It is time to go beyond mere paper work and fix responsibility for HR abuses in Kashmir
Following the instructions from the government, the two-member commission led by Justice (Retd) Syed Bashir-ud-Din has started inquiry into the 17 killings which took place between June 11 and July 19. The commission was constituted by Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah on July 27; however, it couldn’t start investigation immediately as the situation in Kashmir deteriorated considerably.
This is the first commission which has been constituted by the National Conference-led coalition government ever since the unrest erupted in the valley this year. Nevertheless there are already apprehensions raised as to why only 17 killings are to be probed when the toll has reached 65. Although, the unrest in Kashmir has entered third month, why has the government ordered to investigate only 17 killings? The head of the commission sounded optimistic so far about the support and assistance from the state government, however, the reality would emerge once the commission actually starts its work. In the past on numerous occasions, we have seen the commissions formed to probe various human right violations in the state expressing their helplessness on account of lack of cooperation from the relevant government quarters particularly from the police. The commission constituted this time around has to be empowered to summon any person from civil or security administration. Although, the state government has asked the commission to conclude the inquiry in 105 days, however, time will only tell whether the commission will be able to meet the deadline or not. There is one more aspect that needs to be looked into the whole phenomenon of ‘commissions’ and ‘inquiries’: most of the time these inquiries have remained inconclusive and have failed to identity the culprits. However, there are few high profile cases where the commissions have come up with conclusive evidences and have identified the culprits, but failed to prosecute them. The cases in point are the Pathribal fake encounter where five innocent Kashmiris were killed and later on dubbed as foreign militants, who were involved in the killing of 35 Sikhs at Chattisinghpora; the Handwara rape case, where mother-daughter duo were raped by army; Jalil Andrabi murder case, a human right activist killed in custody by army; Wandhama massacre, where 26 innocent Kashmiris were brutally killed and many others. In all of these cases, the culprits have been identified by inquiry commissions but no action has been taken against the culprits. The Patribal fake encounter was the most high profile case which made international headlines. It is time to move beyond the probe and inquires, it is time to fix the responsibility for the wrongs that have committed and get hold of those who are involved in gross human rights violations no matter how big the person is. Otherwise, in Kashmir, probes sans sanctity.
