF VIOLENCE

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| Structures of Violence
A brief outline of the Mohra Bachai case makes it clear
that the massacre – mass punishment by death – was
the modus operandi of the State as a matter of policy
in 'counter-insurgency' operations. On the night of
June 29, 1999, fteen persons, all members of one
joint family, including six children were massacred in
their home in Mohra Bachai, a village 5 kilometers
away from Surankote, Poonch in the Jammu region of
Jammu and Kashmir. Six of those killed were females,
nine were male. It later emerged from the dying
declaration of SPO Gani, that the massacre was
jointly planned and perpetrated by Special Police
Ofcers [SPO], Superintendent of Police [SP] J.P.
Singh, Hawaldar Mushtaq Shah and other personnel
of the army in a secret meeting held led by J.P Singh,
military intelligence and SPOs Yasir and Chavhan in a
house occupied by SOG in Poonch. It was also
emerged that one of the SPOs, Yasir, who was the rst
to open the re upon the family members, massacred
the family because his mother Sarwar Jan, was shot
dead by Imtiyaz, one of the sons of Azam Khan, on
suspicion of spying for the army and the SOG a year
151
earlier . The family also learned that 11 SPOs, 13
soldiers from 9 Para Camp at Balaz participated in
the massacre. According to their neighbour's, a
cordon was established with 4-5 army personnel
deployed outside every house in the area, preventing
people from moving out of their houses.
The persons who were killed on that night were:
Zahida's father-in-law Azam Khan, his son's Nisar, (to
whom Zahida, the sole survivor of the massacre, was
married), Yasir, 13, Mushtaq, and daughter
Shaheena, 14; Zahida's brother Javaid, (who had
came there to see his sister), Motiya Begam, sister-inlaw
to Azam Khan, Motiya's daughters Firdous and
Ruksana, Ruksana's minor children Rashid and
Washid. Also killed were Hameeda, daughter-in-law
of Azam Khan married to Azam Khan's son Mushtaq
and Nahida, daughter of Mushtaq. Ruksana and
Hameeda were both pregnant and the babies in their
wombs also died. Bashir Ahmad, a neighbor who
visited the house to stay there for a night was also
killed, so was another cousin Liaqat.
Zahida states that on the night of June 29, 1999 while
the family members were asleep there was a loud
knock at the main gate of the house at around 11:00
pm. Zahida's husband, Nisar, went out to check. He
was instructed to open the door on grounds of their
being serious complaints against the family. Only
three of the men outside entered-two of whom were
identied by Zahida after Liaqat, a cousin, turned on
the light. These two were SPO Yasir and an ex-militant
working for army who went by the alias 'Chavhan',
both locals of the area. All were dressed in army
fatigues and were carrying automatic weapons. They
immediately instructed the family to assemble in two
different rooms and said “aap kay khilaf shikayat hai”
(there is a complaint against the family) and “hum
talashe kay leya aye hai” (we have come here to
search the house). However, Azam Khan's son
Khalid, his wife Khalida, and two cousins Showkat
and Chengez Khan were sleeping in the next room.
Luckily, they escaped as the perpetrators who
inquired were told that there was no one in the next
room. Following an argument between Yasir and
Liaqat, the gunmen opened re on the family
members. In the shoot-out Zahida received bullets in
her right leg and right arm. The shooting was followed
by a deafening silence, which was broken by a
conversation between the gunmen. Zahida, who
pretended to be dead, heard one of the gunmen
addressing SPO Yasir and saying “Yasir, what have
you done!” to which Yasir responded, “We are here
only for that” and then added “What has happened
was right.” The gunmen, before leaving the spot,
threw gunpowder in and around the house to destroy
the bodies of the massacred and set the house on re
. The injured Zahida, managed to escape from the
burning house. Khalid, Zahida's brother-in-law, his
wife Khalida, and two cousins Showkat and Chengez
Khan broke open the door and survived. All the dead
were burnt in the re. Later the bodies were buried in a
mass grave at Surankote in the presence of the
concerned Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of
Police and Deputy Superintendent of Police.
Khalid registered FIR No 66/1999 at the Surankote
police Station; The FIR states that “unknown gunmen”
in “army fatigues” carried out the massacre. Post
Mortem Examination Report by the J & K Health
Department, Jammu signed by Dr. Sharief
Mohammad Nisar, Mohammad Akram Khan and
Mohammad Fazal Khan is of the opinion that “the
deceased… died as a result of gun-shot injury and the
burns are post-mortem.” In communication dated 12
March 2008, the Senior Superintendent of Police
[SSP], Poonch writes to the Inspector General of
Police, Jammu that the First Information Report [FIR]
No. 66/1999 registered at the Police Station at
Surankote was closed against three absconding
accused on 2 November 2001.
Zahida was hospitalized at Jammu for six moths and
delivered a baby there. Her leg was operated upon six
times during her stay in the hospital. The amount
spent was pooled from general public, in addition to
Rupees 100,000 sanctioned as ex-gratia relief by the
government. The government provided her
accommodation in a government quarter, as her
home was burnt down. For past 15 years she has
been living there but was forced to vacate the house in
August 2015 under pressure from the police and
Tehsildar, Surankote.
The status of the charge sheet led is unclear. SSP
J.P. Singh alleged to be responsible for both the
Sailan and Mohra Bachai massacres has been
promoted and is currently serving as Inspector
General Police (IGP Trafc).
151 Statement of Zahida, the sole survivor of the Mohra Bachai massacre, to our researchers.