J&K Human Rights Commission Asks Government To Pay 10 Lakh Compensation To ‘Human Shield Victim’

The Human Rights Commission of Jammu and Kashmir has asked the state government to provide Rs 10 lakh in compensation to alleged stone-pelter Farooq Ahmad Dar, who was tied to the front of a army jeep to discourage an unruly mob from pelting stones at a convoy of polling officers.

Major Leetul Gogoi of the Indian Army, who was leading the convoy, took the call in order to prevent direct confrontation between the mob and the Army, a scenario that would have ended in bloodshed. According to an NDTV’s report, a quick reaction team was called in to prevent escalation, but the numerical superiority of the mob made it almost impossible for the convoy to move.

The chairman of the commission, Justice Bilal Nazki, has said that he doesn’t have jurisdiction over the Army. A court of inquiry had been tasked to find out the circumstances under which the Kashmiri youth had been tied to a jeep as a ‘human shield’ following public outcry over the incident.