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Soz concerned over silence of national opposition, civil society
KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 7/9/2018 1:48:45 PM
Condemns Kulgam killings
JAMMU, Jul 8: Former union minister and a senior Congress leader Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz has taken exception to, what he said, “silence of India’s civil society, particularly, the national opposition on civilian killings by forces in Kashmir in routine in flagrant violation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).”
In a statement issued to the press, Soz, while condemning the civilian killings at Kulgam on Saturday, stated, “I strongly condemn the civilian killings at Kulgam through disproportionate use of force in flagrant violation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). While the Government of India has instituted a command to produce peace (calm) at all costs, one doesn’t understand how India’s civil society, particularly, the national opposition is completely silent on the civilian killings that are caused in Kashmir, in routine.”
“On Saturday, three civilians have been killed and many injured by the forces in Kulgam. It is so tragic that Government of India has adopted a deliberate policy under a Command to open fire with an “intention to kill, not merely to hurt.” As is well known all over the country, the civilian people in Kashmir get killed in firing that aims at killing and this practice has become a routine under a Law like the AFSPA which has been proved several times in the past to have been misused,” former Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president said.
Soz stated that under the circumstances, when “the so-called National Human Rights Commission was already inactive, the national opposition of India could be the institution to, at least, ensure strict adherence to SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in Kashmir, which is being flagrantly violated, in routine, under the cover of a law like AFSPA which gives enormous powers to forces who can fire on individuals or a crowd without any need to seek orders even from their own officer, much less from a magistrate.”