The Hindu Business Line : Human rights violations in J&K

The pre-eminent Kashmiri leader, Dr Farooq Abdullah, created a stir when, talking to TV channels a few days ago, he wondered whether his father, Sheikh Abdullah, was right in opting for accession to India in 1947 and whether he (Farooq Abdullah) and those of his moderate persuasion were right in throwing in their lot with India in the 60 years after Independence.

He said his self-doubt born out of his anguish sprang from the fact that people like him who put their faith and trust in India had been badly let down and reduced to non-entities by the policies and actions of the India Government.

His anger on this occasion was directed at the continuing human rights violations by Indian military and para-military formations in Jammu and Kashmir, and the seeming indifference of the Central Government to the pain and suffering caused to innocent civilians thereby. Dr Abdullah said that people of his ilk were unable to explain or justify their being part of a dispensation which was so very unfeeling.

Dr Abdullah, his family and members of his party, the National Conference, had been staunch in their loyalty to India braving threats to life from the extremist and militant elements.

It will, therefore, be unwise to take lightly his grievance which is ominously indicative of a sense of alienation growing among normally pro-Indian strata of the State's population.

FRIGHTENING

Dr Abdullah is not alone in feeling distress at human rights violations. Even those (and that includes the columnist) who feel that national security and integrity are paramount and admit of no compromise have been deeply perturbed by the human rights record of Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

Human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the People's Union for Civil Liberties have always maintained that the approach of the Indian armed forces has been marked by arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and panic killings of men, women and young boys and girls who have no links with terrorists.

Some of the figures cited by these bodies are frightening. If they are to be believed, in the 16 years between 1989and 2005, the total killings have been 89,742, of which, custodial killings and rape (including molestation) accounted for 6,771 and 9,579 respectively.

In 2004 alone, the killings came to 1,706, of which, custodial deaths numbered 176, civilians tortured and injured 5,410 and women molested and raped 244. Even if, making heavy allowances for exaggeration and multiple counting, the number is only half of what is actually portrayed, it is bad enough.

NO PRECISE DATA

There has never been any precise data furnished by the Government, Army or para-military forces on the number, categories and names of personnel against whom action had been taken, the number punished and the nature of punishment.

All that the people within and outside J&K get to hear from the official channels, after every such tragic incident, is that strict action will follow and the guilty will not be spared. Worse, there is even a tendency to whitewash them as inevitable `collateral damage' in the fight against militancy.

Only the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) keeps some sort of count of the cases of human rights violations dealt with by it. As against the alarmingly high figures for one State of J&K alone, the NHRC, in the 12 years between 1993 and 2005, had taken cognisance of negligible numbers of 47 cases of police excesses, one fake encounter and 11 brutalities by armed/ para-military forces for the whole of India.

The Government should lose no time in having the issue studied in a thorough and transparent manner by a Cabinet Committee. Any ostrich-like attitude can cause immense harm to national interest by making enemies of India's friends in J&K.

B. S. RAGHAVAN

More Stories on : Politics | Terrorism | Offhand

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
A ‘Spot’ for gold

Elections — quiet and efficient

Human rights violations in J&K

A case for competitive tax rates

Steer clear of ‘mass market investing’

Small retail needs State spur

Wanted: Better cities

Subprime crisis