Debate: Are Kashmiris victimised?

New Delhi: Model Tariq Ahmad Dar's career came to an abrupt end on September 16 in Bangladesh, when he was picked up on the suspicion that he was a RAW agent. Deported to India after languishing in a Dhaka jail, Tariq didn’t really win his freedom.

He landed in Delhi only to be arrested again, this time by the special cell of Delhi Police for his alleged links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

In less than two months, from being a face that dominated hoardings and commercials in Bangladesh, Tariq was accused of human trafficking, spying for India and a terror conduit across two nations.

On Monday, the Delhi Sessions Court rejected his bail plea. The state government of Jammu and Kashmir has also washed its hands off the case. The family and human rights activists though feel that he is being targeted for being a Kashmiri Muslim.

While the police say they have a strong case against him, his family claims he is being victimised for being a Kashmiri. Where does the truth lie in this fascinating story of a model turned terrorist? Are Kashmiris a victim of stereotype outside Kashmir?

CNN-IBN's Editor-in-Chief, Rajdeep Sardesai, speaks to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, who has taken up the case of Tariq Dar; author and editor of Hindustan Times, Manoj Joshi; and former director of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) A S Dullat.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Dr Farooq Abdullah, you have taken up the case of Tariq Dar and you say that he is son of a famous Kashmiri poet. But have you gone through the details about his background before you claim that he is not a terrorist? Or is this an emotional response?

Farooq Abdullah: Tariq’s father met me and spoke to me about his son. Tariq’s father told me how his son went to Bangladesh and became a model there. He said that his son has been put in jail. There is nothing against him and that he is not a terrorist. I know his family and there is no reason why I should believe that Tariq is a terrorist.

Rajdeep Sardesai: But have you tried to find out from the Delhi Police as to why Tariq was arrested? Surely the police may have adequate reason when they go on to arrest a person the moment he lands at the airport. Don’t you think you need to give the Delhi police a benefit of doubt?

Farooq Abdullah: If Delhi police had some concrete evidence, why didn’t they come up with it in the court? Why are they asking for his detention? They are giving him third degree treatment, making him sign blank sheets of paper, which they eventually will fill with stories that they want to lodge against him, just to prove that he is a terrorist.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Are you saying that he is being targeted because there is mindset that anybody who is a Kashmiri could be linked to terrorism?

Farooq Abdullah: Yes, tomorrow they will probably arrest Farooq Abdullah for being a terrorist. I have no faith left in the law and order system of our country after looking at the manner in which they are treating Kashmiris. We face such terrible treatment in the rest of the country. If you ask for an accommodation as a Kashmiri, you might end up being arrested on some charges.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Mr Dullat, you have been in the intelligence agency for a long time, tell us if there is a mindset about Kashmiri Muslims that they are unnecessarily held as terror suspects?

A S Dullat: I have the highest regard for Dr Farooq Abdullah. But for some strange reason he has been sounding very angry lately. Coming to main question about the big stereotype about Kashmiri Muslims, I don’t think that such a mindset exists in Delhi any longer. In the early 1990’s when militancy first began, there was a lot of suspicion and skepticism about Kashmiris. But now there are a lot of Kashmiris living in Delhi and I don’t think that such a perception exists any longer.

Rajdeep Sardesai: But is it not true that after every bomb blast or grenade blast that shook Delhi, the suspicion and mistrust regarding Kashmiri Muslims grew intense. An average Kashmiri youth looking for an accommodation in Pune, Chennai or Mumbai suffers because Indians don’t see Kashmiris as the kind of people they can trust. Clearly there is a problem, isn’t there?

A S Dullat: Like I said, in the early 1990’s it was difficult for a Kashmiris to look for a place to live. But now I don’t see that there is a problem, at least not in Delhi. But yes in the other cities where people are not so familiar with Kashmiris, there are problems that these people face. Kashmiris are looked at in suspicion.

