Tag: PDP-BJP

JK High Court Quashes Defamation Case Against Arnab Goswami, Aditya Raj Kaul

The court said that reporting allegations about the official duties of a public figure cannot be considered defamatory.

New Delhi: Quashing a defamation complaint filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Naeem Akhtar against Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami and journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, among others, the Jammu and Kashmir high court on Wednesday said that reporting allegations about the official duties of a public figure cannot be considered defamatory.

The court made the important observation that the media has a “bounden duty to bring to the notice of the viewers and readers the day-to-day events, particularly those relating to public figures and public servants concerning their actions/omissions affecting the public at large”.

According to Bar and Bench, the single-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar quashed the defamation proceedings pending before the court of chief judicial magistrate, Srinagar.

The complaint against Goswami and Kaul, who was then an anchor for Republic TV, was filed in July 2018 under sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Ranbir Penal Code before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar.

Akhtar said that on July 4, 2018, Republic TV had broadcast a “defamatory and malicious news segment”. At the time, Akhtar was an MLA and had held the portfolio of works minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government before its collapse in June 2018. In the programme, Kaul, the anchor, and others discussed the allegations made by Khalid Jahangir, a member of the BJP, in a letter dated June 21, 2018 to the governor.

Jahangir had levelled allegations of “corruption and favouritism” against a “close aide” of the former chief minister of the state [Mehbooba Mufti].

Akhtar’s complainant said that even though the letter did not mention any person by name, yet Arnab Goswami, while reporting the said letter, “deliberately and intentionally” mentioned his name in connection with the allegations levelled in the letter.

He also alleged that the anchors of the programme, including Kaul, “repeatedly and intentionally, kept on mentioning Akhtar’s name in connection with the allegations made in the letter”.

The judge noted that after having “carefully watched” the news programme, which was submitted to the court, “I do not find any imputation or any allegation having emanated from the presenters of the news programme. The anchors and presenters only repeatedly referred to the letter of Shri Khalid Jahangir and read out contents thereof.”

The judge said that instead, “[I]t appears that the news anchors were at pains to emphasize the fact that their source of information is the letter in question and they go on repeatedly telling the viewers about the charges/allegations with each caption carrying question mark(?) at its end, thereby conveying to the viewers that the allegations/charges contained in the letter are yet to be established”.

By doing so, the channel took “due care that is expected of a responsible news channel”. In this context, it cannot be said that the accused intended to harm the reputation of the complainant, Justice Dhar said.

According to the order, shared by LiveLaw, the court also made some important functions to be performed by the media. Describing the media as the fourth pillar of democracy, Justice Dhar said it has a “bounden duty to bring to the notice of the viewers and readers the day-to-day events, particularly those relating to public figures and public servants concerning their actions/omissions affecting the public at large”.

The judge said that it is evident from Jahangir’s letter, though it does not mention the works minister or Akhtar, who the ‘close aide’ it refers to is.

“The accused/anchors have only stated the obvious. Anyone who possesses even elementary knowledge of who is who of Jammu and Kashmir, can name the minister who was holding [the] portfolio of works during the period referred to in the letter of Shri Khalid Jahangir. So, merely because accused/anchors
mentioned the name of the respondent in the programme may not be enough to impute mens rea [criminal intent] to the petitioners that they wanted to harm the reputation of the respondent,” the judge said.

The next question that needs to be answered, the court said, is whether reporting of allegations levelled by a senior office-bearer of a public sector corporation against a minister, touching the public duties of the said minister, would amount to defamation. “The answer to this question has to be in [the] negative. This is so because categorising as defamation, the publication of allegations/charges concerning public duties of [a] public figure recorded in a letter which is in [the] public domain would be an unreasonable restriction on the freedom of the press guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution,” Justice Dhar said.

According to Bar and Bench, the court said the magistrate, while issuing process against the petitioners, did not apply his mind to the whole material before him. In complaints alleging the commission of defamation, the responsibility of a magistrate to examine the material on record is of a higher degree, the order says.

Hence, the order issuing process against the petitioners is not sustainable in law, the court said, quashing the proceedings.

Justice Dhar’s order began with two quotes that offer some advice to people holding public offices. They are:

“Those who fill a public position must not be too thin skinned in reference to comments made
upon them. It would often happen that observations would be made upon public men which they know from the bottom of their hearts were underserved and unjust; yet they must bear with them and submit to be misunderstood for a time.”

