Srinagar, July 22: Noted human rights defender, Khurram Parvez has said that a total of 168 inquiries ordered in the territory to probe rights violations carried out by the Indian armed forces during the past 10 years have either remained incomplete or the final reports did not lead to indictment of the guilty.
With Kashmir once again on the edge following the killing of four unarmed protestors at Gool in Ramban district, the inquiry ordered by the government is once again under question. Will the probe ordered by the National Conference-Congress coalition regime headed by Omar Abdullah be different from previous investigations?
According to the records maintained by the JK Coalition of Civil Society (CCS) - an independent human rights body - 54 probes were ordered by the present dispensation since Omar took reigns of the state in January 2009.
Khurram Parvez while sharing his findings to the media in Srinagar said, “An international investigation by a credible forum will be the only meaningful mechanism for providing justice in the recent massacre at Gool and also for all the crimes perpetrated by the Indian state actors in last 23 years.” Giving details he said that these also included 54 inquiries ordered into cases of rights violations in the territory since Omar Abdullah assumed office.”
“Not a single person has been indicted or prosecuted in any of the cases so far. The government has created serious credibility crisis for itself by confining probes to just investigations only. That way, we have lost faith in investigations ordered by the government,” said CCS Coordinator Khurram Pervez. “We believe investigations by some international agency are only credible.”
The recent killings like Sumbal in Bandipora, Gool in Ramban destroyed the daily life of people in Kashmir.
“Unfortunately, yes. These incidents would make us more accountable before the public. We can’t wish it away. The requests made by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to forces have fallen to deaf ears. We have to face the people. What answers will we give them, if they ask us about these incidents,” Dr Mehbood Beg of National Conference said.
Senior PDP leader of Bandipora, Nizamudin Bhat said the repeated mistakes mean a blunder. “The government has not been able to correct their mistakes. No inquiry will help end miseries of people as government lacks commitment towards upholding honor and dignity of the people. The only thing which can end the sufferings of people is change and it is the people that would bring that change,” Bhat said.
Professor Gul Muhammad Wani, who heads Institute of Kashmir Studies at Kashmir University, said the incidents like Sumbal, Bandipora and Gool in Ramban have happened at a very delicate time. “Peoples anger and frustration is increasing at a time when challenges are tremendous in and outside Kashmir. As far as the inquiry is concerned, Government should lend some credibility to probes by including the civil society members of the area where incident has happened,” Wani said.
“If we go by the public perception, Gool inquiry won’t yield anything as has been the case in the past.” He said if entry in 2014 would be made with incidents like Gool that has affected Muslims across JK and with a failure to curb the vested interests; there will be nothing to learn in the election year.
The probe ordered by Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde into the BSF firing in Gool area of Ramban district, which left four persons dead and over 40 injured, was the latest addition to the list.
The human rights defender said the authorities ordered eight inquiries in 2008, 20 in 2009, 14 in 2010, 11 in 2011, eight in 2012 while five probes have already been ordered in 2013 till now. “But none of these probes has led to the prosecution of the armed forces,” said Parvez, the winner of 2006 Reebok Human Rights Award.
,However, inquiries not leading to prosecution of armed forces are not confined to the incumbent National Conference (NC)-Congress coalition regime in this land of dispute.
During the previous Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-Congress coalition government that ruled the territory between 2002 and 2008, 110 probes were ordered while four inquiries were ordered when the Kashmir witnessed Governor’s rule after PDP withdrew support from the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad led government in 2008.
Giving more details, Parvez, who co-founded the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), said the authorities ordered 33 probes in 2003 when PDP Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was the chief minister, 25 inquiries in 2004, 21 in 2005, 11 in 2006 and 12 in 2007. “Since 2003, 168 probes were ordered and not even once the inquiries have led to the prosecution of any armed forces personnel,” he said questioning the credibility of the probes conducted so far.
Imroz, who was awarded the 11th Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize, said no punishment was given to the guilty even in the infamous Pathribal fake encounter case.
“Whenever there is a huge outcry over human rights violations, the government holds an inquiry and then it bites the dust,” he said. “A fresh incident of human rights violations then bails outs the previous inquiry and people lose interest.”
Imroz said forget about the inquiry prosecuting the guilty, the authorities or regime was even declining the copy of the inquiry to the victim families.
“Ordering inquiries has just become a ritual and the government either does not complete these inquiries or does not make it public,” he said. “It is all a façade and people do not have faith in these inquiries.”
Imroz said troops and paramilitary troops do not even bother to participate in the inquiry with the excuse that they conduct their own probes.
In addition, the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives unbridled powers to the troops, also allows them to get away with human rights violations.
“The State is about to register in Guinness Book of World Records for the probes it orders without results,” he said sarcastically.
Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain, who teaches law at the Central University of Kashmir (CUK) said the government orders inquiries when they do not want to do anything.
“These probes are just to pacify the people,” Hussain said. “Unless someone is penalized in these inquiries and the findings made public, people will not have confidence in such probes.”