By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar: The annual report of separatist faction Hurriyat (M), headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has brought out the darker side of the Juvenile rights in state of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the report of 2015, 707 FIRs had been filed against juveniles since 1988 under different sections of Cr.P.C. which were obtained in an RTI reply from the State Home department under communication no. Home/PBV/RTI/2013/1357 to application filed by Mannan Bukhari, a human rights activist.
The report quotes an incident of October 16 this year, when a 9-year-old child was arrested and blindfolded by the cops in the old city of Srinagar. The picture of the child being whisked away by police men had grabbed the attention of everyone on social networking sites and newspapers.
“During this year, it was learnt that minors (alleged stone pelters) were arrested by the police, who tortured and produced them before the courts and they are tried in normal criminal courts. On 26-11-2015, five minor boys, who were charged under the Unlawful Activities Act, were brought handcuffed in full public view by policemen in uniform to a court in Srinagar, in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act 2013. Three minors who had been charged under Unlawful Activities Act, were brought handcuffed to a court on December 8, 2015 by uniformed cops. The handcuffed juveniles were chained together, along with three adults, in full public glare outside the court of Ist Additional Munsif Srinagar,” the report says.
The report puts the total number of deaths to 206 in violent incidents during the year 2015 which include 53 civilians, 41 armed forces and police personnel and 111 militants. Out of 53 civilians killed, five have been killed by armed forces personnel; four in cross firing incidents between forces and militants and 16 by unidentified gunmen.
The report gave a brief account of deaths due to causes ranging from killing due to littered explosives to pellet injuries.
“Unexploded shells, littered explosives and live ammunition has led to the death of several persons and grievous injuries to scores of people in less media glare areas of Jammu and Kashmir. But majority of those killed and injured were children. This year out of nine person five were children. Serious pellet injuries to more than 45 persons were reported this year. Out of these forty five pellet victims 42 persons became victim of pellet fires during the present collation government headed by PDP,” reads the report.
The report has also shed light on various sensitive issues like Torture, use of tear gas, pepper gas to E Curfew, Arrests, Tortures, Right to Travel, Enforced Disappearances, Custodial Killings, Fake Encounters, Violation of Religious Rights, VDCs, Harassment of Kashmiri’s and about the lack of importance given by successive governments to State Human Rights Commission.
The whole report can be read here