Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association Srinagar on Thursday strongly “ridiculed” and describes the appointment of Chandra Mohan Sharma, who has fought two elections including 2015 Rajya Sabha Election on BJP ticket, as a non-judicial member of the J&K Human Rights Commission.
In a statement issued here, the lawyers body described it an “affront” to the J&K Protection of Human Rights Act, 1997 and a gross abuse of power and authority vested in the government.
“The Bar Association maintains that in terms of Section 3 of J&K Protection of Human Rights Act, 1997, the Commission shall consist of a Chairperson, who has been a judge of the High Court and one member, who is or has been a District Judge, besides three members to be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge of, or practical experience, in matters relating to human rights but Chandra Mohan Sharma, who is a BJP man can neither be taken to be a person, who has knowledge or practical expertise in matters relating to human rights nor he can be said to be a champion of human rights because he has no expertise in the field.”
His appointment, the lawyers’ body said, can also lead to a potential conflict of interest between PDP-BJP run coalition government as the commission has often to decide the complaint of violation of human rights by the government functionaries and also of their negligence in the prevention of such violation.
“After the conclusion of the investigation, enquiry, the commission has to recommend initiation of proceedings for their prosecution or for taking such other action as the commission may deem fit under the facts and circumstances of the case, notwithstanding, the fact that the recommendations made by the J&K Protection of Human Rights Act, 1997, have never been accepted by the government but have been out rightly rejected without assigning any reason, as a result of which numerous petitions for enforcing the recommendations of the Human Rights Commission have been filed and are pending in the High Court right now.”
The Bar Association also refutes the claim of the police department that there was no Kashmiri political prisoners lodged in any J&K jail or outside as of now and maintains that during 2016, 2017 and upto 4th June, 2018, the police has arrested thousands and thousands Kashmiris and after booking them in “frivolous” cases and/or detaining them under the Draconian PSA, have lodged them in jails/interrogation centres, far away from their places of residence to make their release or meeting with their families, friends or relatives impossible, only because these prisoners have raised their voice against the gross human rights violations committed by Indian forces in Kashmir and besides asking for bringing their forcible occupation of Kashmir to an end, they have demanded that the Kashmir issue be settled in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of Kashmir. It also needs to be mentioned that from January, 2016 till 4th of June, 2018, 1241 innocent Kashmiris, who were detained under the PSA have approached the High Court for quashing their orders of detention but despite the quashing of their detention orders, most of them have been re-detained on flimsy grounds or on grounds which were already made use of against them in their previous detention orders and are languishing in jails/interrogation centres both inside and outside the State without any one taking cognizance of their plight. The continued incarceration of Dr. Qasim Factoo, Mohammad Shafi Sharieti, Ghulam Qadir Bhat, Masarat Alam Bhat, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Mehraj-ud-din Kalwal, Peer Saifullah, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, Zahoor Ahmad Watali, Shahid-ul-Islam, Mohammad Yousuf Mir, Mohammad Yousuf Falahi, Shakeel Ahmad Bhat, Abdul Gani Bhat, Amir-i-Hamza, Peer Hafizullah, Ghulam Mohammad Khan Sopori, Sarjan Barkati, Asiya Indrabi, Nahida Nasreen and Fahmeeda Sofi, besides others, is a proof positive of the fact that all these prisoners are languishing in jails for their belief that Kashmir is a dispute and should be settled in accordance with the wishes of the people. All these prisoners are therefore political prisoners and have been treated to be as such by all the concerned, including the members of the international community. The Bar Association demands that all these political prisoners should be released forthwith, by bringing their continued incarceration to an immediate end and concrete steps should be taken to settle the Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes of the people, so that peace and tranquility is established in the sub-continent and an imminent threat to the world peace is avoided.
Meanwhile, in a condolence meeting held on 13th of June 2018, in District Court Complex, Moominabad, Srinagar, the Bar members expressed their grief over the demise of Abdul Majid Watali, Advocate and member of High Court Bar Association, who breathed his last on 12th June 2018 at his residence in Humhama Srinagar, after a brief illness. The members while describing the deceased as a noble soul, who was helpful to all, paid rich tributes to him and while expressing their solidarity with the bereaved family, offered Fateh and prayed to Almighty Allah to give courage and fortitude to his family members to bear the irreparable loss.
