Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, State Secretary CPI (M), Hakim Mohammad Yasin, Chairman PDF, Abdul Rashid Kabuli Chairman JKNDF, Sheikh Abdul Rehman State President Samajwadi Party, Abdul Rehman Tukru, State Secretary CPI have issued the following statement.
We express serious concern over the prevailing situation following the killings of innocent civilians in Shopian. The situation demands an immediate and serious approach and any casual or adhoc advances to put the problem on the backburner will only precipitate the crisis further.
Right now the situation in South Kashmir demands that the erring CRPF personnel be identified and booked under law. It should be made clear that no institution or any individual is above law. If anyone has violated the law and has not been brought to book yet, it is an insult to the whole justice delivery system. We also lament curbing civil liberties by continued curfew and restrictions with no relaxation even to enable the people to procure the requirements of day-to-day use.
The civilian killings in Shopian refresh the memories of firing on peaceful protesters in 2010 and in absence of any accountability; these memories have only inculcated into a default anti national sentiment. It is ironic that instead of prosecuting the guilty in the 2010 civilian killings, nearly 6,000 people especially the youth were imprisoned for varying periods thus marring their careers and traumatizing their families.
Three years have passed since those merciless over 120 killings; people still await answers for what happened to perpetrators who snatched their near and dear ones and who are yet to be brought to justice. Not a single case out of over 120 civilian killings has reached to any logical conclusion and in most of these cases the families of victims are facing secondary victimization at the hands of administration.
People seem pessimistic about the fate of government probe ordered in Shopian incident. And right so because we believe that going by the fate of the magisterial inquires; Commissions of inquiries or judicial probes ordered in Kashmir, the fact of the matter is that the practice has lost its meaning. Just to put it very simple, the inaction on part of the government to act on the findings of these inquires and probes has eroded the credibility of all these probes and inquires. People now perceive, these probes and inquires are a handy weapon to cool down tempers and buy time after the innocent civilian killings. This serious trend, fraught with dangerous consequences need to be arrested, sooner the better.
It is an earnest appeal from our side to all democratic voices of the country that in view of such imperatives they must impress upon the Government of India to create the conditions for a meaningful dialogue process with all shades of political opinion in Jammu and Kashmir. The democratic protests must be allowed as the absence of dissenting spaces can further strengthen elements inimical to peace. Imprisoning young activists and imposing continuous restrictions on separatist voices frequently undercut their ability to (ever) enter into a dialogue process.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir are mystified by Government of India’s disregard for their legitimate concerns with regard to their dignity and security of their lives.
Unfortunately, the temporary calm has always reinforced the perception that Government of India has overcome the need to act politically to address the continued uncertainties in Jammu and Kashmir.
The incident of civilian killings in Shopian is being perceived ominous by a major section of concerned citizens. The situation calls for a political outreach rather than any security solutions. In absence of a political engagement, the security solutions protract the problems rather than help resolve them. We are worried that if the same insensitivity continues and there is not action on part of the government the situation could lean into a fresh turmoil.
September 16, 2013