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| How many persons disappeared since 1989? | | Contradictory statements by Govt add to sufferers woes | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 24: Yesterday's statement on disappearances is yet another addition to the series of contradictory statements issued by the government on enforced disappearances. The Association of Parents of Disappeared persons (APDP) while rejecting the statement as misleading and ridiculous has reiterated its demand of appointment of a commission to probe all disappearances.
Replying a question on enforced disappearances on the floor of the legislative assembly, the state government said that 1105 people had disappeared since 1989 across the state.
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.
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 upto June 2002.
Soon after Mufti Muhammad Sayed issued a shocking statement 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.
Successive state governments have sought sanction to prosecution under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) since 1990. A question arises. If the government believes that the disappeared persons are enjoying a lavish life in Pakistan, why did it seek sanction to prosecute the culprits from government of India. And, who are the culprits by the way?
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