Major Gogoi case: Involuntary human shield now at the forefront of battles

A person forced to be a human shield is transformed into a counter weapon

Conditions of war and civilian strife, whether in Mosul or in Kashmir, generate forms of life, like human shields, where life loses its form altogether.

The controversial strapping of Farooq Ahmad Dar to an Indian army jeep in Kashmir has, understandably, aroused passions, generated legal debates and ignited controversy. It was the army, the official wing of the Indian state, appropriating an unarmed civilian for the ostensible purpose of thwarting rioting Kashmiris that has raised the hackles of all (or almost all) parties.

The use of human shields is not, however, new. It dates back, according to military historians, to