23 May, 2007 l 0021 hrs IST
Parvez Imroz is co-founder and patron of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), which brings together Kashmiri families whose members have been the victims of enforced disappearances. A senior advocate at the Srinagar high court, he is also co-founder and president of the J&K Coalition of Civil Society that has been working to forge networks between Kashmiri civil society groups. Imroz spoke to Percy Fernandez in Srinagar:
Why has the J&K government refused to accept the findings of APDP?
The central and state governments are reluctant to probe into the enforced disappearances in the state since 1989. More than 10,000 people have disappeared in the last 17 years, higher than the combined figures of disappearances of five Asian countries. We have been repea-tedly telling them (PDP, Congress and NC) and they have come out with contradictory facts and figures.
What do you plan to do now?
The local mechanism has failed. The government wants to tire out its own citizens. Look what happened in the Sikh riots case. There should be pressure from the European Union, other democratic countries and global civil society groups to prevail upon the Indian government to address the grievances of 3,00,000 families who have been affected since 1989. The people who have disappeared belong to the lower strata of society. There are more than 1,500 to 2,000 half widows. They want to know where their near and dear ones have disappeared. In the case of enforced disappearances, we fear that people were tortured and killed and bodies dumped into the rivers and forests which we have in plenty.
Do you think there can be a solution?
Who can stop the disappearances? It is the army which is doing it along with the SOG (Special Operations Group) which was established under the NC. The state doesn't want to demoralise them by taking action against them. Nobody
can question the army. The chief minister is just a nominal head like the president of India. Rewards contribute to fake encounters in a big way. The government is not happy with the number of disappearances. What they can do is to minimise it by taking the perpetrators to task. But if there are convictions, BJP will hold demonstrations.
How has the disappearances affected the Kashmiri society at large?
Now they are talking about a truth and reconciliation commission (TCR). But ironically, the perpetrators are talking about TCR and not the victims. Will you tell these families to forget what happened? It is the right of the victims to decide what should be done to the perpetrators. They want justice. We have been thinking of having an international tribunal so that the world knows what has happened in Kashmir since 1989. It will be a moral indictment of the perpetrators. This would be a step forward. If the state fails to adhere to its duties, fails to deliver justice to its own people, what do you do? You remain silent or approach other forms which are available.Parvez Imroz is co-founder and patron of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), which brings together Kashmiri families whose members have been the victims of enforced disappearances. A senior advocate at the Srinagar high court, he is also co-founder and president of the J&K Coalition of Civil Society that has been working to forge networks between Kashmiri civil society groups. Imroz spoke to Percy Fernandez in Srinagar:
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