[Reader-list] Terrorists attack police post (Police Picket was for protection of minority Kashmiri Pandits)

Thu Feb 18 16:20:49 IST 2010

Here's IANS take published in Hindustan Times:

A group of heavily armed separatist ultras attacked a police post in
south Kashmir's Tral town and fled with arms and ammunition after
tying up the guards, police said Wednesday.

A senior police officer said that Tuesday night ultras overpowered the
five policemen manning the post and tied them up inside the camp.

The policemen who were taken by surprise couldn't retaliate and
militants before fleeing took away three INSAS rifles, two
self-loading rifles, five magazines and 70 bullets.

The post in the Medura village near Tral town, 45 km from Srinagar,
had been set up for the security of the minority Pandit community.

Sources said three families of the Pandit community who didn't migrate
to Jammu continue to live in Medura village along with their Muslim
neighbours.

State government has set up police posts for the protection of the
minority community members living in various villages across Kashmir
after series of attacks on Pandit families in the early 1990s.

On 2/18/10, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Kshmendra,
>
> I am sorry if you are visually impaired. I did not know this. I wish I
> had a software by which I could read out the news report in question.
> I understand that overpowered could also mean overwhelmed, which
> completely changes the context in which the news report was written.
> However, let's see a list of words being used here to indicate use of
> force and that too physical:
>
> The headline: "Militants attack police post in Kashmir, loot weapons."
>
> at⋅tack: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/attack
>
> Please follow link I have posted, it will not only give you
> pronunciation but this word connotes will also be read out to you.
> Similarly, you could follow this link:
> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/loot  to find the meaning of
> the word 'loot'.
>
> Let's come to the lead now: "Militants stormed a police post set up
> for protection of a minority community and looted five rifles in
> Pulwama district of south Kashmir."
>
> A word that has been used to describe what you think was an
> overwhelming presence is 'stormed'. This link will take you the
> meaning of the word 'storm':
> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stormed . Again the word 'loot'
> was used.
>
> The report also suggests that these men were heavily armed and managed
> to carry three Insas and two SLRs (how many we still do not know which
> is understandable as the policemen were shocked. But an incident that
> happened for the first time in several years in Kashmir valley, with
> two policemen unharmed and they still could not describe the number or
> even indicate strength for the gathering is absolutely bogus, when
> written in a report). The heavily armed men (looks like they descended
> from Mars) took The weight of one Insas rifle is:  4.25 KG (9.4 LB)
> empty 4.6 KG (10.1 LB) loaded. The weight of one SLR: 4.0–4.45 kg
> (8.8–9.8 lb).
>
> Also if we again go by this report and your inference from the example
> of the two wrestlers, Kshmendra, after the policemen were
> "overwhelmed" by the presence of the heavily armed men, the ultras (we
> do not what this word means, I have heard these words used
> consistently by security establishment which injects the same to the
> media. the media reporting insurgency has never ever been able to
> really gather what an ultra really means) ran away.
>
> Let us get to the bottom of this issue instead of assuming that these
> terrorists were some really tough guys who made minnows out of this
> policemen or they had some charm with them to have hypnotized these
> policemen . If the security officials were really overwhelmed by their
> presence, then not just a departmental inquiry but a high level
> inquiry to find out the links between the militants and policemen
> should start in this case.
>
> I am also grateful to Aditya for posting this news report but at the
> same I hope that he uses his own discretion and his experience in
> highlighting such issues by thoroughly investigating them.
>
> -Anupam
>
> On 2/18/10, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Dear Anupam
>>
>> Where are the 'two different scenarios' being presented? You contradict
>> yourself by the very definitions that you yourself have provided.
>>
>> "Overpower" does not neccessarily mean causing bodily harm or inflicting
>> moral or mental injury.  The easiest example to give is of two wrestlers
>> in
>> a ring.
>>
>> Overpower = subdue = overwhelm = To affect so strongly as to make
>> helpless
>> or ineffective.
>>
>> You can be 'overpowered' and be simultaneously 'left unharmed'.
>>
>>
>> Kshmendra
>>
>>
>> --- On Wed, 2/17/10, anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: anupam chakravartty <c.anupam at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Terrorists attack police post (Police Picket
>> was
>> for protection of minority Kashmiri Pandits)
>> To: "Aditya Raj Kaul" <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
>> Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 4:43 PM
>>
>>
>> The report in the beginning says:
>>
>> "A group of heavily armed militants stormed the police post at Midoora
>> in Tral belt, 40 km from here, last night and overpowered the
>> policemen, official sources said today.
>>
>> Overpower: o·ver·pow·er  (vr-pour)
>> tr.v. o·ver·pow·ered, o·ver·pow·er·ing, o·ver·pow·ers
>> 1. To overcome or vanquish by superior force; subdue.
>> 2. To affect so strongly as to make helpless or ineffective; overwhelm.
>> 3. To supply with excessive mechanical power.
>>
>> And then we have:
>>
>> "Two policemen present at the time of the attack were left unharmed,
>> they said. Three other policemen posted at the picket had reportedly
>> gone home unauthorisedly."
>>
>> unharmed [ʌnˈhɑːmd] adj not having sustained physical, moral, or mental
>> injury
>>
>> It is not my intention to doubt PTI's take. Sometimes stringers not
>> well versed with the language makes these mistakes. But here the
>> reporter is showing absolutely two different scenarios. Which one to
>> believe?
>>
>> -Thanks
>> Anupam
>>
>> On 2/17/10, Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Militants attack police post in Kashmir, loot weapons*PTI
>>> Wednesday, February 17, 2010 16:00 IST*
>>>
>>> *Srinagar: *Militants stormed a police post set up for protection of a
>>> minority community and looted five rifles in Pulwama district of south
>>> Kashmi
>>>
>>> A group of heavily armed militants stormed the police post at Midoora in
>>> Tral belt, 40 km from here, last night and overpowered the policemen,
>>> official sources said today.
>>>
>>> They said the ultras ran away with five rifles - three Insas and two
>>> SLRs
>>> --
>>> along with some ammunition.
>>>
>>> Two policemen present at the time of the attack were left unharmed, they
>>> said. Three other policemen posted at the picket had reportedly gone
>>> home
>>> unauthorisedly.
>>>
>>> Soon after the incident, senior police officers rushed to the scene and
>>> a
>>> massive hunt was launched to nab the militants and recover the looted
>>> weapons, the sources said.
>>>
>>> "All five policemen have been placed under suspension and a departmental
>>> inquiry ordered," the sources said.
>>>
>>> This is the first such incident in the last several years in the valley.
>>>
>>> The police picket in Midoora was established over a decade ago for
>>> protection of Kashmiri Pandits living in the village, the sources said.
>>> _________________________________________
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>>
>>
>