Rajdeep Sardesai: I ask Manoj Joshi, do you believe that things have actually got worse for the Kashmiri Muslims in India? After 17 years of militancy, there is a feeling that Kashmiri Muslims are looked at in suspicion outside Kashmir.

Manoj Joshi: I would agree with Mr Dullat when he says that in Delhi there is no such skepticism associated with a Kashmiri Muslim in particular. The Delhi police has its intelligence taped up fairly well. They keep track of terrorists in a systematic fashion and Kashmiris do not face much problem really.

Rajdeep Sardesai: What do you have to say about the case of 26-year old Kashmiri job seeker Irshad Ahmad Lone, who was allegedly killed by the Delhi Police in custody.

Manoj Joshi:I am giving you a broader picture that there might be problem in other cities but its not so in the Capital. In cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore you might face problems if you are a Kashmiri Muslim. That is because there is a stereotype image that people normally associate them with. The problem is that we can’t even blame the police for this. I think this is common to almost any terror-affected country in the world. You can take example of Iranian, Lebanese, Palestinian or Sri Lankan terrorism. Wherever there is terrorism, the local communities tend to be vulnerable wherever they are. For example Sri Lankan expiates in US are vulnerable because of their families. In terrorist movements, leverages are available to terrorist groups on their expiate communities.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Farooq Abdullah, isn’t there a possibility that Tariq Ahmad Dar may have been brought into some kind of a network by the local Kashmiri terrorists whether willingly or otherwise? Don’t you think that before you or some human right activists jump to a conclusion, the police must be allowed to present the case before the courts of this country?

Farooq Abdullah: I don’t mind police looking into the case. But they can’t present their case by using third degree methods. They can’t present their case by beating the hell out of a man and making him sign a blank paper. It is not the way of doing things.

Rajdeep Sardesai: If you believe that Tariq Ahmad Dar is innocent, why do you think that the Indian police would try to plant a case upon him? With the fact that he was labeled a RAW agent in Bangladesh, was brought back to India and labeled as a Lashkar terrorist, don’t you think there must be enough checks and balances in our system that makes something like this come up?

Farooq Abdullah: None of us will defend him if he is a terrorist. We are fully aware that he is not a terrorist. Why can’t the police go ahead and put their evidences in front of the judges in the court of law? Why are they waiting for this long? Why they have not presented any evidence before the judges as yet?

Rajdeep Sardesai: Mr Dullat, is it possible as Dr Abdullah suggests that perhaps the police have jumped the gun. Is it possible that a person labeled a RAW agent in Bangladesh, found a Lashkar terrorist in India, is actually just a common man who earns his living by doing modeling in Bangladesh? Could the police have got it wrong?

A S Dullat: They could have got it wrong. Who knows? These things are not foolproof and it could be a case of mistaken identity. I also would acknowledge with regards to Kashmiris that there are many grey areas. Things may not necessarily be seen in black and white.

Rajdeep Sardesai: When you say that there are grey areas, you mean that people linked in some way to a terrorist group are getting labeled as terrorists themselves?

A S Dullat: That’s correct.

Rajdeep Sardesai: But don’t you think its unfair on part of an average Kashmiri Muslim who wants to be a part of India, like every other Indian has aspirations, dreams and ambitions of his own is denied an equal treatment because he carries a baggage of being linked with terror.

Manoj Joshi: I think that’s a very important point. A person who has family connections, in Sringar or Kashmir has to live under the shadowy groups that can kill or harm your loved ones. A Kashmiri working in some far-flung city in Pune or Bangalore has these terrorist groups leverage on him. The point is that the onus lies on the Indian security forces. You have to have a special sensitivity towards Kashmiri Muslims. I think to some extent the security personnel do have that amount of sensitivity but it’s the local police that don’t have it.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Final word from you Farooq Abdullah, what is it that you want now in the Tariq Dar case? How far will you and your party take it now?

Farooq Abdullah: I want Mr Dullat to know that I’m not an angry man. I just want to fight for justice. All that I’m asking for this boy is justice. I dont want him to be killed. Please for God’s sake give him justice. That is all that I want.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)