Srinagar, Nov 16: Hurriyat (M) Tuesday condemned the killing of civilians during a gunfight at Hyderpora late last evening. 

In a statement, Hurriyat (M) said that as per the family sources Altaf Ahmad of Hyderpora was killed by the forces while being used as a human shield and had no affiliation with any group as claimed by the authorities.

“His niece Saima has infact claimed in the media that there was no gunfight. He was taken three times as human shield for checking and when they couldn’t find anything, he was killed there. What makes this tragedy of impunity provided to the forces in J&K all the more heart wrenching, is that the family has since yesterday been pleading and protesting on roads that at least the body of their loved one be returned to them for burial, which the authorities have ceased,” it said.

The statement said that another civilian who was killed is said to be a senior dental surgeon, Dr Mudasir Gull of Rawalpora and is being conveniently labelled as “OGW “to justify his cold blooded killing .

“Such is the fear of reprisal in the local media that only the state version of these gruesome deaths gets reported and the truth is lost to the world. The silence of international community and civil society in India in the face of acute violation of human rights by the state has made the life of people living in Kashmir hell,” it said.

Hurriyat (M) said that it demands that justice be done to those killed in the incident and the bodies of the deceased be immediately returned to their families so that they can at least give them a proper family burial and get closure. “Although the families will carry the pain and scars from this incident for life.”