JUSTICE ON TRIAL: ENQUIRY INTO THE SITUATION OF TERRORISM –AFFECTED PEOPLE OF JAMMU REGION OF THE STATE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR.

JUSTICE ON TRIAL: ENQUIRY INTO THE SITUATION OF TERRORISM –AFFECTED PEOPLE OF JAMMU REGION OF THE STATE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR.
The State of Jammu & Kashmir - - situated in the northernmost part of India – it has two capitals Srinagar (summer) & Jammu (winter).
• One of the most beautiful places in the world -- popular as Heaven on Earth .
• Shares borders with Pakistan in the west, China in the north and east, and the Indian states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in the south.
• It consists of three distinct regions – Kashmir valley, Jammu region, and Ladakh. The area and population of the three regions is –
Region Area (Sq. Miles) * Population (2001 Census)
Kashmir Region 8,639 5,476,970
Jammu Region 12,378 4,430,191
Ladakh Region 33,554 236,539
Total 54,571 10,143,700
• Languages – Hindi,urdu, Kashmiri, Dogri, Pahari, Punjabi, Gojari, Ladakhi or Bodhi, Balti, Dardic.
Districts in J & K
The J&K divided into 22 districts,
(1)Districts of Jammu Region are:-
Jammu,Kathua, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Reasi, and Samba
(2)Districts of Kashmir Region are :-
Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kulgam and Shopian
(3)Districts of Ladakh Region :-
Kargil and Leh
INTRODUCTION :-
This is an enquiry instituted by “Justice On Trial”, a Trust duly registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act having its registered office at --------------------Ahmedabad in the State of Gujarat. The Trust, hereinafter referred to as “JOT”, is a non-government, non-political institution run by citizens who have decades of experience in working in diverse fields of human activity. Members of JOT are deeply concerned about the problems faced by various sections of the society in different parts of the country and are always ready to extend a helping hand to the affected people by enquiring into and finding out the root causes of the problem and providing and suggesting possible solutions as also by spreading information about the correct factual situation and by espousing the cause of the affected people before various government and non-government organisations. JOT aims at exposing and eliminating all kinds of injustices in the society at all levels and for this purpose institutes Enquiries and Fact finding Committees from time to time focussing on specific problems.
The need for such an organisation and such inquiries was felt because it was observed that there was very little awareness in the society about the plight of sections of society with whom the other sections of the society do not have live contact. The main source of information for the general public to know about the events happening around them and in other parts of the country is media, electronic as well as print. Over the years, media has done an excellent job in exposing injustice and shaping public opinion on various social problems. However, media has its own limitations. To establish a countrywide news telecasting channel or a newspaper house is a very costly proposition. Because of these financial constraints the media cannot afford to engage an army of independent and competent journalists to conduct on-the-spot enquiries into the problems faced by various sections of the people and faithfully bring forward the ground realities before the people. The media therefore, has to heavily depend on the Governmental authorities and agencies for news-collection and as in most of the problems government authorities and agencies are involved, free, fair and unbiased reporting and analysis is not possible. Moreover, to meet the costs of production and to successfully face the cut-throat competition media have to raise funds from various sources. It has to see that it attracts adequate advertisement revenue which depends on the size of viewers or readership. The media cannot afford to ignore or antagonise the advertisers or large sections of the viewers and readers. It cannot always afford to be impartial and unbiased at the cost of loosing advertisers, viewers and readers. There is therefore no guarantee that media will always be able to expose injustices prevalent in the society at all times and in all the circumstances.
Over the years, Governments have been instituting enquiries under the Commissions of Enquiry Act, 1952 to enquire into various incidents and problems. These enquiries are mostly headed by retired or serving judges of the Supreme Court or the High Courts and as such are expected to be more trust-worthy. However, such Public Enquiries have also lost their efficacy, utility and credibility because of the unreasonably long time taken to submit the report and as there is no legal compulsion to accept the recommendations made in the report and to take time-bound action thereon. Scores of such enquiry reports are lying unattended in various states for several years giving rise to a justifiable impression that such enquiries are instituted only to silence the agitated people, to divert the public attention, to avoid exposure and accountability and to gain time till the public feelings are assuaged and cooled off. The intension is not to get at the root of the matter to find out the truth and to punish the guilty.
JOT therefore, thought that Public Enquiries by independent and trust-worthy individuals, who have had a proven record of Public Service in various fields in which they have held positions of high status and responsibilities, may regenerate confidence of the masses in such enquiries and may go a long way in providing succour to the victims of the injustice. JOT institutes enquiries on various matters of public concern by constituting committees manned by eminent persons including specialists from the concerned fields. So far, three major enquiries have been conducted and concluded under the aegis of JOT. The first such enquiry was about the problems in Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal in the year 2007. It was headed by Honourable Justice Shri M. Ramkrishna, former Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir and Assam High Courts. Second enquiry was held on the incidents of the Kandhmal district of Orissa. This committee was headed by Shri G.S. Gill, former Additional Advocate General of Rajasthan. Third enquiry was held to enquire into the problems of the North Cachhar Hills of Assam under the chairmanship of Honourable Shri Justice M.V. Tamaskar, former Judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court. Eminent persons including Honourable Shri Justice S.M. Soni, former Judge of the Gujarat High Court and former Lokayukta of Gujarat, Shri P.C. Dogra IPS (Retd), former Director General of Police, Punjab, Shri Y.R. Patil IPS(Retd), and Smt. Nafeesa Hussain, former member of the National Commission for Women, were associated with these enquiries as members of committee.