“Whoever fills a public position renders himself open thereto. He must accept an attack as a necessary, though unpleasant, appendage to his office.”

J&K Governor Faces His Toughest Challenge in Last Innings

N.N. Vohra is an old hand on Kashmir, but civilian killings and endless cycle of protests will not make it easy for him to handle the situation. In the first 29 days of his rule, 12 civilians have already been killed.

Srinagar: On July 11, J&K governor N.N. Vohra cleared a long pending demand of state employees for removal of pay anomaly, an issue hanging fire for 22 years. Within minutes of the clearance, which would benefit thousands of employees from clerical cadre and other categories, the civil secretariat in Srinagar burst into jubilation.

This was one of many “pro-people decisions” taken by Vohra since he took charge of the state on June 20, following the demise of the PDP-BJP government. His twitter handle has already become a hit among people to register complaints and seek redressal.

In one such case, the governor sought a detailed report about allegations of corruption against former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and former speaker Kavinder Gupta.

N.N. Vohra with former J&K speaker Kvinder Gupta and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. Credit: PTI

The challenge for Vohra, however is not with governance, where he has proved himself a no-nonsense administrator. Instead, putting an end to civilian killings during anti-militancy operations and calming down anger on streets would be the biggest test for Vohra in what could be his last inning in the restive state.

Toughest stint?

A former civil servant who has served as defense and home secretary, Vohra was New Delhi’s interlocutor for Kashmir when he was recalled and appointed as J&K governor in June 2008. The Valley had erupted, in what is now known as the first mass uprising in the region, against transfer of 100 acres of forest land to Amarnath Shrine Board.

The moment he sat on the saddle, Vohra emerged as crisis manager and gave up claim on the land. That summer was marred by violence – at least 60 civilians who were demanding the order be rescinded were killed by forces.

The possibility of holding Assembly polls, after PDP had brought down Ghulam Nabi Azad-led government over the land row, looked distant. But Vohra, who managed the state for 178 days, conducted the election within months, taking even politicians by surprise.

His second stint came in 2015, when assembly elections threw up fractured mandate and it took PDP and BJP three months to finalise an alliance. He was back at helm of affairs in January 2016 following death of former chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.

82-year old Vohra, who was recalled from retirement to serve as principal secretary to then prime minister from 1997-1998, was set to complete his second term as governor on June 28 when the Mehbooba Mufti-led government’s fall brought him back into the limelight.

An old hand on Kashmir, he emerged as the ultimate choice for New Delhi to oversee its rule in the state. “But this (stint) could prove to be the biggest challenge for him (the governor) compared to his previous terms,” said political analyst Noor M. Baba.

In 2008, the cancellation of land order gave people a “sense of victory” which calmed down nerves, he explained. During his next two stints, Vohra was a “caretaker” before a political establishment assumed office.

But today, as J&K stares at a longer period of governor’s rule, there seems to be no imminent end to the deadly cycle of protests, which has continued even two years after killing of rebel commander Burhan Wani and killing of civilians at sites of gunfight.

“These protests are in fact a continuation of the 2016 uprising which doesn’t seem to have ended at all. The civilian deaths are only adding to the anger. That is where the challenge lies for the governor,” said Baba.

Spate of killings continue

In the first 29 days of Vohra’s rule, at least 34 persons including 15 militants, 12 civilians and seven jawans have been killed, according to a report in Rising Kashmir newspaper.

Two days after the state came under the governor’s rule, a civilian Muhammad Yusuf Rather was killed while his wife seriously injured. The couple was hit by bullets inside their house in Srigufwara village of Anantnag, minutes after a shootout between militants trapped inside the house and government forces started. Locals had alleged that the duo was not given time by the forces to exit.

Three civilians – including a teenage girl – were killed on July 7 after an Army patrol opened fire when it was confronted by protesters in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

The same evening, the governor chaired an emergency meeting of top officials from security agencies and reiterated that all forces strictly follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to avoid civilian casualties.

CRPF personnel in action against protestors after the killing of three civilians in firing by security forces at Kulgam in Srinagar. Credit: PTI.

