Farooq Ahmed Ashai

Dr. Farooq Ahmad Ashai (Kashmiri: فاروق أحمد أشي) was a renowned Kashmiri surgeon killed by the Indian CRPF on February 18, 1993. Dr. Ashai was Chief Orthopedic Surgeon at the Bone and Joint Hospital in Srinagar and a faculty member & HOD at Medical College Srinagar(Department of Orthopaedics).^[1]

Activism

Dr. Farooq Ashai frequently met with foreign journalists and human rights representatives. He acted as a spokesman for injured civilians in Kashmir. Because he was an expert in bullet injuries and torture injuries, he was also frequently sought out by militants. Under international law, medical personnel have a duty to provide such services, regardless of their affiliations.

In the 1993 Human Rights Report published by the United States Department of State, the US government writes:

"human rights monitors have been targeted by the police for arrest and harassment. In addition, a number of monitors were the victims of killings, some of which may have been politically motivated. Dr. Farooq Ashai, a prominent Kashmiri orthopedic surgeon and specialist in the treatment of torture victims, died on February 18 when he was caught in the line of fire from a security forces' bunker."

Death

On the evening of February 18, 1993, Dr. Ashai, along with his wife and daughter, were returning home from his brother's home in Rajbagh, Srinagar. The car in which they were traveling was marked by a red cross on the front and rear of the windows. As they turned off the bridge, they slowed to a crawl and turned on the car's interior light to make themselves visible to the security force post located just past the bridge. They passed that bunker, and as they approached a second CRPF bunker located further down the road, the CRPF opened fire. Witnesses stated that three shots were fired from the CRPF bunker at the second bunker. The third bullet hit Dr. Ashai in his left hip.

Dr. Manzoor, an orthopedic surgeon at the Bone and Joint Hospital, told Asia Watch that he was called at his home and reached the hospital's operating theater at about 8:00pm. He stated that Dr. Ashai had a bullet wound in his upper left leg and that a bullet had entered Dr. Ashai's right hip and had lodged inside the abdomen. By the time he reached the hospital, Dr. Ashai had lost a great deal of blood. Dr. Farida Ashai, his wife, anesthetized Dr. Ashai and Dr. Manzoor operated on him. Dr. Manzoor manually transferred two units of blood and asked that an ambulance be sent for Dr. T.S. Sethi to bring him to the hospital. However, the ambulance which carried Dr. Sethi and Dr. Ashai's brother to the Bone and Joint Hospital was stopped by the same CRPF bunker for at least half an hour. Doctors at Bone and Joint Hospital have stated that had they been permitted to rush medical aid to Dr. Ashai, and had the Indian forces not prevented the senior surgeon from reaching the hospital promptly, Dr. Ashai may have survived.

Investigation into killing

Official statements about the incident have maintained that there was a grenade attack on the CRPF headquarters on the other side of the bridge at the time of the shooting, and that Dr. Ashai was killed in "crossfire." But according to witnesses, there was no attack at the time they crossed. Moreover, there was no sense of urgency in the routine manner in which the first sentry post permitted the car to pass. If the picket were under attack at that time, then it appears highly implausible that the first sentry post would have permitted the car to pass.

Though an inquiry had been ordered into the killing of Dr Ashai, the United Nations reports that the Government of India has never made public any action it has taken to investigate the killing and has not prosecuted those responsible.

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