Kashmir Monitor: Rabiya Bashir: Srinagar: Sunday, December 10, 2017.
As world readies to observe another Human Rights Day on Sunday, rights violations continue to be a major issue in Kashmir.
As per the official data, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), which hears the rights cases in Jammu and Kashmir, had to settle nearly 7,000 complaints of violations in the last 11 months,.
The number of complaints received since November 2016 is 8,000 and the number of cases disposed is 1,019, the data says. In 1,759 cases, the commission has made recommendations and awarded compensation to the victims, it shows.
The commission has made 27 recommendations for ex gratia, nine for compassionate appointments, 10 for death compensation, eight on disappearances, and four in land cases.
As per the official data, 871 complaints have been pending since the inception of the commission.
As per the commission, there are 2,080 unmarked graves in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajauri, and 1,356 unidentified graves in Barammulla, Bandipora, and Kupwara districts of Kashmir Valley. More than one dead body lies buried in 18 graves, 20 bodies are charred, and five skulls are buried without their bodies, the commission’s records mention.
In 2016, at least, 3896 people sustained pellet injuries in forces firing during over five month long unrest in the valley last year, it states.
The victims were from 10 districts including Srinagar, Ganderbal, Budgam, Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Baramulla, Kupwara, and Bandipora.
Under section 12 of the Jammu and Kashmir Protection of Human rights Act, 1997, it is mandatory for the state government to initiate action on the report of the commission within a period of four weeks from its receipt and intimate the commission about the action taken.
An SHRC official said initially the recommendations were being ignored by various government departments.
“Now, they intimate the commission about the action taken,” he said. “Most of the departments are not giving clear information regarding any report.”
Chairman, SHRC, Justice Bilal Nazki, said the commission was “working hard” for the people. “We are receiving complaints from different victims of human rights abuses. There are different categories of people visiting the commission,” he said.
Recently, the information shared by the home ministry in response to RTI query filed by a human rights activist Venkatesh Naik showed that Jammu and Kashmir tops the list of human rights violations committed under AFSPA.
The state is followed by Assam and Manipur. In Jammu and Kashmir there were 92 complaints against the Indian army and paramilitary forces in 2016 only, it showed. Assam comes in second with 58 and Manipur third with 21 complaints, it showed.
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