But the killings have continued. 22-year old Khalid Gaffar Malik was the latest causality. A resident of Trehgam in Kupwara, Malik was killed on July 11 when the army opened fire after they were pelted with stones amid a shutdown against civilian killings called by separatists.

Malik’s elder brother Asif Ahmad is in the army, while two other brothers, Waseem Ahmed and Feroz Ahmad, are serving in the J&K police.

“These (civilian) killings are definitely regrettable. The governor has repeatedly directed for strict adherence to the SOP and avoiding collateral damage. But the manner in which protestors converge on the encounter site and clash with the forces, the situation becomes hostile,” said a senior bureaucrat in the governor’s team of administrators, in an apparent justification of the killings.

‘No respite under governor’s rule’

One of the reasons that were cited by BJP for pulling out of the J&K government was “deteriorating security situation” under the leadership of Mehbooba Mufti.

The Centre had asserted that under governor’s rule, focus would be to improve situation and provide “corruption free government”.

Political parties like National Conference and Congress had also hoped that change of guard would help “restore normalcy” in Kashmir to pave way for restarting political process afresh.

But there has hardly been any improvement in the situation. “It is true that people were expecting gradual improvement in situation under the governor’s rule. But we haven’t seen it so far, particularly in south Kashmir, where civilians are killed during encounters,” National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah told reporters on July 12 during a function in Srinagar.

He exhorted the governor to strengthen Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for forces to ensure that no protestor was killed at encounter sites. “Till the (civilian) killings are not stopped, situation will not improve,” Omar cautioned.

Omar Abdullah. Credit: Reuters/Files

Post-2016 uprising, the valley has witnessed a sharp rise in civilian killings during clashes between forces and rebels at gunfight sites. From January 2017 alone, at least 108 civilians have died in such clashes.

“Kashmir has been witnessing unprecedented cycle of violence for past two-three years. At the same time, young boys are picking up guns, not afraid of death. People rush to the encounter site to try and save militants at the cost of their own lives. In such a situation, every civilian death will only keep this cycle of protests going,” said another political analyst.

According to him, though space for mainstream politics has “already shrunk” in the valley, absence of an elected government could “deepen alienation”.

In this scenario, will Vohra, with over a decade of experience in Kashmir, be able to meet the challenge?

“His track record is an advantage. But he is now working in a space where things have gone from bad to worse. Kashmir of 2018 is not Kashmir of 2008 and with the Centre in no mood to relent and start a Kashmir-specific political process, things may not be easy for him to handle this time,” said another bureaucrat who insisted on not being named.

BJP Pulls Out of Alliance With PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, Calls for Governor’s Rule

Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has submitted her letter of resignation to the governor.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has withdrawn from the coalition it had formed with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was announced by party general secretary Ram Madhav after BJP’s J&K lawmakers had a meeting with Amit Shah in Delhi.

Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has submitted her letter of resignation to the governor.

“Restoring peace in Kashmir and encouraging fast development in Jammu and Kashmir, these were the objectives with which we joined with the PDP,” Madhav said at a press conference. “We have taken a decision, it is untenable for BJP to continue in alliance with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, hence we are withdrawing.”

Madhav also said that the BJP will be pushing for governor’s rule in the state, as it feels like the Mehbooba Mufti government has let down the people. “Keeping national interest in mind and that Kashmir is an integral part of India, we have to say it is time that the reins of power in the state be handed over to the governor,” he said. “We are not questioning the intention of the government but it has failed to achieve the intended objectives in Kashmir valley.
We even appointed an interlocutor for the state to talk with all the stakeholders. The Central government has done whatever the state government sought.”

“Terrorism and radicalisation is on the rise in the state. The murder of editor Shujaat Bukhari shows even press freedom is in danger,” Madhav continued.

“This is a surprise for us because we did not have any indication about their decision,” PDP spokesperson Rafi Ahmad Mir told ANI.

Congress leader and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the break up of the alliance was good for the people.

The PDP holds 28 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, and BJP holds 25. The majority mark is 45 seats.

The two parties have had several differences in the recent past, most recently after the Centre did not extend the unilateral ceasefire it had called in the state during Ramzan. Mehbooba had asked for the ceasefire, and the state BJP had said that it did not support the idea.

Differences between the BJP and PDP had also boiled over when BJP MLAs joined a rally in support of the accused in the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu’s Kathua.

