Srinagar: General Officer Commanding of Srinagar based 15 Corps Lt Gen DP Pandey on Wednesday said that the local, national and international Human Right groups and media houses, who have been vocal about human rights in the past, have been totally silent about the recent killings of eleven innocents civilians in Kashmir.
He was speaking during a two-day seminar on ‘Human Rights violations by militants and how these have impacted Kashmiri citizens in the last 30 years’ which commenced at the headquarters of 15 Corps at Badami Bagh cantonment.
In his opening address, Lt Gen Pandey said that while rightly the State is responsible and accountable for maintenance of high standards of Human Rights in all activities, it is a fact that Human Rights sometimes get curtailed in a conflict region due to security concerns.
“The curtailment of Human Rights is pushed by the militants nexus, which uses the power of the gun to establish its writ on the citizens. J&K has seen acts of curtailment of Human Rights violations by gunmen due to threats, killings, disrupting education and economic activity and denial of freedom of speech,” he said.
He highlighted that the local, national and international HR groups and media houses, who have been vocal about alleged human rights in the past, have been totally silent about the recent killings of eleven innocent civilians in Kashmir.
He exhorted the audience to question and hold the Pakistan affiliates responsible for the denial of basic rights of economic activity, education, entertainment and freedom.
Lt Gen Pandey remarked that the aim of the seminar is to discuss these and deliberate on the way ahead.
Twenty one subject experts, including research scholars, social activists, government officials and intellectuals from within and outside Kashmir, having proficiency in the subject, are participating, a Srinagar based defence spokesman said.
In his keynote address, Lt Gen Raj Shukla, GOC-in-Chief of The Army Training Command, (GOC-in-C, ARTRAC) asked the society to reverse the sense of supposed alienation and promote a multicultural and inclusive society.
