Police firing in India: Human lives not worth the monkeys

The killing of Altaf Ahmad Sood, a class XII student on 2 January 2012 at the NHPC premises at Boniyar village under Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir in the firing by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel has exposed illegal direction issued by the CISF Directorate for the use of fire-arms to protect the installations. Altaf Ahmad was part of a mob of 400 villagers who took to the streets and later gathered near the local power station to protest against long hours of power outages.

On 30 September 2011, the CISF Deputy Inspector General, Shikha Goel reportedly issued a circular stating that the CISF Directorate had noted that some units were “failing to take proactive action” in protecting and securing the undertakings and that the CISF personnel should effectively protect the installations against mob violence, particularly where there is a delay in arrival of the local police or the magistrate.

The CISF circular is blatantly illegal. Section 129 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) provides that if protestors of an unlawful assembly do not disperse, they, if necessary, are to be arrested and confined. If it is still not possible to disperse, the CrPC further provides that the law enforcement personnel should use “as little force, and as little injury to person and property, as may be consistent with dispersing the assembly and arresting and detaining such persons”, with the authorisation by the Magistrate.

In clear violation of the CrPC, the first thing security personnel do is to use lethal weapon while dealing with protests which may turn violent. In most cases, police shoot without authorization of the Magistrate. Even when the police are authorised by the Magistrate, they usually shoot above the waist level to cause maximum damage i.e. loss of life or impairment for life. The Indian practice is in sharp contrast to the practice of the Britain which designed its bullets to be fired at the ground so that they would bounce up and hit the legs of demonstrators. In 1989, the British government further replaced its rubber bullets with the plastic ones for dealing with the protests in the Northern Ireland as the rubber bullets were considered too dangerous.

Each year the right to life of many citizens of India is violated in the disproportionate use of fire-arms by the law enforcement personnel. According to the statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau, in the last five years a total of 1,462 civilians were killed in police firing i.e. 472 in 2006, 250 in 2007, 317 in 2008, 184 in 2009 and 239 in 2010. In 2010, about 50.8% of all police firing cases were necessitated for ‘riot control’.

The patterns of police firing in India do not also meet the United Nations standards on the use of fire-arms. Rule 9  of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials of 1990 states that “Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.” Further, Article 3(c) of the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials provides that “The use of firearms is considered an extreme measure. Every effort should be made to exclude the use of firearms, especially against children.”

Human life is too precious to be taken away by the trigger happy law enforcement personnel. The governments which are concerned about the right to life of their citizens have been using rubber and plastic bullets to reduce death and serious injuries.

Even the rubber bullets have been found dangerous. A study by the British medical doctors on the effects of rubber-coated bullets used by the Israeli police force during riots by Israeli-Arabs in northern and central Israel in early October 2000 found that Israeli Police often fire from too close range and aim poorly. The study published in The Lancet, a medical journal, in March 2002 concluded that “Resistance of the body surface at the site of impact (elastic limit) is the important factor that ascertains whether a blunt or penetrating injury is inflicted and its severity. Inaccuracy of rubber bullets and improper aiming and range of use resulted in severe injury and death in a substantial number of people. This ammunition should therefore not be considered a safe method of crowd control”.

In India, the use of rubber bullets is an exception while the use of live bullets is the norm. The State governments usually order inquiries to placate the situation once some protestors were killed. However, the use of force is often justified on the ground of mob violence. Since it is impossible to prove dis-proportionality of the use of fire-arms in case of violent protest, the inquiries often end up in exonerating the police personnel even if they simply aim to kill. The police firing on the protestors of land acquisition in Pune on 9 August 2011 captured on camera showed that the police fired to kill and not to control the crowd.

