Farooq Ahmad Dar regrets voting, says Major Gogoi roaming freely

A year after Farooq Ahmad Dar was used as human shield by army, the victim Monday said he regrets casting the vote last year during bypolls to Srinagar parliamentary seat.
“It has been a year now since the incident took place. Today I regret and feel ashamed for casting the vote. For casting vote, I was used as a human shield by army and the incident has totally changed my life,” Dar told reporters during a peaceful protest organized by chairman of International Forum of Justice (IFJ) Ahsan Untoo at Pratap Park, here.
He said he had cast vote and did not commit any crime.
“I was used a human shield and the army men tied me on the bonnet of the army jeep. The army official, who was involved in this horrific incident, is still roaming free with pride,” Dar said.
Former JNU students’ union vice-president, Shehla Rashid Shora said, “We are here in solidarity with Dar, who was used as a shield by army a year back. This is an issue of justice.”
“This incident is been glorified in the Bollywood movie (Baaghi 2). This is an assault on the dignity of Kashmiris,” she said.
Shehla said Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, who is a street thug, has been made a spokesman by rightwing BJP for making T-shirt against Dar in which he wrote something which was against humanity.
The civil society member, Abdul Majeed Zargar said this was not the first time a man was used as a human shield. “Earlier, there used to be the crackdowns as well where the same kind of horrific acts were committed by the forces.”
Farooq Ahmad Dar, an embroidery artisan of Chill Brass village in central Kashmir’s Budgam, was used as human shield by army Major LeetulGogoi on April 9 to prevent stone pelting. He was picked up by army from Utligam village, where he had gone to offer condolences on passing away of one of his relatives.
Major Gogoi of 53 Rashtriya Rifles tied Dar on the bonnet of the army vehicle and paraded him across many villages of the district.
This incident had triggered an outrage across the valley.
Following the incident, a petition was filed by human rights activist AhsanUntoo in State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
The SHRC in July last year directed government to pay Rs 10 lakhs to Dar.
However, the government refused to pay compensation to the human shield victim saying no allegation of human rights violation has been levelled against the State government or any of its functionaries.