investigation of 1995 abduction and killings of six foreign tourists in Kashmir is reopened

There are now enough grounds to order reinvestigation of 1995 abduction & killing of six foreign tourists following startling revelations by a new book that they were killed by pro-government counter-insurgents fully aided & abetted by the security forces . The book – “The Meadow, Kashmir 1995 – Where the Terror Began”, by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, succinctly details the reasons & circumstances leading to the brutal killings of five out of six abducted innocent foreign tourists. The two British Authors, who specialize in investigative journalism and have worked for UK’s “ The Sunday Times” and “ The Guardian ” for nearly 18 years and have been honored with ‘Foreign Correspondents of the Year’ award in 2004 and ‘British Journalists of the Year’ award in 2009, have made painstaking efforts in lifting the veil over many other incidents which happened around that time. In respect of abduction & killings of foreign tourists, the Govt. was quick to put the blame on Al-Faran militant group, believed to be a front for Harkat-ul-Mujahideen at that time . The motive of militants behind the gory incident was stated to be release of some hardcore militants under arrest at that time. The concocted story appeared to be plausible & believable which is an essential ingredient of any covert operation. What is more shocking & deplorable is the fact that when a foreign tourist woman, trekking in the area, approached Indian Army to report the abduction of Norwegian tourist Dirk Hasert, she was raped by a Major of Rashtriya Rifles instead of acting on her complaint. Read article