In the aftermath of Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960, even then Apartheid regime of South Africa started using the rubber bullets. If India is committed to ensure the right to life of its citizens, it must issue a circular to make it mandatory to use plastic coated bullets before the use of live bullets. After the Himachal Pradesh High Court disapproved of the use of live bullets to tackle the monkey menace in January 2011, the Himachal Pradesh State Wildlife Department started using the rubber bullets since May 2011. There is no reason as to why the guarantees to ensure the right to life of the monkeys cannot be extended to human beings.

Source (C) Aalaw

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And Kashmiris Continue To Suffer….

Guest Post By: Samreen Mushtaq

Sitting comfortably at home with a “Pheran” and Kangri to protect me from this chilly winter, a look at the calendar makes me realise that my vacations are just about to end. Four more days and I’ll be back to the artificial world of Delhi. The thought of being away has made Kashmir more dearer than ever to me. This vacation has certainly been a memorable one. What do I tell my roommates when they ask about how the vacations went? There’s a lot that happened, a lot that shouldn’t have happened.

Never will I forget the ‘Zoi se Zaalim’ controversy, when JK Police registered a case against the JK Board of School Education on the grounds that the picture of ‘zaalim’ (oppressor) shown in the Urdu text book of primary class was that of a policeman (well, they thought so). Never will I forget that I need to forget there exists a letter called ‘zoi’ in Urdu, afterall who wants to be booked?

GO INDIA GO BACK

How will I forget what welcomed Kashmir on the new year – the killing of a young student in Boniyar, Uri, in district Baramulla. The reason for the killing was, as usual, completely unjustified. He was killed just because there was a protest going on in the region against erratic power supply and the forces opened fire to disperse the unarmed protestors. Is this reason enough to kill someone? Is human life so cheap? But then, such things are bound to happen when the forces are most powerful and least accountable. Thanks to the draconian laws that protect them and hurt the commoner! Even though the Chief Minister promised swift action, it’s a secret to none that it is going to become another forgotten story for them, another terrible incident added to our memory and for the boy’s family, it’s a nightmare that they’ll live with every day…every night for the rest of their lives. Same is true about all those who lost their dear ones, about the families of the disappeared, about orphans, widows and half-widows. I’m reminded of these lines from Mirza Waheed’s The Collaborator -

“I am aware that these bodies, these remains of our ‘disappeared’ boys, might serve as evidence one day…for someone to make a shocking discovery…for someone to write a front-page story…for someone to order a judicial enquiry. But then, who actually cares or does anything in the end? No one is ever punished here. It will only ever be a story.”

How can I forget how beautiful the valley looked when the white flakes danced in the air, how I again fell in love with my Kashmir as the snow draped it, how I wanted to keep looking at it all the time- at its’ snow-capped mountains, at the land and trees… Kashmir looked breath-taking. And then there was the ‘dark spell’, Kashmir was without electricity for three days at a time when the snow and icy winds had made winter even more harsh. Abundance of resources and still living in the ‘dark ages’.. And if you protest, you’ll be greeted with a bullet – Yes, that’s my Kashmir.

When my vacations had started, I came with the hope of seeing no more blood spilled, of seeing no family devastated, of seeing no flower of this vale wither away..but the contrary happened. As I prepare to go to Delhi, I know I’ll miss Kashmir but leave with the same hope and prayer – peaceful Kashmir.

Source (C) Aalaw

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Kashmir Unmarked Graves: UN Mediation

In August 2011, the unmarked graves atrocity came to light in Kashmir after the Jammu & Kashmir Human Rights Commission confirmed that more than two thousand bodies were buried in those graves in several districts of the Valley. The commission said many of the dead were civilians who had disappeared over the past two decades, the time of the bloodiest violence in Kashmir. The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) —an association formed by parents and relatives of victims of enforced disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir— had in 2008 reported to the commission about the presence of unmarked graves, and about their fears that those unidentified bodies might be their missing children.

According to the commission report, 2,730 bodies were buried in thirty-eight sites in North Kashmir’s Baramulla, Bandipora, Handwara and Kupwara districts. Five hundred seventy four (574) among the 2,730 bodies were those of missing local Kashmiris.

