The subcontinental air has recently been thick with talk of the possibility of peace in Kashmir. Indian government officials say that violence has decreased and that 'infiltration levels' have come down. The security bunkers in Srinagar, which have stood like blots on the city's face for the last 15 years, have been given a facelift: before the new tourist season began, wooden cubicles replaced the old ones made of brick-and-sandbag. President Pervez Musharraf threw down his gauntlet of possible Kashmiri self-rule, and most of the Kashmir-based political parties — including the People's Democratic Party and the National Conference — are discussing his proposals. On the ground, however, things have yet to change significantly. In particular, Kashmir Valley continues to witness enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and custodial killings.
On 11 January 2006, Mushtaq Ahmad Ganie, in his mid-twenties, was arrested by the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) during a raid on an Anantnag District village. He died in custody and his body was handed over to police. Amidst widespread protests, an army spokesman claimed that he had died of cardiac arrest, though the suspicion was that Mushtaq was tortured. After Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad called for an official enquiry, Inspector General of Police K Rajendra Kumar told a Jammu-based daily the following day that, "Ganie was an innocent civilian and it is also a fact that he died in the army's custody. However, two separate enquiries have been ordered to ascertain whether Ganie died an accidental death or was tortured to death." At press time, results from both probes were still awaited.
Three days later, on 14 January, two youths, Abdul Majid Parray and Fayaz Ahmed Bhat, were picked up from Baramulla District, again by RR troopers, and tortured. Parray succumbed, but Bhat lived to tell his horrific tale to the media. Again, there were protests. Bhat's relatives later disclosed to the media that the army had tried to rearrest him while he was recovering in a Srinagar hospital, apparently wanting him to change his statement. Army officers, meanwhile, claimed that they had simply wanted to move Bhat to an army hospital.
These incidents took place just a few days after the Congress-led state government boasted that custodial deaths had ceased under its rule, with one local newspaper headline trumpeting: "No Custodial Killings in First 50 Days." In yet another blow to the chief minister's assertions, on 17 January, three madrasa caretakers were killed by RR personnel in an 'encounter' in Pulwama District. The three maulvis — Wali Muhammad Khatana, Farooq Ahmad Dar and Muhammad Farooq — were killed while collecting hides of sacrificial sheep for their madrasa in southern Kashmir. Army officials claimed the three were militants, but the public was unconvinced. Residents near the madrasa claimed that the army had suspected the three of spreading fundamentalism. Their deaths provoked huge antigovernment protests throughout the Valley, and relatives of the three refused to bury the victims until a probe was ordered into the killings.