Mysterious death of Kashmiri student in Hyderabad plays into simmering anger over Afzal Guru’s execution

Funeral of Kashmiri student Mudasir Kamran Malla. Photo:PTI

Srinagar, March 5: A video which went viral on Youtube shows Mudasir Kamran Malla deliver an emotional speech to a group of students at Hyderabad’s prestigious English and Foreign Languages University  on the day Afzal Guru was hanged. He is said to have also led the protest and offered funeral prayers. Three weeks later, Malla was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his hostel room at the university.

In between, Malla had been arrested by Andhra Pradesh police but the cause for the arrest is itself shrouded in controversy. While his family in Kashmir alleges that he was picked up for participation in the protest, Andhra police say he was brought to a local police station by the university after a fight with his roommate Waseem Ahmad, who belongs to Maharashtra.

“This case has no connection with the Hyderabad blast or the Afzal Guru issue,” Commissioner of Police Hyderabad, Anurag Sharma, told media. He said that Malla had strained relations with his roommate Waseem. “They knew each other for four years. In January, following some differences, Waseem shifted to another room. The university authorities brought both the students to the police station. We didn’t register a case as university officials assured us that they would resolve the matter between the two.”

This version was reiterated by the chief minister Omar Abdullah in his speech in the J-K Assembly. “There is nothing mysterious in Mudasir’s death inHyderabad. We have been probing the matter and have shared the information with the family. We have told them the circumstances under which Mudasir went into depression leading to his suicide,” the CM told the Legislative Assembly.

However, his family in southKashmir’s Parigam village has refused to buy the government theory. They say Mudasir’s body bore clear torture marks which they allege were inflicted on him in police custody. “The police or government has not shared any secret information with us till now. It is a clear murder. My brother was a pious and religious person, he could not have committed suicide,” the brother Ashiq Hussain Malla said. “We have learnt that Mudasir had taken part in funeral prayers in absentia for Afzal Guru. This seems to be the reason that Mudasir has been murdered after inflicting torture on him. There were clear cigarette burn marks on his body including his shoulders.”

Block medical officer Pampore, Dr Sanaullah, also confirmed two black spots on the body. “There were black spots on the right shoulder and left elbow,” Dr Sanaullah said. “We are not certain about their nature. This can be confirmed only through the post-mortem report.”

The news of Mudasir’s death on Sunday played into the still simmering anger over the execution of Afzal Guru and became a fresh rallying point for mobilization. In his home district Pulwama, people took to the streets to protest what they alleged was the murder of Mudasir for his anti-India speech in the wake of Guru’s hanging. The recently formed amalgam of pro-freedom groups Muttahida Majlis-e-Mushawarat (MMM) soon jumped into the fray and termed the death as a case of revenge killing. MMM announced a march to Parigam on Tuesday which was scuttled by the government and severe restrictions were imposed across the sensitive areas of the Valley.

“Thousands of people who saw Mudasir’s body, including the doctors who examined him inKashmir, have confirmed that his body bore visible marks of torture, beating and burnings. We want to ask these so-called rulers and their forces that if Mudasir Kamran was not killed, where did the marks of torture on his body come from,” acting JKLF chairman Bashir Ahmad Bhat said.

Meanwhile, the videos clips uploaded on Youtube of Mudasir’s speech at a protest against Guru’s execution and also the chaotic scene at the university after his alleged suicide are being widely shared and viewed across the Valley. The clips have only sown more confusion, with the one made immediately after Mudasir’s death showing Kashmiri boys crying murder. “Mudasir has been killed,” some wailing Kashmiri boys shout in a gathering of agitated students.

Andhra police has booked the University Proctor Harish Vijra for abetment to suicide. “A case of abetment to suicide under section 306 of the IPC has been registered against professor H K Vizra,” said inspector P Ashok attached to the Osmania University (OU) Police Station