Victims’ families still wait for justice
Srinagar, Nov 2, CNS: The families of the victims of the 2010 killings from different districts of Kashmir Monday demanded justice to their kin who were killed in police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) firing when violence erupted in Kashmir against the killing of a teenager (Tufail Mattoo), allegedly killed by a police teargas shell. The victims of family members who arrived at CNS office alleged that Government has miserably failed to punish the killers of over 120 youth during the 2010 summer agitation.
“My brother Ghulam Rasool Bhat (28) along with his friend Muhammad Amin Ganie (27) was killed at Tappar Pattan on 17 September 2010 but till date no action has been initiated against the killers,” said Shabir Ahmed.
He said that they present themselves before the Koul Commission for number of times but now it seems that Commission is buying time and it has no intention to punish the guilty. “My husband Showkat Ahmed Mir was killed in government forces firing in 2010. I was expecting justice after Justice M L Koul was nominated to probe the killings. I have four daughters and a little son and there is nobody to take care of my family,” Zeba Banoo, a resident of Mamat Budgam who was part of the delegation told CNS.
The families alleged the government is deliberately protracting the case to shield killers. The Jammu & Kashmir government in June, 2014 had appointed a one-man judicial commission to probe the murder of over 120 civilians during the unrest in the Valley in 2010. Justice (retd) M L Koul headed this one-man commission.
Farooq Ahmad Kuchay, whose brother Nisar Ahmed Kuchay was killed during a protest demonstration at Humhama Budgam, accused the government of shielding the ‘guilty’ CRPF personnel who opened fire on unarmed protesters without any provocation on September 13, 2010.
“Besides three other persons my younger brother, a BA final year student, also fell to the bullets of CRPF personnel. They were protesting against the desecration of Holy Quran and were not part of any anti-India protest,” Kuchay said. He said the affected families are still craving for justice while as the Koul Commission has been working at a snail’s pace.
When contacted Justice (Retired) M L Koul told CNS that the Commission at present is defunct as it is office-less from past many weeks. “After September 2014 floods we moved our office from Civil Secretariat to a local hotel in Dalgate. The owner of the hotel asked us to vacate the hotel citing security reasons. At present the Commission is defunct as it has no office. We have informed the government and the Director Estates has assured that an office will be made available for the Commission in few days,” he said.
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