‘Human shield’ Dar refuses Bigg Boss offer: Report

Srinagar, Jun 08: Farooq Ahmad Dar, the 29-year-old who hit the headlines in April last year after being reportedly used as a human shield by Major Gogoi was reportedly offered Rs 50 lakh by reality TV show Bigg Boss to become a participant, but he refused.
Dar was quoted by the Hindu: “I was offered ?50 lakh by Big Boss producers in July last year. They even told me that tickets for me were ready.” However, TV channel Colors responded by calling it speculation and refused to confirm or deny whether they offered Rs 50 lakh to him. The offer reportedly came three months after images of him tied to an Army jeep went viral.
Ahsan Untoo, head of the International Forum for Justice who is Dar’s petitioner before the SHRC said: “We were pursuing his compensation case when an unknown Big Boss producer approached him on phone. However, Dar is not a celebrity but a victim.”
The J&K government had rejected the SHRC recommendation for Rs 10 lakh compensation to Dar.
The Jammu and Kashmir human rights commission had directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to Farooq Ahmad Dar, who was used as a “human shield” by an Army man against stone-pelters.
The government, however, opposed any compensation to Dar.
The compensation awarded to Dar was for the “humiliation, physical and psychiatric torture, stress, wrongful restraint and confinement” that he underwent when he was tied to the bonnet of an Army vehicle to ward off stone-pelters, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) said in its judgment.
Dar, an embroidery artisan, was tied to a jeep by Major Leetul Gogoi, as a shield against the stone pelters who had allegedly surrounded a group of armed personnel. Shortly after the incident, Major Gogoi was honoured with a commendation card by the Army chief for “his sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations”.