The parties have disagreed in the past on holding talks with separatists and removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

Mufti: Centre Should Consider Ramzan Ceasefire, All Parties Agree

Many parties suggest taking an all-party delegation to meet Modi to express concern over the situation in Kashmir, especially after a tourist from Chennai died due to stone pelting.

Srinagar: The Centre should consider a unilateral ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir starting from Ramzan in mid May till the completion of the Amarnath yatra in August, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said here on Wednesday. She made the remarks after chairing a four-hour all-party meeting, which was convened to discuss the present situation in the Kashmir Valley especially after a tourist from Chennai died due to stone pelting on May 7.

Mufti appealed to all shades of opinion in joining in the mission to get the state out of violence and bloodshed.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, she said, “Everyone (all parties) agreed that we should appeal to the Centre to consider a ceasefire like the unilateral ceasefire in (former Prime Minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee’s time in Ramzan (later this month) till Amarnath yatra and Eid.”

“The Centre should think on these lines so that the common people get some relief because they are facing many difficulties due of encounters, crackdowns and search operations,” she said.

“Now, Ramzan is starting, then (Amarnath) yatra is taking place, so we should try to take such steps which restore the confidence of the people and a better atmosphere is created in which Eid is celebrated in a good way and yatra also takes place well,” the chief minister said.

Mufti said many participants suggested taking an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express concern over the situation and request him to implement what “He said on August 15 (last year) about embracing the people of the state, about how do we reach out to the people, especially the youth.”

“That is all that we have been able to build a consensus on so far,” Mufti said.

She said all the participants agreed that if the Agenda of Alliance(AoA) – the common minimum programme between the PDP and the BJP – is implemented, the situation in the state can get better.

Newly-appointed deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta also stressed on close cooperation between the government and the opposition in tackling issues confronting the state.

Earlier, the main opposition party, the National Conference, said just having meetings would serve no purpose and the need was to take steps which diffuse the situation.”We told her (Mufti) that it was good that we did not participate in the all-party meeting of 2016 because it achieved no result till now. Such meets took place before also but there was no result as well,” NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, who led the opposition party’s delegation, said.

“If the chief minister wants to practically do something for diffusing the situation, diffusing the alienation among the people, then some steps have to be taken,” the NC leader said. He also demanded a special session of the state’s legislature to discuss the prevailing situation in the Valley.

“They are having a special session of the Assembly tomorrow (for electing the Speaker). We demanded a three-day Assembly session so that representatives of people discuss the situation,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president G.A. Mir said the PDP-BJP government had no remedy for stopping this bloodshed . “We discussed the situation. Overall, we felt that the BJP and PDP have not yet had discussions between the state and the Centre over the implementation of the AoA. We felt that they have never had discussions on it, so how should we expect that they will make the situation better.”

Independent legislator from north Kashmir’s Langate Assembly constituency, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, said security forces should stop all operations against the militants. “I also told them. We will not contest elections,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir, in Urgent Need of Child Protection, Sees Poorest Implementation of Centre’s Scheme

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state that couldn’t secure any funding for the first six years after the implementation of the Integration Child Protection Scheme in 2009.

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state that couldn’t secure any funding for the first six years after the implementation of the Integration Child Protection Scheme in 2009.

A student throws a stone towards policemen during the protest in Srinagar. Credit: Reuters

Srinagar: Inside a two-room shack in the interiors of Chadoora, a central Kashmir town with thriving businesses, 14-year-old Sameer Malik is worried about losing his job. He fell ill on November 25 and has been forced to stay home since. Living with his mother and two siblings, the frail boy with unkempt hair works at a tea stall in Batmaloo, the Valley’s biggest bus stand.

“I don’t know whether I am still on rolls there. The thought of losing my job makes me restless,” said Malik, bedridden.

The boy was 11 when his father, a labourer, passed away due to lung cancer in 2014, said his mother. His death meant Malik was forced to grow up and shoulder responsibilities for the family – including earning an income. His education was the first causality and within months, his sister had to stop going to school too.

It is for youth like Malik, and children who are abandoned, forced to beg and juveniles who are in conflict with the law, that the Centre in 2009 launched the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) – one of the largest welfare programmes for those in need of financial support and care.

While other states have implemented the ICPS, Jammu and Kashmir, with a high population of orphans – most of them victims of the 27-year-long armed conflict – is yet to roll out the programme.