Mass Graves

The Jammu and Kashmir government had earlier said the bodies in unmarked graves were those of unidentified militants, most of them Pakistani insurgents who were handed over to local people for burial. After the commission report, Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said all missing persons were not buried in unmarked graves. Some of these people had been doing small businesses—either driving cabs or something else– across the Line of Control (LOC), the de facto border dividing Indian and Pakistani Kashmir. “I can say with authority that some of the persons buried in these unmarked graves were killed by militants,” Omar had told the Hindustan Times newspaper in India.

The issue of unmarked graves has become a major problem in the eight-decade-old conflict in Kashmir. People in Kashmir feel they are unsafe in the valley because of civilian disappearances by security forces and their subsequent killings in fake encounters to label them insurgents. The government, on the other hand, maintains the situation in Kashmir has improved and the Chief Minister established a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate unmarked graves. But this problem remains unresolved but can be resolved with the help of international third party mediation, or more precisely the United Nations mediation–mainly for two reasons:

1. The Kashmir conflict is a regional conflict because its resolution must include both India and Pakistan.

2. India is primarily Hindu and Pakistan is Muslim, and Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim, is part of Hindu India.  The UN was involved in the Kashmir conflict from 1948 to 1965 after India reported to the Security Council on January 1, 1948 under Article 35 (chapter VI) Pakistan’s involvement in aiding tribal invaders. Pakistan denied, however, having ever supported the tribal invaders. Several resolutions were passed by the UN during its 17-year-old active involvement in the conflict. But neither India nor Pakistan agreed to them.

The recent Kashmir conflict (1989), however, is not the same. It’s one of the most dangerous conflicts of the world having now killed over 70,000 people in Kashmir. The U.N mediation to resolve the Kashmir conflict is a necessity for the best interests of people in Kashmir, India, and Pakistan. Here’s why!

Background: Kashmir Conflict

The Kashmir conflict is principally a regional conflict dating back to 1947 when two states of Hindustan—India and Pakistan– were divided into two countries. Before 1947, Hindustan was ruled by Great Britain and Kashmir was one among 584 princely states not directly ruled by British Empire. Following Independence, the Hindu leader of the Muslim-majority Kashmir Hari Singh opted to accede to India as armed invaders from Pakistan were advancing on the Kashmir capital, Srinagar. According to the accession agreement, autonomy was promised to the people of Kashmir upon defeating the Pakistani invaders, autonomy to decide their future course of action i.e. whether to be part of India or Pakistan. This right to self-determination, has, however, always been bypassed by the Indian government. India and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir since 1947. The two countries negotiated a Line of Control in 1971 dividing Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, but that border has always been restive.

The recent conflict— a secessionist movement— in Kashmir began in 1989 and has now killed over 70,000 Kashmiri Muslims, mostly civilians. The main demand of people in Kashmir is sovereignty and freedom (azadi) from India. This new wave of violence turned religious when minority Kashmiri Hindus left Kashmir in 1990. Kashmiri militants claim that Kashmiri Hindus left the state because it was the conspiracy of the Indian government so that it could without a hitch kill all Kashmiri Muslims in Kashmir. Kashmiri Hindus, on the other hand, claim that Kashmiri militants killed many of them, and they threatened them to try to move them out.

Similar Conflicts

Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995) was an ethnic conflict over the partition of Bosnia. Ethnic Muslim Croats and Bosnians wanted to secede from Yugoslavia. But most of the Serbs opposed this desire for independence. The war claimed around 100,000-110,000 lives.

In 1992, the UN mediated the conflict and established the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to facilitate peacemaking in the region. To extend its mandate, it passed many resolutions over time such as more UN military involvement and allowing NATO air strikes against insurgent Bosnian Serbs. In October 1995, all parties agreed to a ceasefire that resulted in Dayton Peace Accords (DPA) in December, 1995.

