Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League pays glowing homage to S. HAMID WANI

Srinagar, April 21 : The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League, a constituent of All Parties Hurriyat Conference summons an important meeting at its party headquarters Rajbagh Srinagar in which Peoples League pays glowing tributes to Shaheed-e-Inkilaab (Martyr of Revolution) S. Hamid Wani: attended by Senior Peoples League Leaders, which include, Mohammad Ashraf Sofi, Mohammad Maqbool Sofi, Ghulam Qadir Rah, Imtiyaz Reshi, Gh. Nabi Waseem, Nazir Ahmad Khan, Gh Ahmad Mir and dozens of PL Activists. In the meeting rich tributes were paid to the martyr who is ascribed to be amongst the frontline Pro-freedom leaders of 70’s and was one of the founders of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) - which represents the aspiration of Kashmiris politically, diplomatically and socially.

While speaking in the colloquium Senior Hurriyat Leader and Acting Chairman Jammu Kashmir Peoples League, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza said that the sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs had centre-staged the Kashmir dispute at the international level. He reiterated the pledge to continue the liberation struggle, despite all odds.

Mr. Waza urges India to show seriousness in resolving the Kashmir dispute issue and added that Kashmir dispute was not a border dispute between India and Pakistan but a question of the future of Kashmiri people. He reiterated that without the inclusion of Kashmiris’ genuine leadership, the dialogue process between Pakistan and India would remain meaningless, as the people of Kashmir were the main party in the dispute. Waza said that the easiest solution available to resolve the 63-year-old dispute was implementation of the resolutions passed by the United Nations. “As long as the Kashmir dispute is not resolved, neither would political uncertainty end in the South Asia nor can the people of the region realize the dream of prosperity and development,” he maintained.

It is worth to mention that S Hamid Wani was arrested by the Indian police and killed in custody on April 18, 1998 in Soura Srinagar; Peoples League said that the sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs would not be allowed to go waste and their mission would be taken to its logical conclusion.

FAMILIES OF SLAIN HR DEFENDERS PIN HOPE ON UN RAPPORTEUR

Srinagar, Jan 19: While the United Nations Rapporteur, Margaret Sekaggya is scheduled to visit Kashmir on Wednesday to assess the situation of human rights defenders, justice still eludes the families of several such defenders killed in different incidents in Kashmir in the past two decades, reports GK 18/1.

Pinning hope on the UN Rapporteur, the families of several defenders have shot off letters to Sekaggya to apprise her about their plight.

Fifteen years before, a prominent human rights lawyer Jaleel Andrabi disappeared and was later killed. Justice still eludes his family as the trial of the accused Major Avtar Singh is yet to start, despite repeated directions from a Court to arrest Singh, whose presence in California was confirmed by the United States National Central Bureau (USNCB) of Interpol in 2009.

Disappeared on March 8, 1996, Jaleel’s body was found 19 days after his disappearance. In April, 1997, the Special Investigation Team constituted by the state government to investigate the killing presented its initial findings to the High Court and claimed that one Major Avtar Singh from the 103rd Unit of the Territorial Army and other soldiers were responsible for the abduction and killing of Jaleel. However, the SIT was unable to arrest Singh as they could not trace him.

Talking to Greater Kashmir Jaleel's brother Arshad Andrabi said he had sent a letter to UN Rapporteur seeking justice from the international organization.

He blamed the state government for insincerity to proceed in the matter. “The abnormal delay coupled with inherent defects in the investigation suggests that the government is neither sincere nor interested to pursue the case. They must be waiting for the witnesses to die or be eliminated by the same invisible hands which have manipulated the killing and subsequent cover up of the case for 16 years," he said.

He also talked about a “larger conspiracy” on the part of officers of Army, Intelligence and Police who according to him had worked in tandem before the killing of his brother-Jaleel.

A letter shot by USNCB of Interpol has confirmed that Major Avtar Singh lives in California. However, the US-based agency has asked the Interpol New Delhi to furnish the record of proceedings translated and certified version of conviction record, charge-sheet, and other relevant documents.

In another incident on December 31, 1993, unidentified gunmen kidnapped Dean Faculty of Law Kashmir University Dr Abdul Ahad Wani and took him to a nearby area Sadrabal, Srinagar where he was shot dead. In similar incidents, noted human rights defender H N Wanchoo, advocate Ghulam Qadir Sehlani, Dr Abdul Ahad Guru,  Sheikh Ghulam Rasool Azad (Editor Kashmir Saffron Times), Mushtaq Ahmad Lone Editor, Wehdat-e-Milli), Dr Farooq Ahmad Ashai and Ms Asiya Jeelani were killed.

Reportedly, days after Jaleel’s killing, women human rights defender, Dr Hamida Nayeem went to Geneva to attend a Human Rights Conference. On her return to Valley, she was allegedly harassed and her passport seized by the state government for raising voice against the HR violations.

The Kashmir-based human rights organizations and civil society groups have exuded hope that the UN Special Rapporteur’s visit would help them highlight the crackdown on the human rights defenders.

In the backdrop of last year’s summer unrest in the Valley which left 112 civilians dead in police and paramilitary CRPF action, the UN Rapporteur is to assess the condition of human rights defenders. Officials said Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, is scheduled to meet top officials of the State including the Home Secretary, Director General of Police besides the civil society and human rights groups.

