Raqif Makhdoomi
The conflict has taken Kashmir to a position where putting a new prospect to people gets them confused. This thinking may sometimes become true and sometimes not. The reason is that people have witnessed many turns and twists since beginning; it has become hard for them to put their trust in what they were told. The people of Kashmir have tried many ideas be it elections or anti Indian policies. Elections got them betrayals and anti Indian policies got them the blood of the innocents. The late 1980’s was the beginning of Armed struggle. Some doing it non violently and some took violence as a means. Within them was a group who worked against the pro freedom group. This made a beginning point of crushing the freedom struggle causing a huge damage to the Kashmiri cause. These were the Ikhwan. Their aim was to get the freedom fighters under arrest and give a bad name to the struggle. The first Ikhwan group came into existence in 1994 with Hilal Baig as it’s commander. These people left the cause of freedom for money and power. Ikhwans made the situation more worst. Kashmir has seen the peak of militancy and then the peak of Ikhwan rule. There was a time when both were at their best. This is still continuing and will continue till a solution to Kashmir issue is obtained.
Kashmir has seen Governors like Jag Mohan who set examples of the worst kind of atrocities under any ruler. The people from those years don’t have stories of how they enjoyed their youth but the stories of how everyone wanted to fight for the struggle and on the same time how everyone would run to save his/her life. Night raids, crackdowns, curfews, disappearances people who are in their 70s’ & 80s’or even who are in their 60s’ narrate what happened when they were young the stories of playing, enjoying, going to picnics, attending marriages etc etc fall short when they start narrating tales of night raids, disappearing of their loved ones, killing of innocents, saving life during encounter and harassment during checking. I have heard stories from my family of how the happiness of one event changed into the very next moment of a life and death situation. Be it any situation people of Kashmir have been suffering a lot. The horor stories of 90’s still continue to haunt the people of Kashmir. Kashmiris were subjected to brutality of Ikhwans, police, army or other Indian agencies. People still wait for their loved ones to return. They may never return as kashmir doesn’t have shortage of “Unmarked Graves”. More than 8000 people have gone missing under the rule of Indian forces. According to APDP, Association of Parents Of Disappeared Persons, there are 8000 enforced and involuntary cases of disappearances between 1989 & 2009. However, the government which is always on denial confirms only 4000 cases of disappearances have been registered. Whatever the number a disappearance is a disappearance, people need to know where their loved ones are. This discrepancy in the number of enforced disappearances has been highlighted by the office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in first ever report on the state of Human Rights violations in Kashmir released in June 2018.
Kashmir is one of the highest militarized zones in the world. 7 lakh forces have been deployed in Kashmir and every solider is heavily armed. In 2005 APDP in Baramulla located 940 graves with no names. The numbers need to be noted. To take this further European parliament on 10 July 2008 passed a resolution lending support to the investigation into the discovery of mass graves and enforced disappearances. But as usual Indian Government gave reasons for not taking the investigation further. As India even knew taking it further means digging it’s own grave. The investigation wouldn’t have even taken toll on Indian treasure as European parliament even offered financial help. In 2009 the same year after the European parliament passed resolution the International people’s tribune on Human Rights & justice Indian administered Kashmir released a second report in which 2,700 mass graves were found and investigated in Baramulla, Bandipora and kupwara districts of Kashmir. In the same year in 2009 State Human Rights commission took the suo moto cognizance of the report and a special Investigation team (SIT) led by senior Superintendent Of Police was constituted to conduct an enquiry. The SIT in it’s report confirmed the presence of 2730 unidentified bodies buried across 37 sites in the three districts of North Kashmir. As usual the government that’s on the way to denial denied to accept the reports the recommendation of State Human Rights commission. The government in response to State Human Rights commission in the Form of Action Taking Report ( ATR) Dated 13/ August / 2012 denied the existence of the unmarked graves and made a claim that these belong to local and foreign militants. The same that India is doing even today. Killing and terming them as militants and getting away with it. The black laws like AFSPA Armed Forces Special Power act Public Safety Act ( PSA) and disturbed Area Act make police, army and other agencies powerful and empower them so much that even after they shoot someone even if he’s innocent the security personnel who shoot him can’t be held accountable. AFSPA empowers the security agencies developed in Kashmir to shoot anyone they suspect and get away with it even if he’s innocent. PAS is the another tool used. It empowers police to arrest anyone just on one reason that he’s dangerous to law and order. Many pro freedom leaders have been arrested under the act. A person arrested under this can be jailed to 2 months and extends to 2 years they repeat the process book the person again once he completes the term and this goes for long. But the scenario of Kashmir seems to change. Not much has changed but what has changed is the scenario of fear. Especially in the hearts of youth. Even after knowing about these laws and the weapons used they just face everything. And do everything to keep freedom struggle alive. They know what these black are capable of especially PSA. Public Safety Act ironically finds its roots in the Defence Of India Act ( DIA) during British rule. In fact PSA happens to be more punitive from DIA that was described by various National leaders including Mahatma Gandhi as draconian and a black law enacted by British to suppress Indian Freedom struggle. After Independence Defence Of India Act changed in the year 1967 and is presently known as public safety act more precisely in Jammu and Kashmir JKPSA-1978 with provisions and impurities almost similar to the act of British era. Act was promulgated in 1978 (amended in 1987 & 1990) in J&K empowering the state government to detain a person without trial for two years under pretext of maintenance of public order. Since 1978 respective governments have used the law to their fullest advantage but have never sought revoking of the act. According to 2010 Amnesty report at least 10,000-20,000 people have been detained under this preventive detention law since it was enforced in 1987. In 2016 alone, some 600 orders have been issued. According to a lawyer this number includes those who have undergone and evaded arrests. From 2016 to February 2018 1,150 people were detained under PSA. As many as 55-60% of the detained were of the age group of 15-28 years of age. PSA was back in 2012 when the state legislature amended PSA by relaxing some of its strict provisions. The pre-trial detention period was reduced. In the case of first-time offenders or individuals who act against the security of the state for the very first time, the detention period for such individuals was reduced from two years to six months. However, the option of extending the term of detention to two years was kept open, if there is no improvement in the conduct of the detainee.
After the amendment, the provision for detention of individuals “acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public law” was made less stringent. In case of first-time offence, the detained individual can be released after three months, although his detention can be extended to one year. The Omar Abdullah government had supported this revision. It was only after the amendment that another crucial provision was put in place. It introduced the rule that minors (below the age of 18) cannot be detained under the PSA. It was also made mandatory for the detaining authority to furnish reason for any detention. Despite the revision, the government still retains enough power to curtail freedom of people under the garb of ensuring state security and public order. The UN report, titled ‘Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir: Developments in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir from June 2016 to April 2018, and General Human Rights Concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan’, revealed that over 1,000 Kashmiris were held under the PSA between March 2016 and August 2017. The Government Of India should really take steps to solve this long pending issue. There are many UN resolutions that provide solution to Kashmir problem. The Government of India and Government of Pakistan should come on table.
(The author is human rights activist .Views are his own)