How rape-murder exposes communal, regional split

Arteev Sharma in Jammu 

Such is the extremeness of our times that it has taken a rape-murder case to push a state government to the brink. Add J&K to it, and you have the perfect recipe for chaos where the minor’s name is announced (against the law), her family identified and there is a systematic campaign to give the heinous crime a communal colour. Even the UN chief has come out with a statement against the brutality. From Jan 10, when the rape-murder was reported, to mid-April, a series of events show how ineptly and egregiously the authorities have let the situation slide: 

Jan 10-18: A minor girl belonging to the nomadic Bakarwal community is reported missing. A week later her body is recovered from forest; Gujjars-Bakarwals block the highway. The opposition in the J&K Assembly creates an uproar demanding a high-level probe, charging that the “minorities were not safe” in Kathua. That was it. 

Jan 23-March 1: Govt hands investigation to the Crime Branch (Jan 23); Hindu Ekta Manch (HEM) is launched the same day demanding a CBI inquiry. Two BJP ministers attend an HEM rally and question the crime branch investigation. Former CM and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah opposes a CBI probe.

The charge-sheet filed by the crime branch said that the girl was allegedly abducted, drugged and held in a temple while she was raped repeatedly because the main accused wanted to scare the Bakarwals away from the village. This version has been severely disputed. 

April 13: The two ministers resign from the Mehbooba Mufti government. Then the entire BJP lot quits the government on April 18 to “facilitate a cabinet recast.” 

The Valley, meanwhile, has simmered. Schools and colleges have been shut following violent protests. 

All this has added to communal polarization between Jammu and Kashmir. The Dogras Gujjars & Bakarwals — long held as pro-India elements — are left cribbing against each other.  The biggest tragedy is the unmitigated agony of the family of the rape-murder victim. The CM has written to the chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking special fast-track court to complete the trial in 90 days. The state government has also decided to terminate the accused cops. 

The Supreme Court, according to Deepika S Rajawat, counsel for the victim’s family, has directed the authorities to provide protection to the family. The Supreme Court has also issued notice to the state government on a petition filed by the biological father of the minor victim seeking transfer of the trial from Kathua to Chandigarh.

The state government has appointed two special public prosecutors to ensure ‘neutrality’ in the case. The Jammu Bar Association has fallen in line after an SC rap. 

The warring groups in Jammu allege the investigating agencies have been used as a tool by communal elements and those in power to demonize the Dogra community demanding a CBI probe.

“The state government has added fuel to the fire to sabotage the demand for deportation of illegally settled immigrants from Myanmar in and around Jammu. We all have been pleading for justice for the victim and have demanded the harshest punishment,” says Surinder Kour, a senior member of the Jammu Bar Association. 

Javed Rahi, a noted tribal scholar, says communalizing the crime will result in denial of justice to the victim. “I believe Dogras and Gujjars should sit together to keep traditional harmony. Let law take its own course. It will be in the interest of the Jammu region and the country as well,” said Rahi.

Kant Kumar Sharma, a former sarpanch of the area, says Gujjar and Bakarwal communities have shared so much. “Our children study together and eat together. This incident has created a wedge among the people.” 

A senior police officer, who declines to be named, says: “A crime should be seen as a crime. By bringing religion or communal politics into it, we will only do injustice to the victim.”