Dr. Sameer Kaul showing his injured hand following the alleged manhandling by J&K police on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: X/@Samkaul
Dr. Sameer Kaul, a well-known oncologist and a National Conference (NC) leader, on Tuesday accused the traffic police of “manhandling and injuring” him when Jammu and Kashmir Governor Manoj Sinha’s cavalcade was scheduled to pass on the Dal Lake road.
Narrating the incident, Dr. Kaul, a senior surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals-Delhi, said he was directed by a group of policemen to stop and take a different route as Mr. Sinha was scheduled to pass near Nishat area.
“Without listening to me, another group of policemen stopped me and rained blows and showered choicest abuses. My arm was cut and my spectacles broken. There were five-six of them. I have never experienced this even though I am witness to years of militancy in Kashmir. I have never seen men in uniform so drunk with power ever,” Dr. Kaul, a Kashmiri Pandit who maintained constant relations with the Kashmir Valley in the face of mass migration in the 1990s, said.
Dr. Kaul filed a formal complaint against the policemen at Nishat police station. “If another group of policemen had not arrived, they would have killed me. At times, I think it was a premeditated attack. This also raises the question on how ordinary locals would be navigating this behaviour on a daily basis,” the surgeon said.
He also termed the protocol to stop traffic for VIP movement in Kashmir as “humiliating”. “Roads are even closed for patients and those heading for hospitals. Then we ask how terrorism stems in Kashmir,” Dr. Kaul said.
The NC has demanded “a swift and fair investigation to address this misconduct”. “This unacceptable behaviour is indicative of the indiscipline that has seeped on to the system over the last five years. A complete lack of any accountability has reduced J&K to a lawless place where authority is simply a privilege to abuse,” NC vice-president Omar Abdullah said.
Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the incident. “Dr. Sameer Kaul, a renowned oncologist, suffered injuries after being manhandled by traffic police in Srinagar today. This shows the plight of ordinary Kashmiris and the high-handedness they face from officials who are expected to uphold the rule of law,” Ms. Mufti said.
The J&K traffic police have not reacted to the allegations made by Dr. Kaul.