‘Security forces discriminated against Kashmiris’

The security forces of the Indian Army discriminated against the local Kashmiris during the rescue operations. This allegation has been made by no less a person than the vice-chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Professor Mohammed Aslam. The vice-chancellor, who was on a family visit to the Kashmir Valley, was stuck in floods and returned to the national capital on Saturday evening.

Talking to Millennium Post on Sunday, Professor Aslam said that he was surprised to see tourists and labourers, mostly migrants from the state of Bihar, being rescued first and Kashmiris being attended to much later.

‘Thousands of people are stuck in the Valley. There is no proper evacuation system in place there. Only labourers from Bihar and tourists are being rescued and travel agents are rescuing their clients at the cost of their own lives. There are some locals who don’t wish to get evacuated. They want the army to give them water, food and medicine,’ said Aslam.

Being a victim himself, he said, ‘There is no proper coordination within various disaster management agencies. This is one of the major failures. There was a warning given five days before this human tragedy happened. Preparedness and planning for the worst should have been made earlier but there is still no plan. Even flood patrolling is not being done.’ According to officials, Jammu and Kashmir has been hit by the worst floods in the state in over a century. Over 200 people have been killed and about lakhs are still stranded in the floods. Professor Aslam, who managed to return to Delhi after witnessing the devastation, said that he is disturbed as he ‘saw people dying’ in front of his eyes and felt helpless as he could not do anything to save their lives. ‘Bodies of animals were floating in water and as soon as the water level comes down, thousands of bodies would be found in houses,’ said Aslam. He praised the efforts of local people in rescuing the trapped victims. ‘The rescue camps are run by locals there. They are collecting things and helping people. There is a helipad in the Kashmir University but no helicopter with rescuing team came there,’ he said. 

Health worries have mounted in Kashmir Valley with the outbreak of water-borne diseases. Lakhs were still marooned, several days after the floods. ‘No doctors are there. Doctors need to be sent there to help people,’ said Aslam.