Iran-Iraq (1980-1988) war lasted eight years over several border disputes, the most important being the Shatt al-Arab, the major waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the Iranian ports of Khorramshahr and Abadan, and the Iraqi port of Basra. The war killed about one million people.

The eight-year old war between Iraqi Arabs and Iranian Persians came to an end in the summer of 1988 after UN resolution 598 was accepted by both the countries. According to the resolution, the UN supervised ceasefire was established and UN Iran-Iraq Observer Group (UNIMOG) created by the security General monitored the ceasefire. The resolution also included prisoner exchanges and pulling out of forces to internationally recognized boundaries.

Appropriateness of UN mediation in Kashmir conflict

The Kashmir conflict has essentially much in common with Iran-Iraq and Bosnian conflicts in regional and religious contexts, and it calls for the UN’s involvement in effectively resolving the issue. The continued UN involvement after 1965 would have prevented 1989 freedom movement in Kashmir. Now the unmarked graves issue may have repercussions for another bloodier war in Kashmir especially after the commission report confirmed the burial of 574 civilians in those graves.

Weaknesses and Strengths of UN Mediation

Weaknesses: The UN mediation is arbitrary. Decisions are based on agreement of conflicting parties. In other words, the problem of mediation is to get the conflicting parties to agree. In Kashmir, the UN resolution 47 on April 21, 1948 called for holding a UN-supervised plebiscite in the Valley among other things, but both India and Pakistan rejected it. India feared that Kashmiris might vote for Pakistan because of their same religious identity. Pakistan refused the resolution for fears that referendum might be rigged because the Prime Minister of then still autonomous Jammu & Kashmir– Sheikh Abdullah was an Indian ally.

Strengths: Arbitration insures a less formal setting to the mediation process. Unlike legal process, mediation compels the conflicting parties to change and see the common ground that can resolve the conflict. The UN is the most powerful international organization with 192 member countries from across the world. It can extend its mandate by passing several resolutions. For example in Bosnia & Herzegovina war, the UN passed several resolutions to extend its mandate that enabled UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Force—to take control of Sarajevo airport in 1992 for humanitarian relief following fighting between Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs over Bosnia’s referendum a month before.

The UN can also seek help from its member states, if necessary, to bring an end to the conflict. For example in 1995, UK and France—the two member states of the UN—supported NATO operations after the Sarajevo Markale market massacre and arrest of UNPROFOR forces by Bosnian Serbs.

Weaknesses and Strengths of war

Weaknesses: War results in the deaths of thousands of innocent people as well as widespread destruction of material and financial resources. Iran-Iraq war claimed lives of some five-hundred thousand to one million people and the financial cost was estimated at a minimum of $200 billion.

Strengths: War brings an end to the vexed conflict. People are willing to give in on ideological stances in order for the violence to stop because losses incurred in war are huge. In other words, war has the ability to bring about conclusion to the conflict because of casualties and costs. The winning country controls everything. There may be little negotiation. .

Weaknesses and Strengths of international law

Weaknesses: If a country is strong enough that it doesn’t care about the international law, then it doesn’t abide by the law. Example: When the US invaded Iraq the second time, it was against the UN mandate but the country could get away with it because of its superpower status.

Strengths: International law constricts countries (member states) in organizations such as the UN to abide by this law. This gives leverage to the UN because belligerents can be tried in the international criminal court. (ICC). Example: In Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict, the UN passed resolution 827 in May 1993 to create International Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to prosecute people responsible for serious violations of international Humanitarian law .

Weaknesses and Strengths of avoidance

Weaknesses: Avoidance is simply not addressing the problem as if it doesn’t exist. In some cases, the conflict may resolve itself with time or otherwise it may become a major problem. In case of Kashmir, avoidance is ignoring the reality of unmarked graves, human rights violations and thousands of people being killed.

