Zachaldara, Kashmir:
A new controversy has broken out in the Kashmir valley where the residents of a village in north Kashmir are accusing the Army of bulldozing a graveyard to make way for a camp. The Army has denied this saying they were just demining the area.
Owais Ahmad is in a deep shock. He cannot locate the grave of his father who was buried eight years ago, because last week army bulldozers reportedly leveled a portion of the graveyard to make space for a camp in this north Kashmir village, Zachaldara, in Kupwara.
"My fathers grave was here and they bulldozed it," said a shocked Owais.
But the Army says it was demining the area, including the graveyard, and claims no desecration of graveyard has taken place.
The police back the Army claim, saying they had requested them to demine the area. "We were also requesting the authorities to demine this whole area,'' said Rafiq Ahmad Vakil, SP Handwara.
The Army has mined the area around its camp to prevent militant attacks, but after protests since last week, the Army has promised to vacate the graveyard. The people also want the army to vacate the local school and also a mosque courtyard.
The situation in Zachaldara village is the reflection of larger problem of heavy military presence in civilian areas of Kashmir. As the army is doing all this to protect their camp from possible militant attacks, civil liberty here has become the worst casualty.