Srinagar
An independent body of concerned citizens in its latest report on the rights situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir has said that most violations continued in the territory even after 18 months of abrogation of the special status.
The Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir, co-chaired by former Indian Supreme Court judge, Justice Madan B. Lokur and former Kashmir interlocutor, Radha Kumar, in its latest report, said, “This is the second report of the Forum and covers the period from August 2020 to January 2021. Sadly, most of the violations remain even 18 months after the imposition of a lockdown on Jammu and Kashmir”.
It pointed out that arbitrary detentions continue, public assembly is still prohibited under Section 144 and hundreds, including minors and several elected legislators of the territory, remain under detention. The report covers the period from August 2020 to January 2021.
The forum notes that statutory agencies to which people could go to seek redress for human rights, women and child rights, anti-corruption and the right to information have not been reinstated, even though union territories are also entitled to independent statutory bodies for oversight.
“A new category of ‘protective’ detention has been introduced in the recently concluded district development polls,” the report said. It says that J&K’s industries still reel under the dual impact of the military siege and the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing the majority into loan defaults or even closure.—KMS