Sorry state of affairs

In March 2013, four years after the Centre implemented the ICPS, the state amended the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice Act, 1997 for the “welfare of juveniles”. The amended Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children), 2013, provided a detailed road map for the protection of vulnerable children, in line with the central act that was first passed in 1986 and later amended in 2000 and 2006.

Setting up the much-needed magistrate-headed juvenile justice boards to protect the rights of children in conflict with the law and sanctioning child protection officers and observation/special homes in each district were among the measures announced by then Jammu and Kashmir minister of social welfare Sakina Ittoo.

The government was finally seen as taking a towards juvenile care in a region riddled with armed conflict. “Every child in need of help will be mapped to ensure that the state doesn’t fail its duties,” the minister had said.

But neither the previous government nor the present PDP-BJP government have fulfilled this commitment. The issue resonated in parliament as well. In August 2014, Union minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi informed the Rajya Sabha that no proposal had been received from Jammu and Kashmir for the release of grants under the ICPS in the last six years. A month later, then joint secretary in the ministry Vivek Joshi wrote to the state government asking that the requirements for the ICPS implementation be fulfilled, but there was no response.

While for all these years the state shelved this important welfare programme, from 2009 to December 2016, Rs 2141.50 crore worth of funds have been sanctioned to 38 states and union territories under the ICPS, according to a report by the ministry. The financial norms under the ICPS were revised in April 2014 to enhance grants for children from Rs 750 to Rs 2,000 per child per month.

Jammu and Kashmir is the only state that has secured no funding at all during the first six years of the scheme’s implementation. During 2015 and 2016, however, Rs 1.56 crore was allocated for it – the lowest to any state. The state to receive the second lowest amount was Arunachal Pradesh – at Rs 9.56 crore.

Last year, Tamil Nadu was the best performer under the scheme, utilising Rs 56.38 crore, which accounted for 26.07% of total funding (Rs 216.27 crore) under the programme. West Bengal, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh followed Tamil Nadu in terms of performance, accounting for 13.95%, 9.53%, 9.01% and 4.22% utilisation of total funding under the ICPS. In total, these five states utilised 62.79% of funding sanctioned under the ICPS in 2016, according to the ministry’s report. Jammu and Kashmir got Rs 43.12 lakh, the only state to secure less than a crore.

“Till date we have spent Rs 1.70 crore under the programme and that too on the purchase of furniture and computers. We could never project our budgetary needs to secure more funding due to the absence of a system in place,” said a social welfare department official.

Jammu and Kashmir is among the few states which had been approved 90% central funding, while for other states the assistance is only 75%.

“While other states have made a lot of progress over the years, Jammu and Kashmir has nothing to show, mainly due to the lack of will to implement the programme. Our children continue to be deprived of benefits they are entitled to under this beautiful piece of legislation. It is disappointing to say the least,” said chairman selection/oversight committee and former high court judge Justice (retd.) Hasnain Masoodi. The body was constituted to oversee the setting up of juvenile boards in each district.

Demonstrators throw stones during a protest in Srinagar, May 9, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Danish Ismail

Demonstrators throw stones during a protest in Srinagar, May 9, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Danish Ismail

The fallout

The armed insurgency that broke out in Kashmir in the 1990s had a devastating impact on children’s lives. According to the last survey by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Jammu and Kashmir had 2.4 lakh orphans. A 2014 study by Save the Children, a UK-based NGO, came up with the same findings. It revealed that at least 37% of total orphans, 75,480 children, were victims of armed conflict.

A few years ago, the Valley’s noted sociologist, late Bashir Ahmad Dabla, studied socio-economic and financial conditions of 300 orphans. His findings were disturbing. At least 48% of these children faced economic hardships after the death of their father, forcing them to leave school and look for jobs to support their family. Another 22% faced psychological issues.

Importantly, the study found that 87 orphans, the single-largest group from the sample, didn’t receive any monetary help from anywhere, including the government, NGOs or relatives. “This is where the government has failed children in need despite having the avenues,” said another official from finance department. According to him, every beneficiary is entitled to financial assistance of at least Rs 2,000 under the ICPS, which also makes it mandatory for the government to track every beneficiary.

Tanveer Ahmad Dar, former head of Action Aid (Jammu and Kashmir), another UK-based NGO, believes the orphans and children in conflict with the law are often in search of emotional support and home-like care. In such a situation, Dar said, the ICPS could have proven “quite handy”.

