News
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Former judges to investigate civilian killings in Held Kashmir
SRINAGAR: Indian authorities asked two former judges to investigate more than a dozen killings allegedly by government forces that triggered massive street protests and violence in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK), an official said on Wednesday.
The judges were asked to submit to the government their findings within three months, said a government statement issued late on Tuesday in an apparent move to calm public anger.
The probe will look into all incidents in which “fatalities had occurred on account of action” by police and security forces, the statement said. The government would provide compensation of Indian Rs 100,000 and a government job to one member of each victim’s family, it said.
The father of one young man killed in late June rejected the move.
“I don’t need their compensation. I just want justice,” said Ghulam Ahmed Khanday, adding, “But there is no hope of any justice from Indian judges or their probes.”
Authorities also asked a group of officials to review the detention of hundreds of people under the Public Safety Act for participating in anti-India protests, the official said on condition of anonymity. Human rights activists say the Act passed in 1978 is draconian. Meanwhile, shops, businesses and schools were shut again in IHK on Wednesday after a day’s break from a strike and thousands of armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled largely deserted streets. ap
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk