Human shield incident has brought rights record to new low: eminent citizens

A group of eminent citizens today said the strapping of a civilian to an army jeep has brought the human rights record in Jammu and Kashmir to a new low and the efforts to legitimise the act was condemnable.

The group of 22, comprising former high court judge Shabir Hasnain Masoodi and former chairman of Public Service Commission Mohammad Shafi Pandit, lashed out at the silence of state government and in particular Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on the issue.

In a statement here, they said that they had petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking an end to the human rights violations in the state, particularly tying of an "innocent" man to an army jeep as a "human shield" by the army officer.

"With the strapping of an innocent Kashmiri young man by an officer of Indian Army to the bonnet of an army vehicle and parading him for hours through a dozen villages, the abysmal Indian human rights record in Jammu and Kashmir has come down to a new low," the statement said.

Describing it as a "dastardly act" which was "totally unjustifiable", the statement said, "It is against human dignity, offends core constitutional values and violates International Covenants, to which India is a signatory."They said, "the effort to legitimise the act by cooking up and concocting facts is bizarre and deserves to be equally condemned."

They said it was "painful and shocking that instead of expediting the Court of Inquiry proceedings ordered against the officer and the investigation in FIR registered by the local police against him, the officer has been decorated and favoured with an award and is applauded by a person no less than the Defence Minister of India for an otherwise cowardly act."

The statement said that "awarding the officer before conclusion of the Court of Inquiry and police investigation is unfair and grossly inappropriate. Those who have decided to confer the award have done no good to Indian Army or people of India but widened the gulf between them and the people of Jammu and Kashmir."

Lashing out at Mehbooba, they said, "Having condemned the incident, directed investigation by a senior officer and sought an immediate report, the Chief Minister should have been the first person to strongly protest grant of award to the army officer, an accused before the state police and demanded its withdrawal pending investigation."

Chief Minister, by her silence, has condoned the grant of award, the statement said.