J-K completed only 1 out of 54 probes ordered

By ordering an inquiry into the killing of the two villagers, allegedly by the Army in Chitru village of Budgam, the Mufti government is set...

By ordering an inquiry into the killing of the two villagers, allegedly by the Army in Chitru village of Budgam, the Mufti government is setting a stiff record for the coming regimes. It has already touched a landmark of 50 probes into alleged rights violations in the Valley.

Since the PDP-led government took over from Farooq Abdullah two years ago, it has, on an average, ordered two magisterial inquiries every month. However, so far not a single probe has nailed any alleged perpetrators. Worse, most inquiries are still under process and those completed don’t bind the security forces to take action as they do not fall under the jurisdiction of state.

‘‘There have been 54 probes…But action has been taken only in one case where an SHO was suspended and that too before an inquiry was instituted,’’ said Parvez Imroz, a noted human rights activist and a lawyer. ‘‘Whenever a rights violation takes place, the government quickly orders inquiry to quell public uproar. This way they not only deflect the pressure but also aim to put up a clean image before the people. However, probes never reach completion.’’

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Said a relative of Fayaz Ahmad Dar, who was killed in the recent army firing at Chitru village: ‘‘No armyman will be punished. It is an illusion created by the government. The Chief Minister keeps saying during rallies that the Army indicts its quality soldiers without going public, but that is a hogwash.’’

A senior government officer said the Army and security forces did punish their men who violate human rights. He cited the instance of a Major who was suspended in Handwara for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl and her mother. But the magisterial probe ordered by the state is yet to complete despite a 10-day deadline. Additional District Magistrate, Kupwara, Sharafat Ali, probing the incident, said ‘‘the Army and police have not responded to queries so far.’’

Hurriyat to go on hunger strike

		• SRINAGAR: The Hurriyat Conference will soon launch a hunger strike and stage a sit-in to protest the growing human rights abuses in Kashmir, a statement of the amalgam said today. A joint session of executive council, working committee and general council of the Hurriyat Conference, which met today under its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, took the decision. Hurriyat executives Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone and Maulana Abbas Ansari, and members of the general and working committee, were present in the meeting. Sources said the meeting reiterated the conglomerate stand on the dialogue process and observed that bilateralism has failed, and tripartite or triangular talks should be given a try to explore the solution on Kashmir.

EXCLUSIVE: EC brings in feature to check misuse of identity to seek voter list deletions

Political Pulse25 min ago

The Election Commission has launched a new 'e-sign' feature on its portal and app to prevent fraud. This comes after allegations of misuse of online voter deletion forms in Karnataka. The feature requires voters to verify their identity using their Aadhaar-linked phone numbers, reducing the possibility of fraud.

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