Basharat reports on a workshop on custodial torture held in the Department of Law
(Mr. Syed Basharat, 29, was born in Kreeri, Baramulla, and did his schooling in Kreeri, and later in Uri and Sopore. He graduated from the Degree College in Baramulla and completed his Master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the Kashmir University in 2005. He has been a reporter for Kashmir Images, a Srinagar based daily, London based website Gaashonline.Com, and a Srinagar based journal, Globe. Currently, he is working as a special correspondent with Jammu based daily newspaper, The Kashmir Times.)
Experts call for constructive initiatives within civil society
SRINAGAR: In what can be called a pragmatic approach to deal with the different facets of a conflict, a prominent human rights worker Kirty Roy today observed that people of Kashmir must take initiatives to redress the problems of victims of human rights violations and not make their support conditional to the final settlement of Kashmir issue.
Roy’s observation came in his inaugural address at a two-day workshop on custodial torture held at the department of Law in Kashmir University. The workshop has been organised by the Human Rights Law Network in collaboration with MASUM (Manav Adhikar Suraksha Manch), a West Bengal based NGO working against torture in India.
Stressing on the documentation of cases of human rights violations in Kashmir, Roy who is also the president of MASUM, said that hurdles which come in way of justice can only be removed once a proper documentation of human rights violation is obtained. “The data speaks for itself,” Roy said and added that it was not impossible to get justice once the perpetrators of human rights violations get exposed at various fronts.
He further deliberated upon manifestations of custodial torture, highlighting various laws which deal with the subject. Roy said that he was perturbed by the incidents of human rights violations particularly torture incidents which took place in Kashmir.
Parveena Ahangar president of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) while narrating a painful story of resilience and struggle against the enforced disappearance said that the government must come clean on the issue of disappearances and if serious to redress the issue, it should establish an impartial commission that will come up with the facts.
“I have resolved that our struggle will not culminate unless we know facts about our missing sons,” Parveena said. She further narrated an ordeal of mental trauma she had undergone since her son’s disappearance in 1990. “Since 1997, I am waiting for sanction of prosecution against the army personnel involved in enforced disappearance of my son,” she added further.
Parveena said that nobody except a few conscious people in the society came to the help of families associated with her organisation APDP. “There are many mothers associated with the APDP who are not in a position to feed themselves. In this situation what has kept them alive is the hope that their missing sons will return one day,” she observed.
Prof. Syed Afzal Qadri who was present on this occasion said that the impunity provided by various laws enforced in Jammu and Kashmir has barred the judiciary to deliver justice to the victims of human rights violations. “Similarly section 197 CRPC is hurdle in way of central government sanction of prosecution against the accused army personnel,” Prof. Qadri added.
Besides, Advocate Hanjura, academician Qurat-ul-ain, Advocate Faisal Qadri, Advocate Narjees Qadri, Advocate Mir Hafeez-ullah, Dr Muzaffar Bhat, Dr Ghulam Rasool, many victims of torture and students of law participated in the workshop.