Moma Kana : A Padma awardee
Srinagar : Bilal Bhat
This year’s list of Padma awardees includes a forest department daily wager turned counter-insurgent Ghulam Mohd Mir alias Moma Kana against whom several cases of extortion and attempt to murder are reportedly pending. This issue has raised eye brows over the procedures for the nomination to the great honour. Though, he admitted just one case lodged against him by some journalists in 2001. He had prompted the BSF personnel to beat the journalists who had gone to the cover an incident in Magam.
Mir has been nominated for a Padma Shri by National conference patron Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Wajahat Habibullah and agricultural minister Ghulam Hassan Mir for public services.
But ironically, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Umar Abdullah feigned ignorance abut the recommendation of Mir for Padma. While reacting to a question Umer said that “as far as J&K government is concerned we haven’t recommended Ghulam Mohd Mir. But yes we have recommended Ruksana for the award.” At times, there are individual recommendations or the Government of India checks the credentials of a prospective awardee directly,” the Chief Minister added.
Moma Kana in his early sixtees has health problem, since 2004. Doctors posted in Magam visits Mir as and when they get a phone call from him. Every service be it from government or otherwise is just a phone call away from Mir that is what Samay team experienced during two hours stay at his home. He is running a parallel administration.
Kana’s house is guarded by CRPF and has turned his house into a fortress. He runs a band saw mill which also is heavily guarded by CRPF. It has residential bunkers around it. And the road going to a village through his house has a bunker and a barricade at the entry and the exit points. All the villagers have to get their bodies checked before entering the village.
“Moma Kana was in his late early fourties when he joined counter insurgency. He would carry arms and would ask people to come out of busses en-route Gulmarg, Khaag and berewa, for frisking,” said a local resident of Magam pleads anonymity.
He is among the founder members of counter insurgents in Kashmir and has served forces sinces 1989. “"I fought for the country. I was never a militant. I was always against militants. I worked as a source for various military and para military forces to help crack downing militants in Kashmir. I used to carry arms and was the always the first to enter a building where ever militants are hiding” Mir said. While recapitulating his services Kana disclosed that he has been instrumental in five thousand arrests and in killings also but he tried to save many. But those who fired at him were killed. For that he had to pay a price of his brother’s head and his son was also killed by militants. So he is apparently considered a major asset by the security forces.
While reacting to Umer Abdullah’s statement Kana said that Father Farooq Abdullah’s recommendation is no way different than recommendation by his son Umer Abdullah “ek hi baat hai baap de ya beta”.

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