J-K, Kerala, HP decide to skip NHRC meet

Sources said the Jammu and Kashmir human rights commission apparently had problems of jurisdiction with the NHRC. The state’s commission would not attend the meeting saying it was a separate entity and not formed under the national law for state units.

Under Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir does not come under the purview of the laws made by the Indian Parliament.

The then state government headed by Farooq Abdullah had objected several times to NHRC rulings on issues related to the state, especially to the appeal to NHRC by migrants to take up their cause. However, through a series of representations, human right activists have made the NHRC rule that ‘‘human rights are universal and can not be confined to regions.’’

The NHRC spokesperson said tomorrow’s meeting would deal with substantive rights issues like condition of jails and remand homes in the states.

‘‘The main objective is to evolve better coordination (between the state units and the NHRC) for sharing information and discuss ways to launch an awareness campaign in regional languages,’’ he said.