On May 29, a housewife Neelofar (22) and her sister-in-law 17-year-old Asiya went missing in occupied Kashmir. Their dead bodies were later recovered from Rambiyar stream. The local residents were convinced that they were assaulted and killed by Indian-army personnel. However, the local police shrugged off the matter as a routine death by drowning.
Following villagers’ sustained protests, the `state’ government was forced to initiate an inquiry into the incident. The commission, led by Justice Muzaffar Jan, was asked to `find out the causes and circumstances leading to the death of the two women, fix accountability and punishment, recommend remedial measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents, and establish the role of government agencies including police and the civil administration’.
The Commission rejected the police account of the incident. It confirmed shoddy investigation by the police, civil administration, medical team and the Forensic Science Laboratory to cover up the truth. But, it refrained from pinpointing that the criminal assault was committed by army personnel.
Indian army and security forces commit human rights violations in the occupied Kashmir with impunity, sheltered by Armed Forces’ Special Powers Act and similar laws. That’s why not only the protestors and opposition political parties, but also the `state’ government demanded repeal of the black laws. On his visit to the valley, India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram promised to `relook into the law giving special powers to armed forces’. However, it is eerie to note that the Indian Army Chief, in an interview to a private TV channel, NDTV, defended retention of AFSPA as a shield for the Armed forces in the occupied territory. He minced no words to flatly admit: “AFSPA is needed to protect the troops legally [against their crimes].”
India claims to be the “world’s greatest democracy”. But, its shiny face has been scarred by its repressive inhuman laws. We would focus only on two such laws, Indian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act [AFSPA], and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The cataclysmic impact of these laws is that they clothe police, armed forces and security personnel with emergency powers without explicitly abrogating people’s fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution (a fundamental right per se cannot be usurped or altered). These laws are called “draconian’ as penalties under this law are akin to those stipulated in Draco’s code of 610 BC to forestall future revolts by common men.
The code provided death penalty for even trivial offenses like stealing an apple, or an earthenware utensil.
Pages: 1 2
