Ranjit Parihar
Martyrdom of State BJP Secy. Anil Parihar and his brother at Tappal Gali Kishtwar reminds us that almost one thousand years of salvery under the foreign invaders was frequently dotted with the saga of innumerable martyrdoms to keep the flame of nationalism civilizational values, burning in the heart of people.
May they be great Sikh Gurus, their sons, Maharana Partap, Shivaji Maratha, Jansi Ki Rani, Bhagat Singh or martyrs of erstwhile Doda district etc. All of them kept on reminding us that one day shackles of Mother India are sure to break.
In Jammu and Kashmir when Pak based inhuman Jehadis cleared the valley of original inhabitants national forces (Kashmiri Pandits) and inhertors of old civilization, but failed to create liberated zone, they eyed erstwhile Doda District which include Kishtwar and Ramban districts from nineties . This mountainous district with ravines, dense forests, and natural caves was most suited for guerrilla war-fare. In the erstwhile Doda district, terrorists chose Kishtwar district this time because they knew people here are fiercely nationalist and if they are uprooted there will be no resistance at other places.
On that fateful evening of Nov 1, these pro Pak inhuman terrorists jehadis killed BJP State Secy. and his brother Ajit Parihar in inhuman way by shooting them at point blank range at Tappal Gali Kishtwar when both were returning to their homes after closing their stationery shop. This was a planned murder, executed by terrorists with the motive to review militancy in Kishtwar district after 20 years of normalcy here . Earlier in nineties the pro Pak militants had massacred several innocent minority peoples in erstwhile Doda district by executing people at Barshallal ,Cheerji , Kulhnad and Hasti to create fear psychosis among nationalist forces and to effect their migration from here. Terrorists also executed selective political and religious killing to create reign of terror in entire Chenab valley .
Militants started their onslaught with full force and brutality on 15th August 1992 showing their inhuman brutality in Doda district by killing two innocent students who had gone to jungle to bring back their cattle. One of them being a student of 9th class. Their eyes were gouged out and their livers and hearts were taken out. These terrorists were highly motivated, trained and equipped with highly sophisticated and most modern weapons.
Militancy in Doda is, in fact, closely linked to the struggle for communal domination, unlike the Valley where there was an exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the early stages of the unrest. So, unlike in the Valley where the militants’ fight is mainly against the security forces, in Doda, the insurgents are constantly sniping at the Hindu community in addition to the security forces.
Kishtwar has not gone up in communal flames this time-both Hindus and Muslims in the town downed their shutters in protest against the killings on November 01 . But the tension is palpable. And mayhem is possibly a gunshot away.
To rectify this situation and weld the common people into an invisible force and stop mass exodus during the nineties there came a young men, Anil Parihar, Satish Bhandari, Santosh Thakur, Rucher Kumar Koul, Swami Raj Katal and Parveen Gupta and many others on the scene. They enthused people to the extent that they felt convinced that with their swords, kattas, desi guns, double, barrel guns etc enemies AK 47 UMG’s grenade launchers etc. can be defeated. To give militancy a beffetting reply Anil Parihar along with Ex -BJP State president Daya Krishan Kotwal ,Professor Chaman Lal Gupta and Santosh Thakur launched an agitation Doda Bachoo Campagin and raised demand for formation of Special operation group (SOG ) and Village Defence Committee (VDC). As a result of which SOG and VDCs were formed in erstwhile district to combat militancy with iron hands .The migration which started from rural belts in Doda district was later stopped with the efforts of these leaders.
Parihar created a dedicated force of young men, and for the first time militants were being resisted by ordinary people in every village, Mohallah mountain peaks and in ravines and caves. The example of unmatched valour was witnessed when parihar openly opposed anti social and anti national force for obstructing Machail Mata yatris and forceful closure of shops during agitation for Article 35 by majority community members . Parihar had received threatning after this move but police failed to take action .
Seeing their plans failing, Anil Parihar became top person on the list of Pakistan and J&K militants. The intelligence, police and administration failure is one of the main part which resulted in Parihar brothers killing . It is quite astonishing that despite security inputs about the presence of millitants in the area nothing was done to strengthen security of parihar . SOGs had been already disbanded by previous coalition State Government which had helped in containing subversive activities in the area . The dealy in installation of CCTV on main chowks and non presence security check points at chowks resulted in Parihar killings as militants got safe passage to execute it which raise several question on over security scenario. Security cover of protected person of minority community had been reduced and despite matter taken up with higher up nothing tangible has been done on the ground .
Many attempts were made to physically eliminate parihar but all failed. Ultimately terrorists were successful on Ist November 2018 when he along with his brother achieved martyrdom while returning from his shop .
(The author is Freelance Journalist)
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