Also read: Losing Sight in Kashmir – Amnesty Report Highlights Trauma of Pellet-Gun Victims

‘Abuse of power’

Monetary support is not the only advantage of the ICPS. Since 2008, when the Valley witnessed its first mass uprising, street protests and stone-pelting on security forces have become a regular phenomena. These protests are often joined by minors.

But in the absence of juvenile justice boards, the accused minors are tried in normal courts and often lodged in jails and kept with criminals, though they ought to be sent to juvenile or special homes. In Jammu and Kashmir, anyone below the age of 18 is considered a juvenile.

In some cases, more so since the 2016 uprising, minors have been charged the Public Safety Act (PSA), a controversial law under which an accused can be jailed without trial for six months. In one such case, a 13-year-old boy from Bandipora district was booked under the PSA last November for allegedly pelting stones at security forces and shifted to Jammu’s Kotbalwal Jail. It was only after the high court’s intervention that he was shifted to the Valley’s only juvenile home at Nishat in Srinagar.

“We regularly witness police ignoring the quashing of PSA charges against minors and also court directions for not locking up juveniles in jails,” said advocate Shafqat Hussain, who handles cases of accused booked under the PSA.

Hussain said it was because of the “abuse of power” by police and state authorities that the court had intervened, directing the government to roll out the Juvenile Act. This intervention, however, came after a social activist from Haryana, Tanvi Ahuja, filed a petition in the high court in 2014 seeking the establishment of juvenile homes in each district and treatment of minors conflicting with the law as per the Act.

Ahuja has since died but little seems to have changed on the ground. In August this year, chief justice Badar Durez Ahmad was informed that juveniles were being kept in prolonged custody in jails before they are shifted to observation homes. “In Kashmir, 603 juveniles were arrested, and in Jammu, nine. Some juveniles even said that they were kept in police custody for longer periods and beaten. At times, police register juveniles as adults and there is no legal aid provided to them,” a report in Kashmir Reader said.

Hussain believes the delay in implementation of the ICPS could be “deliberate”. “Once you have a system in place, a juvenile can no longer be booked under the PSA or put in a jail. The law will bring in accountability and expose wrongdoings,” he said.

‘Putting the system in place’

Jammu and Kashmir minister for social welfare Sajad Lone agrees that Jammu and Kashmir is perhaps the state that needs the ICPS the most because of the high probability of juveniles in conflict with the law and in need of care and protection.

“For some reasons, its roll out didn’t take place all these years, but we have started the process now and in the coming months we can be justifiably satisfied that we have been able to get this concept moving,” said Lone, who took charge of the department last year.

Lone has “overcome the first big challenge” of getting independent manpower sanctioned for the ICPS implementation, including its mission director and child protection officers, and over 400 other positions.

But in a region where the state has often come under criticism for the abusing rights of people, including children, it remains to be seen whether the benefits of the ICPS will trickle down to juveniles likes Malik and minors in conflict with the law.

Mudasir Ahmad is a Srinagar-based reporter. 

Centre On Board With Holding Talks With “All Stakeholders” in Kashmir

The APD has put all Kashmir-related suggestions, including holding a plebiscite, on the table for the first time.

All-party delegation. Credit: PTI

All-party delegation. Credit: PTI

It seems the Centre is on board with discussing all the points of view possible when it comes to Kashmir, following its Wednesday meeting with the all-party delegation (APD) that just returned from Kashmir. It also seems that the Centre will stick to its agenda of holding dialogue with all the stakeholders in the Kashmir issue without compromising on the issue of national sovereignty.

After its nearly three-hour-long follow-up meeting with the APD at Parliament House, the Centre is learnt to have firmed up a ‘dual track’ approach of trying to resolve Kashmir’s issues through dialogue and urging its people to shun violence. Though this in itself may not be anything new for hardliners like the Hurriyat Conference – which has always accused the Indian government of ignoring the key issue of self-determination – what is new is that the APD has put all Kashmir-related suggestions, including holding a plebiscite, on the table for the first time.

With union home minister Rajnath Singh himself leading the APD, the ministry has made a significant move and come out with a ‘summary of issues’ raised by the various delegations which met with the team in New Delhi. Ranging from conducting a plebiscite to implementing the autonomy resolution passed by the Kashmir state assembly in 2000, the document contains a number of suggestions often expressed by hardliners.