Strengths: If conditions aren’t too violent or too extreme, time and changes in politics or world economy will resolve the problem peacefully without mediation, revolution, or military conflict. Any time a conflict is and will likely to continue to be violence-free, avoidance of violence might be one of the best solutions.

The Kashmir conflict is obviously too violent for the avoidance strategy. It is a major regional and religious conflict that has plagued not only people in Kashmir but also the two nuclear nations of India and Pakistan. India may be looking at the Kashmir conflict through the “strength of war” lens and assuming that Kashmiri people will eventually grow tired and give up violence. Pakistan, on the other hand, may be looking at the Kashmir conflict in the context of India’s weakness and hoping that its rival nation would finally leave Kashmir in favor of preserving its good reputation in the world as one of the fastest growing economies globally. But these assumptions are not valid and the continued large-scale violence in Kashmir proves it. The only resolution strategy for the Kashmir conflict is to develop an agreement that is mutually beneficial and will provide long lasting benefits to the people of Kashmir and India and Pakistan. This agreement should also help strengthen the ability of Kashmir as well as India and Pakistan to work together in the future. UN mediation is appropriate for the Kashmir conflict because neutrality is crucial to the UN’s record in peacemaking and peacekeeping and its final decisions are future-oriented and based on objective criteria. The UN recently expanded its peacemaking operations in regional conflicts. These services include provision of mediation services, good offices, and other forms of intermediary assistance; provision of fact-finding and observation commissions and the provision of humanitarian aid and assistance. India and Pakistan have not been able to resolve the Kashmir conflict since 1989. More importantly the conflict transformation since 1989 and its effects on the people of Kashmir and India and Pakistan—the two major nuclear powers— threaten the security of the whole world. In other words, this conflict makes it a world security problem— not just Kashmir and India-Pakistan conflict— and therefore makes it a prime candidate for UN mediation. UN mediation will enable the conflicting parties to work toward a sustainable agreement and bring about positive change in Kashmir as well as India-Pakistan and the rest of the world.

(C) Aalaw

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Power-Starved JK is Goldmine For NHPC

Guest Post By: Javid Malik

Power-starved JK is goldmine for NHPC, State Contributes 32% Energy To Corporation Kitty Against 68% By 27 Others

While the political leadership in Jammu and Kashmir goes around the town trumpeting about the state having potential of generating around 20,000 MW of energy from its water resources, the real beneficiary of this goldmine is not the power-starved state but the National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) – a Government of India subsidiary.

Believe it! Out of its entire generation capacity of 5295 MW of energy from 14 power stations spread across India , NHPC is drawing the highest booty of 1680 MW of electricity (32 percent) from Jammu and Kashmir with rest of the 27 states contributing just 3615 MW (68 percent).

National Hydroelectric Power Corporation

Further, out of its 14 power stations, NHPC unilaterally owns four major stations in Jammu and Kashmir – the highest number of power stations owned by the Corporation in any single state. The power projects owned by NHPC in J&K include Salal (I&II) with 690 MW generation capacity, Uri-I with 480 MW, Dulhasti with 390 MW and Sewa-II with 120 MW.

And, what J&K is getting from NHPC in return for the massive exploitation of its water resources – a meager 12 percent (210 MW) energy as royalty – with Corporation having negligible contribution under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the state as compared to other states.

Out of 3615 MW of power being generated by NHPC outside J&K, a big state like Madhya Pradesh contributes 1520 MW from two power stations, Himachal Pradesh contributes 1020 MW from three power stations, Sikkim gives 570 MW from two power stations, Uttarakhand 400 MW from two power stations and Manipur 105 MW from one power station.

Out of the 10 upcoming power stations of NHPC, the highest number of four stations with generation capacity of 660 MW would be again in Jammu & Kashmir. These include Uri-II (240 MW), Kishenganga (330 MW), Nimo Bazgo (45 MW) and Chutak (44 MW).

