Srinagar, 19 September (KNS): Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Member of Parliament from Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi on Saturday welcomed the Army report which says powers under AFSPA have been misused during the Amshipura, Shopian fake encounter, seeking exemplary punishment to those involved in the heinous crime.
While welcoming the findings of the inquiry conducted by Army he said that fake encounters are cold-blooded murders and averse to the constitution which unequivocally states that no person would be deprived of his life or personal liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law.
In a statement issued to KNS reads, “In this particular fake encounter the families have been crying the innocence of their young boys right from the very first day. The Army in its inquiry has also concluded that the dos and don’ts were not adhered to. I along with my party co-parliamentarians raised the issue in the Lok Sabha as well by serving a calling attention motion to the government to share the status of the inquiry of the army inquiry into the unfortunate incident. We raised the issue during the zero hour in Lok Sabha as well; the union defense minister was also present on the occasion that day. We had also moved an adjournment motion on the issue in the Lok Sabha. Our persistent efforts to get justice for the families of the slain innocent youth have borne fruit. The truth remains that such episodes only add to the mistrust in people; the only way to put a thaw on such incidents is by serving the erring officers exemplary punishments. These fake encounters are cold-blooded murders sidestepping and circumventing required Standard operating procedures and rights conferred by the Indian constitution to its citizenry,” he said.
Contradicting rule of law and required SOPs, the fake encounters are arbitrary actions which unfortunately aren’t new to Kashmir, Masoodi said while seeking inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of a boy in Sopore and a woman at Batamaloo during the past one week.
“On one hand GoI is making tall claims on zero tolerance for human rights violations, and on the other hand there seems impunity for such extra judicial civilian killings on ground in Kashmir. In the past too, these extra judicial killings have been a regular feature in Kashmir. Such killings are mostly not taken to account and guilty, not punished under the guise of national security. The Supreme Court in its landmark judgment of 2016 spoke about the illegality of such extra judicial killings. Despite the judicial involvement, there has been slow progress on the issue of ensuring that such incidents do not take place," he said.
"Our party raised the issue of extra judicial and arbitrary killings on every forum. We raised it in the media, in Lok Sabha and at various other public forums seeking time bound inquiry into the excesses. The efforts have shown results, and we are hopeful that all those involved in the crime are brought to justice so that it acts as a deterrent in the future. We also hope that inquiries will be expedited in the case of mysterious killings of the Sopore man and Batamaloo woman,” he added.