A day after her video objecting to frequent searches of her home by the Army in South Kashmir went viral, the J&Ok Police on Friday arrested a Special Police Officer (SPO) below anti-terror legal guidelines and terminated her providers.
Police mentioned the motion towards the SPO, recognized as Saima Akhter, was taken for “glorifying terrorism and obstructing government officials in the discharge of duty”.
In the video, the lady from Frisal village of South Kashmir’s Kulgam, whose face will not be seen, could be heard shouting at Armymen for not sparing the household from searches even throughout Ramzan, and calling them outsiders.
“Why do you come again and again? Go to the houses where militants are. You don’t even allow us to have our sehri (pre-dawn meal during Ramzan)… If you have to search our house, first remove your shoes,” she shouts. Saying her mom was not nicely, the lady provides, “If something happens to her, then you will see.”
As an Armyman, who can’t be seen both, shouts again, the lady says they will’t frighten her. “Shut your mouth. We are not going to be scared. This is our Kashmir. You have come from outside. Do whatever you want to do,” the lady says, including, “If they (militants) had been here, they would have pumped a burst of fire into your heart.”
In an official launch, police mentioned safety forces carried out the search operation in Frisal on April 14 “on a specific input regarding the presence of terrorists”. “During the search operation, the search party was obstructed by a lady identified as Saima Akhter, a resident of Frisal. The lady resisted the search party and turned violent and uttered statements glorifying the violent actions of terrorists. She captured a video through her personal phone and uploaded it on social media platforms for dissemination with the intent of disrupting the search operation.”
Police mentioned Akhter had been booked below the UAPA on the Yaripora police station and subsequently arrested and eliminated as SPO “for glorifying terrorism and obstructing government officials in the discharge of their duty”.
While the SPOs have been initially appointed in J&Ok immediately by superintendents of police primarily based on the necessity to preserve legislation and order, collect intelligence or for counter-militancy actions (ladies are exempted from the final) in an space, now there’s a set process for a similar. Since 2016, the candidates, who should be between 18 and 28 years of age and have studied until a minimum of Class 10, are appointed by district-level screening committees headed by respective deputy commissioners.
Condemning the fees towards Akhter, former Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, “Saima Akhter from Kulgam has been slapped with UAPA for raising legitimate questions about searching her home repeatedly without any reasons. Saima’s ailing mother understandably exacerbated her worries. When it comes to cruelty even women aren’t spared in Naya Kashmir.”