NHPC is again a major share-holder in the joint venture – Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Limited – in association with the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKPDC) and Power Trading Corporation of India (PTCI) for executing three projects totaling 2,120 MW on the Chenab river basin. These include Bursar power project with 1020 MW capacity and Pakal Dul with 1000 MW.

As per its balance sheet, NHPC has earned net profit of Rs 2167 crore during the fiscal 2010-2011 from its cumulative power sales. Given the percentage of electricity being contributed by J&K to its kitty, the state’s share in the Corporation’s net profit amounts to around Rs 700.

Pertinently, NHPC Chairman and Managing Director A B L Srivastava made a startling revelation at a press conference in New Delhi on October 28 this year, when he stated that Jammu & Kashmir government has withdrawn the cess it used to levy on hydro power projects in the state. This, he said, added Rs 453 crore to the Corporation’s profit in the last six months. Srivastava’s disclosure was in contradiction to the claims of the state government that it had recovered around Rs 500 crore as water usage charges from NHPC.

Curiously, while NHPC has undertaken various community welfare schemes in areas like education, healthcare, heritage conservation, poverty eradication, vocational training, women’s welfare and sports activities in various states where its power projects are located, in J&K there is no visible presence of the Corporation in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) sector.

“What could be more ironic than the fact that most of the villages that fall in the catchment area of two NHPC power projects (Salal and Dulhasti) on Chenab basin are not only most underdeveloped but some of them are without electricity even after 60 years of independence,” laments Civil Society activist, Shakil Qalandar.

Paradoxically, against the generation of 1680 MW of hydro power in J&K, Himachal Pradesh has limited the NHPC’s power generation capacity to only 1020 MW in the State and is presently generating around 1000 MW on its own J&K’s power generation in the state sector is a paltry 750 MW.

(C) Aalaw

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Fan Write-Up By One Of Our Young Female Writer

As the tip of my pen touched it, I feared that the whole paper would turn blue! It felt like the bundle of events mixed with emotions would burst through the ink out on the paper. But there was a second point.

Zaalim

It is said that what we, humans, cannot see, is seen by every other thing! Ah!, then, seeing the tears of blood lingering to fall off from my eyes, the paper would rather turn red in affinity.There was an affray between the two liquid entities and a question for me too. Which one should I allow to bedeck my paper? Perplexed, I could not decide.

The paper was filled either way. People can better adjudge whether it is a spontaneous outburst of emotions or a more familiar overflow of an overturned river of blood. Whatever, one thing that is coherent is that the same kind of feeling would arise in the heart of every cognisant person of Kashmir who tries to provide a vent to his feelings and emotions…and perhaps everybody knows WHY! So just a reminder gets the work done, since every person from Kashmir can pen down a book of his own in answer to this WHY! Therefore I need not exhibit my own.

I think ZULM or oppression in itself can be an answer to the WHY. Anyway it is transparent to everybody that ZULM spares none in kashmir. That is why after getting fed up with the slow and steady ZULM, even the JKBOSE decided to give the ZALIM a prestige for ever. No sooner had the ZALIM been honoured by the board authorities, he became more audacious only to add to himself the ZALIM tag forever! For children, he was merely a sketch in their books, but the ZALIM himself proved that he is no way a sketch only and that ghost stories are not always fictious! Here also, I suppose everybody knows HOW!

Ah! I pity the ZALIM, his bona fide picture has been clicked by every person of kashmir and now it seems incongrouous if he can ever get rid of his proud tag.

And Yes, there is a good news for mothers also. Now there is no need to frighten the children with the fear of ‘Khukh’ or ‘ muttoo baba’.

Indian Oppressors

A simple ZOI is scary enough to be frightened of, because ‘khukh’ was hypothetical while ZOI is practical.!

”Zaalim tu chaahe duniya mein,

Kitna bhi zulm-o-sitam kar ley,

Mazloom ka haami khud Rabb hai,

Iss pe bhi zara tu fikr kar ley”

(C) Aalaw

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