Man attempts self-immolation during demolition drive in Ganderbal

Man attempts self-immolation during demolition drive in Ganderbal

A man in his 20s allegedly set himself ablaze during a demolition drive against illegal constructions in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said.

A man in his 20s allegedly set himself ablaze during a demolition drive against illegal constructions in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said. The drive was being conducted by the irrigation and flood control department, along with tehsildar and police at Gundrahman, as some illegal constructions have come up around 100 metres of the Nallah Sindh waterbody.

Police and district officials said that to stop the demolition drive, Amir Hamid Shah, a resident of Haran Ganderbal, climbed the slab of the under-construction complex of his family and set himself ablaze after sprinkling some combustible material over himself. As he was aflame and ran hither and thither over the slab trying to get rid of his clothes, people rushed to douse the flames. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.

Shah has been admitted to Srinagar’s tertiary care hospital, Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS). “He is not in a good condition,” said a senior doctor at the hospital.

“The demolition drive was launched owing to some illegal constructions, but people were not allowing us to bring down the structure and shouting slogans. The police were attempting to push back the crowd and, in the melee, the son of the owner of the complex climbed the slab and set himself ablaze by sprinkling petrol,” said assistant executive engineer (AEE) of irrigation and flood control department, Irfan Ahmad.

He said that they have been repeatedly trying to launch demolition drives against illegal constructions in the area and have been facing stiff resistance from the people. “There are high court orders that there can’t be any construction within 100 metres of a water body,” he said.

“This was our sixth drive and we had gone there with the tehsildar and police, but after the incident, the drive was stopped immediately as people started throwing stones,” he said. He added that there was a law-and-order situation and police had to resort to tear gas shelling. “Our staff had to save their lives amid the stone pelting,” he said.

Police in a statement said that during the demolition drive, Shah suddenly appeared from behind the illegal structure and self-immolated on its roof. The statement said that a deep trench was dug by the owners of the structure to prevent any ingress into the premises, which prevented a prompt rescue.

“Police have rendered all help and support in the hospitalisation and assured family members for best medical treatment. One police team is already there in the hospital and facilitating his treatment,” the statement said.

Police request people to not share video
The police also requested the media and general public not to circulate the video of the unfortunate incident due to its graphic nature.

The video has elicited sharp reactions from people and politicians, with demands of an inquiry to identify all officers who have allegedly slept over such illegal constructions for personal benefit.

National Conference’s social media chief, Sarah Hayat Shah, shared the graphic video taking a jab at the “Naya Kashmir” slogan.

“Youth sets himself ablaze in Ganderbal during the demolition drive. This is what NAYA KASHMIR looks like. No jobs, no money, no future, hopelessness & pain,” she said in a tweet.

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