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print versionKashmir Times, March 22, 2009
Editorial
Unabated abuse of power
There is increase in cases of human rights abuses while those guilty are being shielded
Like many other commitments made by New Delhi and its pliant regimes in Jammu and Kashmir, which were violated with impunity the Prime Minister’s talk of zero tolerance to human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir and parroted by the Chief Ministers in the State has remained a meaningless rhetoric. Instead of putting an end to such abuses and punishing those found guilty the concerned authorities are making every effort to hush up the inquiries into such cases, refusing to make the trigger-happy security forces accountable for their acts of omission and commission. On the one hand the killing of innocent civilians in Kashmir at the hands of the Indian security forces and the State police has not stopped, rather there is increase in such cases, on the other hand New Delhi appears to be in no mood to relent, allow independent probes into such incidents and punish those found guilty. The armed forces continue to enjoy impunity for their actions and those in authority are still not willing to scrap the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act (AFSPA) despite the recommendations made by the working groups set up by none other than the Prime Minister. While the dust over the killing of innocent persons in Sopore and some other places had not yet settled reports have come of another case of the killing of innocent civilians. According to reports, Ghulam Mohiuddin, a father of four children, was gunned down by the CRPF men at Khaigam village in Pakherpora-Pulwama on Wednesday evening. The CRPF men from a neighbouring camp descended on the village,conducted a raid on the house of the deceased and opened fire killing the civilian. While the villagers took to streets to protest against the killing and demanding stern action against the alleged killers the CRPF authorities, as usual, justified the killing by claiming that the deceased was killed in an encounter. Such fake encounters have been the normal feature of life in the troubled state for the past two decades.
While in most of the cases of the death of innocents in fake encounters and custodial killings no investigation has been conducted in several other cases where the probe was ordered following the protest by the citizens, the findings have not seen the light of the day. Such probes have been considered just as eye-wash. In a number of cases the recommendations of the probe panels or those of the State Human Rights Commission have only been implemented in breach. According to one report the SHRC has received about 4,670 cases for investigation of various natures of human rights violations out of which it disposed of nearly 3,775 cases, recommending compensation to the victims or their families while identifying the security personnel responsible for such crimes against humanity. According to the SHRC sources most of these cases involve the armed forces or other para-military forces which come under the command of the army or other central agencies and the State government has no authority to take action against them. On the other hand the army and other central agencies have been obstructing the process of investigation, refusing to punish those found guilty. The latest case of this kind is that of the killing of innocents in Bomai where the inquiry conducted by the State government has held the army personnel guilty.
The rhetoric of "healing touch policy" or "zero tolerance to human rights abuses" have no meanings unless the security forces operating in Jammu and Kashmir are made accountable for their actions and the culture of impunity is done away with. Such abuses cannot stop unless the AFSPA and other draconian laws which arm the security forces with blanket powers and impunity for their action like killing any one, destroying any house merely on suspicion and arresting any one arbitrarily without providing grounds of detention are not scrapped and the troops are not withdrawn from the civilian areas. It is equally important to strengthen the human rights commission, arm it with adequate powers and authority and bring all the security forces involved with civilian duties in J&K under its purview. The National Human Rights Commission has no jurisdiction in Jammu and Kashmir while the SHRC remains a toothless institution. This body must have its own independent investigation agency and its recommendations must be obligatory for the State Government. The need for a high powered credible institution to probe into all cases of human rights abuses and atrocities on the people in the troubled state cannot be over-emphasised.
