SRINAGAR: Human rights activists in Kashmir say they have no faith in the probe ordered by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde into the BSF killings in Ramban, saying inquiries have only subverted the process of justice in the strife-torn region.
“The government always orders probe, but it is only to delay. Nothing has ever come out of it,” prominent activist and convener of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), Khurram Parvez told FreePress.
The JKCCS is an alliance of five human rights groups.
Statistics provided by Parvez show that the government ordered nearly 170 probes in the past 10 years.
Thirty-three probes were ordered in the year 2003, 25 in 2004, 21 in 2005, 11 in 2006, 12 in 2007, 08 in 2008, 20 in 2009, 14 in 2010, 11 in 2011, 08 in 2012 and 05 so far this year.
The incidents over which probes were ordered include alleged killings of ordinary civilians in fake encounters by security forces and the deaths of unarmed protesters in police or paramilitary firing.
Khurram Parvez says the government has “zero percent record of prosecuting the security force personnel accused of human rights violations.”
“These probes have simply failed justice,” he says.
In the latest case, BSF soldiers fired at thousands of Muslims protesting sacrilege of the holy Quran in Gool village, over 130 km from here. Six persons were reported dead while more than 40 were wounded. The authorities have confirmed only 4 deaths.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde regretted the killings and ordered a probe. He assured that if the BSF were found guilty of excessive use of force or irresponsible behaviour they would be strictly dealt with.
But Parvez says only an international independent probe commission will do.
“You see the fate of the earlier probes. They failed to bring the perpetrators to book and provide justice. Why should we expect something new from this one.”
He says “We want that an international body should conduct a probe into all the cases so far, including the Ramban one.”
The military and paramilitaries deployed in Kashmir enjoy immunity from prosecution under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
New Delhi has repeatedly refused pleas of the state chief minister Omar Abdullah to revoke the law.
