On behalf of the members of South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a democratic regional network of human rights defenders committed to the protection and promotion of human rights at both national and regional levels, we welcome the convening of the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Addu, Maldives from 10th–11th November 2011.
India’s government has prevaricated for months over whether to phase out controversial laws that protect soldiers operating in Kashmir from prosecution for alleged human rights abuses.
But the issue may be coming to a head because of a little-noticed Supreme Court ruling Friday over a case involving the alleged killing of five innocent men by army soldiers in the Pathribal district of Kashmir in 2000.
The court gave the government until Dec. 16 to decide whether to allow the Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s federal investigative agency, to push ahead with the investigation of five soldiers that it indicted for the killings in 2006.
Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has said that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has exhausted its potential as an inter-governmental movement.
Delivering the inaugural address at the People’s SAARC India Assembly 2001, a two-day national convention of people’s movements in South Asia, here on Tuesday, he said nothing imaginative had come out of SAARC for decades.
“The only thing reported about SAARC meetings is what happens on the sidelines. The same is true of the Non Aligned Movement also. Leaders of SAARC nations meet only to decide when and where to meet next. The circus moves on from one capital to another,” he said.
SRINAGAR (IHK): In occupied Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Khawateen Markaz (MKM), a constituent of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference has expressed serious concern over the gross human rights violations by Indian police and troops in the territory, reports KMS.
The MKM at a meeting of its Executive Council presided over by the party Chairperson, Yasmeen Raja, in Srinagar discussed the present situation of the occupied territory. Speaking on the occasion, Yasmeen Raja demanded complete withdrawal of Indian troops and repeal of all draconian laws.
Toronto: On the occasion of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, Australia (October 28-30), Peace and Justice Forum (PJF) has urged the Commonwealth leaders’ help to enable the Kashmiri people to exercise their Right to Self-determination (RSD).
Mr Mushtaq A. Jeelani, Executive Director of the PJF in separate letters to 53 Commonwealth leaders and the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, expressed his serious concern about worsening human rights situation in Indian-administered Kashmir.
BY Rameez Makhdoomi
“Since the armed uprising of 1989, thousands of Kashmiris have fallen victims to these stage- managed encounters undertaken by different security agencies to get out of turn promotions and other rewards”
By FARHANA QAZI
WASHINGTON: Defined by tourist clichés and brilliantly crafted one-liners, the disputed territory of Kashmir is a backpacker’s haven and “paradise on earth.” And while charmingly seductive, the idyllic landscape is beset by a sense-of-siege and is home to millions eager for change and consistency. Nearly two-decades of conflict and on-and-off talks between nuclear arch-rivals India and Pakistan have had few meaningful results.
Parliamentary committee’s stand commendable ::
It is good to see that the parliamentary standing committee on law and parliamentary affairs is holding its ground in opposiing several recommendations of the government to the proposed amendment to the Anti- Corruption Commission Act which, if passed, will curb the powers of the anti-graft body.
The Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law Ministry on Saturday, has restated its opposition to a government move to strip the Anti-Corruption Commission of its power to sue public servants on graft charges without permission of the government.
The 11th session of the ninth Jatiya Sangsad (JS) begins at Sangsad Bhaban at 4pm today, reports BSS. President Md Zillur Rahman, as per article 72 (1) of the Constitution, had summoned the 11th session of the parliament on…
By MUKHTAR AHMAD SRINAGAR: Indian authorities plan to partially revoke a controversial law that shields government forces from prosecution in its portion of Kashmir. The controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Disturbed Areas Act (DAA) that…