Army soldiers search for suspected militants as smoke rises from a bunker after a gunbattle in Uri on December 5. (Reuters)
At a prayer meeting in a Srinagar mosque, jawans and officers recite verses of holy Quran seeking blessings of Allah for their three colleagues killed during a terror attack on an Army Installation in Uri on Friday.
Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Mohammad Akbar, Head Constable Abdul Majeed and Constable Sanjay Koul were killed when they rushed to help the Army as six heavily armed Fidayeen militants attacked the Mahura base camp. But as the country pays homage to eight brave soldiers who were killed in the attack, relatives feel that the policemen who laid down their lives have been forgotten.
"Modi sahib just talked about armymen who were martyred. Wasn't my father also martyr? Didn't he die for the nation? Why didn't PM talk about him?" said Asifa, Mohammad Akbar's daughter.
After the attack, Prime Minister had tweeted to say, "125 crore Indians bow to our brave army jawans who sacrificed their lives. These men lived and died for nation. We won't forget them."
The family members of these policemen are disappointed that no top police officer, including the state's DGP, came to meet them. In contrast, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag came to Srinagar to lay wreath on the bodies on army martyrs.
"Nobody talks about sacrifice of policemen. We are feeling very sad," said Ghulam Mohiudin, brother of slain ASI.
Around 1000 policemen have died while fighting militancy over the last two decades in the state. Local cops are caught between their social obligations and call of the duty, both contradicting each other in Kashmir's peculiar situation. They are fighting a war against militancy, defending national interest and also a fight of their own survival in a society which is largely hostile towards them because police represent Indian state.
The question is: whose martyrs are these policemen? In Kashmir, very few people even join their funeral prayers and sympathise with the families because policemen are seen on the wrong side of social and political discourse. At national level they are not even recognised as a force which is on the forefront in the fight against militancy.