Sikh Mother awaits son, justice

Sikh Mother awaits son, justice
I want justice. I want to see my son. I want him if he is alive, and if dead

Srinagar, August 23: Family of a youth is awaiting justice for the past 11 years, demanding the whereabouts of their son, they say, was picked up by Special Operations Group of  Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Ichpal’s mother, Agya Kour, said her son left home on March 20, 1999 to get sugar from market, but never returned. “All I remember is that the incident took place one year after the Chittisingpora massacre,” she said, adding, “My son was on way to the market when the SOG picked him up. Since then, I have been moving from pillar to post for justice. I want my son.”

The family resides at Sanat Nagar on the city outskirts after migrating from Arina village in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Ichpal, son of Karan Singh, was 13-year-old at the time of his arrest. “An SOG man would demand money from us after we sold a cow. But we refused,” she said.

In 2000, Kour said she filed a report about the case in police station, Saddar, and later moved the State Human Rights Commission in 2001 when police did nothing.  In its judgment in 2003, the Commission recommended to the government that an amount of Rs 1 lakh be paid to Kour as ex-gratia relief and sent the order to chief secretary for implementation. “The Government shall inform the Commission about its action within one month,” the SHRC said.

The 2-page report mentioned that the boy’s antecedents were “not shady” and the “police has not stated that he was involved in any anti-national or any illegal action.” Even the senior superintendent of police, Srinagar, in his report said that the youth was not involved in any militancy-related activity.

“The then government didn’t respect the SHRC verdict. For three years, I was not given the ex-gratia even as I am very poor lady, working as peon and having an  ailing husband,” Kour said.

The ex-gratia was sanctioned to Kour on 10 July, 2006, by the then deputy commissioner, Budgam. But, Kour said, the amount could not compensate her son’s loss. “I want justice. I want to see my son. I want him if he is alive, and if dead, I want the killers behind bars,” she told me .

सिख माँ बेटे को, न्याय इंतजार कर रहा है
मैं न्याय चाहते हैं. मैं अपने बेटे को देखना चाहते हैं. मैं उसे चाहता हूँ अगर वह जीवित है, और मृत अगर

By: Sheikh Gulzaar
श्रीनगर, 23 अगस्त: एक युवा परिवार पिछले 11 वर्षों के लिए न्याय का इंतजार है, उनके बेटे के ठिकाने की मांग की, वे कहते हैं, था जम्मू और कश्मीर पुलिस के विशेष अभियान दल द्वारा उठाया.

Ichpal है माँ, आज्ञा Kour ने कहा उसका बेटा 20 मार्च, 1999 पर घर छोड़ दिया करने के लिए बाजार से चीनी मिल, लेकिन कभी नहीं लौटे. उन्होंने कहा सब मुझे याद है कि घटना जगह ले ली एक वर्ष Chittisingpora नरसंहार के बाद ", जोड़ने," मेरे बेटे को बाजार के लिए अपने रास्ते पर था जब एसओजी उसे उठाया. तब से, मैं खम्भे से चलती है न्याय के लिए पोस्ट. मैं अपने बेटे को चाहते हैं. "

परिवार शहर के बाहरी इलाके में सनत नगर में मध्य कश्मीर के बड़गाम जिले में Arina गांव से पलायन के बाद रहता है. Ichpal, करन सिंह का बेटा है, उसकी गिरफ्तारी के समय 13 साल का था. "एक आदमी हमें एसओजी से पैसे की मांग के बाद हम एक गाय बेचा जाएगा. लेकिन हम इनकार कर दिया, "उसने कहा.

2000 में, Kour कहा कि वह पुलिस स्टेशन, Saddar में मामले के बारे में एक रिपोर्ट दायर की है, और बाद में 2001 में राज्य मानवाधिकार आयोग ले जाया गया, जब पुलिस ने कुछ नहीं किया. 2003 में अपने फैसले में आयोग ने 1 लाख रुपये की राशि अनुग्रह राशि राहत के रूप में Kour के लिए भुगतान किया जा सकता है कि सरकार को सिफारिश की है और मुख्य सचिव को लागू करने के लिए आदेश भेजा है. , SHRC ने कहा कि सरकार एक महीने के भीतर अपनी कार्रवाई के बारे में आयोग को सूचित करेगा ".

2-पन्ने की रिपोर्ट में उल्लेख किया है कि लड़के के पूर्ववृत्त "थे नहीं छायादार" और "पुलिस को नहीं कहा है कि वह किसी भी राष्ट्र विरोधी या किसी भी अवैध कार्य". यहां तक कि पुलिस ने अपनी रिपोर्ट में श्रीनगर के वरिष्ठ अधीक्षक में शामिल किया गया कहा कि किसी भी युवा आतंकवाद से संबंधित गतिविधियों में शामिल नहीं था.

"तत्कालीन सरकार SHRC फैसले का सम्मान नहीं किया. , Kour ने कहा कि तीन वर्षों के लिए, मैं अनुग्रह राशि के रूप में भी मैं बहुत गरीब औरत हूँ नहीं दिया था, चपरासी के रूप में काम और एक बीमार पति होने ".

अनुग्रह जुलाई 10, 2006 पर, तो उपायुक्त, बड़गाम द्वारा Kour को मंजूर किया गया था. लेकिन, Kour कहा, राशि अपने बेटे नुकसान भरपाई नहीं कर सके. "मैं न्याय चाहते हैं. मैं अपने बेटे को देखना चाहते हैं. मैं उसे चाहता हूँ अगर वह जीवित है, और मृत अगर, मैं चाहता हूँ सलाखों के पीछे हत्यारों, "उसने मुझे बताया.