Uri Attack: A Face of Imprisonment

Two Pakistani teenagers, who were wrongly accused of having served as guides for the terrorists who attacked an Indian Army base in Uri, were repatriated home on Friday afternoon,  At the end of 171 days in the custody of the Indian Army and National Investigations Agency, a day after being formally cleared by investigators, Faisal Husain Awan and his school-friend Ahsan Khursheed were brought to the Attari border-crossing shortly after lunchtime, their eyes covered with black blindfolds, and handed over to Pakistani authorities. The NIA had, earlier this week, told a court in Jammu that it was releasing both youth as its investigation had found no evidence against them.

A spokesperson for the Indian Army, which held the two youth on September 21, also alleged the two youth were “working for Jaish-e-Muhammad terror outfit”. Later, however, Praveen Swami, an Indian Express journalist, threw up evidence that the two were at home on September 17, the day Global Positioning System data recovered from the Uri attackers showed that they had crossed the Line of Control.

 A woman doctor working for the Central Reserve Police Force, who treated the two teenagers following their arrest, told The Indian Express that they told her they had participated in the attack itself, providing details of how incendiary substances were used to set the tents at the 12 Brigade on fire.The NIA, however, found the two youths’ supposed confessions did not tally with actual events on the ground, suggesting that they may have been coerced to give this testimony during the first days of their arrest.

Two innocent teenage boys have faced unimaginable trauma. Their only fault was that they crossed the line of control by accident. Their villages were located extremely close to the line of control and this mistake could have been made by any other child. These boys were held captive by the Indian Army for 171 days. They had no family and nobody to defend them. I sometimes imagine myself in their shoes and my body shakes with fear. They were made to lie so that they could evade torture. Guilt flows through my body as does shame. These boys were suspected to be terrorist just because they were Muslims. Not only does it speak shamefully about us as Indians, but as human beings as well. Our constitution ensures equal rights for each human being but these rights were denied to these children simply because they were Muslim and the Indian Army needed someone to blame. I would like to salute Mr. Swami for his contribution to the release of these two children. To all adults out there, I would just like to ask you to follow what you preach as that kid could have been yours. These boys had a family and a life which we ripped away from them.