South Asia Human Rights Journalist Association

June 13,  2017 SHOPIAN: Indian Army soldiers carried out a ghastly, vengeful and barbaric attack  attack on two villages in Shopian on Monday night in which they assaulted women and children, destroyed vehicles, vandalised homes, and left twenty persons injured, several of them with fractures in their legs and arms. 
In Turkwangam village, some 12 kilometers from  district headquarters Shopian, Indian army soldiers arrived at night and barged into residential houses, breaking down the doors. Then they began beating the inmates ruthlessly, some within the house and some after dragging them out. Several women of the village told mdia men that they had injuries on their bodies that they could not show. “How can I tell you how they dragged, thrashed and kicked us. They had become beasts last night,” a woman said with tears rolling down her face. Another said, “O brother, we don’t have the strength to tell you and you have not the heart to hear how they beat us.”
“I was sleeping when just after the Taraweeh prayers I heard noises outside. There were men shouting, ‘Open the door or we will shoot you.’ We didn’t open the door. The men outside screamed and said, ‘We are giving you two minutes to open the door. If you don’t, we will shoot every single person who is inside.’ “After hearing this, my father opened the door and about 30 Indian armed soldiers barged into our house and began beating us. When my mother and sisters tried to shield us, they beat them, too, dragging them out of the room. I cried and begged them to leave my sisters. I said, ‘Please kill us and leave them safe’,” said the son of Ghulam Rasool Lone, one of the residents of Turkwangam village.
His mother, Fatima Banoo, 65, said that the Indian army soldiers left after beating her family for an hour. Then, another group of the dreaded Police force of Special Operations Group  (SOG) and the Indian army barged into her house. “We told them that one of your party has just left after beating us. They didn’t listen and began beating us all over again. They dragged my two sons to the neighbour’s courtyard and beat them there again for half an hour. We cried, but due to the large contingent of  Indian violent forces outside, nobody come to save us,” she said.
Ghulam Muhammad Sheikh, (50), told Sringar daily english Kashmir Reader that the Indian army broke down his front door and barged into the house. He said the soldiers beat up his family, including his 65-year-old sister who suffered multiple injuries.
Ghulam Mohammad said, “They beat us for thirty minutes. They broke the left arm of my son, beat my daughters, wife, sister. We cried but it was a war-like attack on our village.”
The family of Abdul Gani Sheikh was another that was beaten by the  Indain soldiers. Abdul’s son Muhammad Shafi Sheikh was killed by Indian government forces in 1997 at Trenz village. “The SOG and Indian army broke our gate and the doors of the rooms of our house, where everyone was sleeping. They yelled, ‘You are the family of a militant. Come outside or we will kill you.’ When we refused to come out, they ransacked our property and beat up women, men and children inside our house,” Haleema Banoo, an elderly woman from the family said.
Dozens of residents of Turkwangam said that Indian troops barged into residential houses late last  between Monday-Tuesday and ruthlessly beat the inmates. Dozen people have sustained injuries in Indian force’s action. ‘A number of injured have been referred to Srinagar   hospitals due to grievous injuries 
They said that forces beat dozens of people ruthlessly  and damaged their properties. Locals also added that Indian armed forces vandalized the properties and damaged many residential houses.
They said that one Mushtaq Ahmad is being treated at Bone and Joint hospital in Srinagar after his leg was badly fractured. 
The second village  attacked by the Indian army on Monday night was Vehil in Shopian, soon after villagers burst firecrackers to celebrate Pakistan cricket team’s win over Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy. When Indian soldiers of the nearby camp in Chowdhrigund of the dreaded indain army’s 62 Rashtriya  Rifles heard the firecrackers, they attacked the village. Fired bullets , they damaged several vehicles and residential houses, locals said.
“After Pakistan won the game, some boys burst firecrackers. Recently, when Pakistan was beaten by India, the Indian soldiers at the Chowdhrigund camp fired many bullets in the air to celebrate. Why were they irked when yesterday we celebrated?” a local said, requesting anonymity because of the fear of the indian soldiers.
Locals told  media men that the Indian soldiers damaged about 25 vehicles, including cars, taxis, load carriers, and dozens of residential houses. “Yesterday night we feared they will bulldoze every single house in the village and will kill us all. The continuous firing of bullets forced us to lay down on the ground,” an elderly man from the village said.
Shopkeepers in Vehil said that the Indian soldiers “broke the locks of their shops, damaged and looted their goods”. “ Indian Army soldiers from the Chowdhrigund camp of 62  Rashtriya  Rifles come to our village firing many rounds of bullets. They damaged our houses and the vehicles parked on the streets and in the courtyards of residential houses,” a resident of Vehil village said. Residents of both the villages said that  Indian army soldiers beat up people and ransacked property .