On the other hand the document also aims to further develop dialogue on Kashmir as it has suggested holding talks with separatists and Pakistan in order to establish lasting peace in the Valley.

Other issues mentioned in the summary include demands for reviewing AFSPA, reducing military and paramilitary presence in civilian areas; announcing a package for Muslims along the lines of the one established for Kashmiri Pandits, investigating the sources funding unrest in Kashmir by building new mosques, implementing a relief and rehabilitation package for Kashmiri migrants and investigating complaints of corruption against public servants.

On a macro scale, there were also demands for implementing the agenda of the PDP-BJP alliance, holding elections for the local bodies and allowing refugees from Pakistan to participate in them and also demands for ending infiltration and cross-border terrorism.

While members of the APD interacted with citizens from Jammu and Kashmir, it was also pointed out that the promised compensation for the 2014 floods has still not been distributed properly, many residents have only received a pittance so far or nothing at all.

Many of the groups which met with the delegation also called for implementing the recommendations of the five working groups which were constituted in 2006 – under then prime minister Manmohan Singh – and whose recommendations cover almost every aspect of the life of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Alternative to Pellet Guns Will Be Put to Use Soon, Says Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh announced that an alternative to pellet guns will be available soon, however the various stakeholders remained unconvinced.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti interact with journalists during a press conference in Srinagar on Thursday. Credit: PTI /S.Irfan

Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti interact with journalists during a press conference in Srinagar on Thursday. Credit: PTI /S.Irfan

Rajnath Singh and Mehbooba Mufti met on Thursday in Srinagar to discuss security issues in Kashmir, following which they held a joint press conference.

Singh said that he spoke to delegations from almost every political party and had seen nearly 300 people since the previous day.

The overwhelming demand from the “stakeholders”, including a delegation of the opposition National Conference led by former chief minister Omar Abdullah, was an immediate ban on the use of pellet guns as a crowd controlling weapon.

In the press conference, Singh announced that an alternative to pellet guns will be put to use soon. Pellet guns have come under sharp criticism for blinding hundreds of people.

Singh urged the people of Kashmir to cooperate and said that there is no future for India without Kashmir. Once again, he reiterated former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s slogan of “Kashmiriyat, Insaniyat and Jamhooriyat” and said that the government was willing to engage in dialogue.

Singh said that he had set up an expert committee to look for an alternative for pellet guns. The committee is expected to submit a report within two or three days.

He appealed to the people of Kashmir to not play with the future of its youth, and stressed the need to identify those “fanning trouble”.

“Children are children. If they pick up stones, they must be counselled,” Singh said

Singh announced that a nodal officer would be appointed to look into issues faced by the Kashmiri youth, and that a helpline would be set up.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said that 95% of the people in Kashmir wanted a peaceful resolution and that only 5% were taking to agitation. Moreover, she said that it was the children and the poor who suffered the most as a consequence of this violence, claiming that she has tried to do much for the children of Kashmir. She insisted that the protesters used children as shields and misled them.

“I am for resolution of the Kashmir issue. There should be dialogue. But by resorting to stone-pelting and attacking the camps, no issue will be resolved. We are not sidelining the issue. We want resolution,” she said.

She said, “People have come onto the roads. We imposed curfew. Did the children go to army camps to buy toffees (candy)? Was the 15-year-old boy, who attacked the police station at Damhal Hanjipora (in south Kashmir), going there to get milk?”

At the same time, she said she supported action against those security personnel who were involved in the killing of a lecturer in the Khrew area of Pulwama district earlier this month. “There is the case of [the] lecturer. An inquiry should be held and punishment should be given the culprits. I support it,” Mehbooba said.

However, Mufti lost her cool and abruptly ended the press conference. She suddenly got up, saying “thank you”, after replying to a question even as Singh was seated. He also then got up reluctantly and the press interaction at her residence ended.

After the meeting, state Congress party president, G.A. Mir spoke to the press saying, “It is unfortunate that the home minister had nothing to offer to ease out the tension in Kashmir. He had nothing new to offer to the people of Kashmir and even brushed aside what the opposition parties had told the prime minister during a meeting in New Delhi,”.

(with PTI inputs)