NHRC issues notice to Centre over ‘targeting’ of Kashmiris
In a strongly-worded directive, the NHRC said that “though there is an atmosphere of grief and anger” across the country after the terrorist attack on the CRPF convoy, “a civilized society cannot accept such kind of violence by the people against their fellow countrymen”.
Kashmiri students leave for their homes from Ballopur village in Mohali, Wednesday. (Express photo)
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Stating that the reports of attacks on Kashmiri people across the country in the aftermath of the terrorist strike in Pulwama “destroy the democratic fabric of the country”, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday issued a notice to the Central government, calling for a report within two weeks and directing it to act “quickly” against the miscreants.
The NHRC, headed by Justice H L Dattu – the former chief justice of India – took suo motu cognizance of the incidents involving Kashmiri people, and issued notices to the Union Home Secretary and the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, calling for reports within two weeks.
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In a strongly-worded directive, the NHRC said that “though there is an atmosphere of grief and anger” across the country after the terrorist attack on the CRPF convoy, “a civilized society cannot accept such kind of violence by the people against their fellow countrymen”.
“Rustication, suspension or action against the students, as mentioned in the news reports, can be a matter of investigation on merits but the incidents of ill-treatment of the Kashmiri people in different parts of the country is definitely in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which protects equality before the law and equal protection of laws within the territory of India,” the NHRC said.
The commission has also issued notices to the Chief Secretaries of the Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal governments as well as the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, calling for their reports on the incidents mentioned in the news reports within four weeks.
The NHRC has also directed the Central government “to act quickly by taking action against the miscreants”. “India is one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse nations in the world and has a rich tolerant culture, which is identified and respected across the world. Such incidents would only tarnish the image of the country,” it said.
The NHRC has detailed all the news reports while issuing the directions, including those reported by The Indian Express.
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On a report regarding 34 workers who have left Muzaffarnagar, the NHRC noted that “District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar has reportedly stated that they do not have a count of Kashmiris working in the area and they have not received any official complaint either from the police or the mill authorities (from where the workers reportedly fled)”.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
