GreaterKashmir.com: Srinagar: Thursday, March 15, 2012.
While over 60,000 families in Jammu and Kashmir are “indexed not to receive CID clearance” for passports, leaders of separatist organizations are freely traveling abroad, an organization of Kashmiri Pandits Wednesday said.
“On the one hand, we have separatist leaders who are getting passports and on the other, we have more than 60,000 families who are indexed not to receive CID clearance for acquiring passports,” Sanjay Tikoo,president of Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti, said in a statement.
Tikoo said the apparent reason for denying the passport clearance to such a large number of people was their affiliation with separatist cause.
“These 60,000 families are those who in last 22 years have directly or indirectly followed the separatist leaders in their struggle against Indian state. If these families have been deprived of the passports, then how come their leaders are getting the CID clearance for passports?” he asked.
Tikoo said his organization had filed an RTI application to the CID headquarters of the state seeking information about the cases pending against various separatist leaders including chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Khan, Moulvi Abbass Ansari, Sajad Lone, Bilal Lone, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and Syed Saleem Geelani.
“We received a response from the CID Headquarters in which our request has been rejected and it is being claimed that this particular information does not fall within the ambit of section 8 (a) of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009,” he said.
Tikoo said for the purposes of transparency, accountability and also for protecting the spirit and purpose of Right to Information Act, this information should be revealed by the police.
“On the one hand, we have separatist leaders who are getting passports and on the other, we have more than 60,000 families who are indexed not to receive CID clearance for acquiring passports,” Sanjay Tikoo,president of Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti, said in a statement.
Tikoo said the apparent reason for denying the passport clearance to such a large number of people was their affiliation with separatist cause.
“These 60,000 families are those who in last 22 years have directly or indirectly followed the separatist leaders in their struggle against Indian state. If these families have been deprived of the passports, then how come their leaders are getting the CID clearance for passports?” he asked.
Tikoo said his organization had filed an RTI application to the CID headquarters of the state seeking information about the cases pending against various separatist leaders including chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Khan, Moulvi Abbass Ansari, Sajad Lone, Bilal Lone, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and Syed Saleem Geelani.
“We received a response from the CID Headquarters in which our request has been rejected and it is being claimed that this particular information does not fall within the ambit of section 8 (a) of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009,” he said.
Tikoo said for the purposes of transparency, accountability and also for protecting the spirit and purpose of Right to Information Act, this information should be revealed by the police.
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