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| Amnesty to militants likely to land Govt in serious trouble | | `If disappeared persons are in Pak they must return’ | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Feb 12:Grant of amnesty to militants waiting for home coming in Pakistan has been widely welcomed in the Valley a few statements to the contrary notwithstanding. The Chief Minister and New Delhi have won acclaim for the decision. However, the process may land the state government into serious trouble. The statements issued in response to allegations of enforced disappearances will be put to litmus test in the coming days when the home coming starts. The government has been saying that the youth shown in the list of disappeared persons by human rights groups had gone to Pakistan to seek arms training.
The issue of enforced disappearances has been agitated vehemently at local, national and international levels by local human rights defenders. In some fora, the official version has found some takers but the contradictory figures released by the government from time to time have severely eroded its credibility. The locals find it very difficult to digest the official version.
According to the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) 8000-10,000 persons have been subjected to enforced disappearance since 1989. The government vehemently contests this figure. A series of contradictory statements have been issued by successive state governments. Amid these claims and counterclaims truth has become a casualty and one is forced to believe that the government is hiding something.
The former coalition government headed by Mufti Muhammad Sayed had promised a probe into custodial disappearances but the promise could not be fulfilled. The incumbent Chief Minister repeatedly took Mufti Sayed to task for his government’s record on human rights. Addressing a press conference on May 2, 2008 Omar Abdullah said 4000 Kashmiris were subjected to enforced disappearance by the state since 1990.
The process of issuing statements on custodial disappearances started in July 2002. Former home Minister, Khalid Najeeb Soharwardy issued a statement on July 18,2002. He admitted 3184 custodial disappearances since 1989. Another statement was issued by the former Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayed on February 25,2003. “During 2000, 1553 persons disappeared in the state, 1586 in 2001 and 605 in 2002”, he informed the assembly. This was followed by former law minister, Muzaffar Husain Beig’s statement on March 25, 2003. He told the assembly that 3744 persons had disappeared out of whom 135 had been declared dead up to June 2002.
This was followed by a shocking statement by Mufti Muhammad Sayed in April 2003. He said: “Only 60 persons had disappeared since inception of militancy in the state.” These figures were provided during a joint press conference by the Prime Minister and Mufti Sayed. Mufti contradicted this statement on June 11, 2003 when he said 3744 persons were reported missing from 1990 till December 31, 2002. The tragedy of contradictions did not end here. In yet another statement, the minister of state for Home, Abdul Rehman Veeri stated on June 21, 2003 that 3931 persons had been reported missing since 1989 to June 2003.
When Ghulam Nabi Azad took over as Chief Minister, he informed the legislative assembly during zero hour in March 2006 that 693 cases of custodial disappearances had been registered. His deputy, Muzaffar Husain Beig informed the assembly on August 1, 2006 that sixty persons had disappeared during National Conference rule. On August 4, 2006 Azad told the legislators that 33 custodial disappearances had taken place since 1990-1996. On the next day (August 5) he said 60 persons were subjected to custodial disappearance since 1995-2006.
These contradictory statements reflect that the government has been desperately trying to conceal the truth. In response to a list issued by APDP a few years ago, the police said that most of the persons in the list had crossed over to Pakistan administered Kashmir to seek arms training. This is exactly what the governments in Nepal and Pakistan tell the traumatized relatives of the disappeared persons. In Nepal they are told that the missing persons had escaped to India. In Pakistan they are told that the missing persons were consumed by the war in Afghanistan. And in Kashmir they are told that the disappeared persons went to Pakistan.
According to Yasin Malik of Zandfaran, Baramulla, “If the disappeared persons are in Pakistan as claimed by the officials they must return now as New Delhi has granted amnesty to them.” Malik is an executive member of the APDP. “The government will find itself in a very difficult situation once the process of home coming takes off”, he remarked.
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