All the above enquiries were completed within reasonable time and the reports of the committees were forwarded to high dignitaries and responsible authorities including H.E. the President of India and the Governors of concerned States. Action is being taken on the reports of these committees.
The present enquiry has been instituted to enquire into the problems of the terrorist affected people of Jammu region of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The Committee is headed by Honourable Justice Shri V. S . Kokje, former Governor of Himachal Pradesh and former Acting Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court. Shri G.S. Gill, former Additional Advocate General, Rajasthan, Dr. Deen Mohammad Otha, M.D., a renowned gynaecologist of Bhav Nagar, Gujarat, Dr. Yogesh Patel, M.D., famous psychiatrist of Vadodara, Gujarat, Smt. Maya Bohra, prominent practising psychologist from Indore, Smt. Sukhpreet Kaur Grewal, prominent social activist from Bhopal and Shri Kanhaiyalal Joshi, social activist from Ahmedabad are the members of the Committee.
SUBJECT-MATTER OF ENQUIRY.
JOT chooses topics for enquiry on the basis of information received from various sources about grievances of classes of people in various parts of the country in respect of injustices and inequalities in various spheres of the society and the public response to such problems. After scrutiny of all the available information, it was found that the grievances of the persons who were displaced from their natural habitat and occupations as a result of terrorist activities in the Jammu region of the State of Jammu & Kashmir have not received due, proper and adequate attention and publicity in other parts of the country as compared to the attention and publicity received by the plight of the displaced persons from the Kashmir valley who were forced by terrorist activities to migrate from the Kashmir valley to Jammu region of the state or to other parts of the country. It was also observed that there was a strong perception and feeling in the Jammu region that the people of Jammu region were being discriminated against by giving preferential treatment to the terrorist affected people of the Kashmir valley. It was felt that the Central and State Governments were neglecting and giving step-motherly treatment to the people of Jammu region. There were no studies, official or otherwise, conducted in the matter and no material was available to test the veracity and credibility of the aforesaid perception and grievance. Moreover, it was found that there was very little awareness amongst people residing in other states of India about the plight of the terrorism affected people of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, especially the people of Jammu region of the state. People in other parts of the country believed that the problem of terrorism was confined to the valley only and Jammu region was safe. In the other parts of the country the general impression was that Kashmiri Pandits were the only people who were forced to abandon their natural habitat. It was also thought that only Hindus and other non-muslim communities were forced to migrate and terrorists targeted only non- muslims. It was therefore thought that an enquiry into the problems of the people of Jammu region who were affected by terrorist activities in the region and who were forced to abandon their normal places of residence and occupations because of terrorist activities in the region should be conducted so that the real factual situation is brought before the people of the country and the Central and State Governments. Hence, this enquiry on this subject.
IMMEDIATE FOCUS OF THE ENQUIRY :
Terrorism and its effect on people of a particular area is a very wide subject. No purpose was going to be served by holding a roving enquiry into the impact of terrorism on the people of Jammu & Kashmir state. As it is, all such efforts concentrate on the terrorism in the Kashmir valley and the impact of terrorism in the Jammu region does not get due attention. Immediate focus of this enquiry is therefore on the impact of terrorism in the Jammu region only. The extent of terrorist activities in the Jammu region and its impact on the local population was enquired into and adequacy of the relief and rehabilitation schemes and their implementation was studied. Conditions of living of the displaced persons who were forced to abandon their homes, work-places and normal occupations because of terrorist activities in the Jammu region of the State of Jammu & Kashmir was the focal point of this enquiry. We concentrated on the terrorist activities which took place in the Jammu region, the impact of terrorism on the local population, the extent of displacement from normal place of residence/business because of terrorism in the region, the extent of abandonment/change of normal occupation because of terrorism in the region, the relief and rehabilitation schemes of the Central and State Governments and their adequacy, efficacy and implementation. We also enquired about the allegations of discrimination in grant of relief to the terrorism affected people of the Jammu region as compared to the terrorism affected people of the Kashmir valley.
On July 12 ,2006,The Supreme Court today directed the Union government and the J&K government to treat the Jammu migrants on a par with Kashmir migrants for grant of relief.
A bench comprising Justices K G Balakrishanan, Tarun Chatterjee and D K Jain passed the directions after hearing counsel Bhim Singh who pleaded that migrant families from Jaammu were discriminated against by the authorities and migrants from Poonch, Doda, Rajouri and Udhampur have been living under inhuman conditions and some of the families have been forced to sell their small children for survival. Some of such children were rescued by the petitioner Bhim Singh.

J&K government had earlier admitted before the court that no relief had been provided to Jammu migrants since 2004.

In all there are 2201 families having 11904 members registered as genuine migrants.

The top court directed the relief commissioner to provide relief to the Jammu migrants after verifying their migrant status at par with Kashmiri migrants.
Note :- In spite of this ruling made by the H’able Supreme court of India,no compensation has been given to the migrants of Jammu Province.
METHODOLOGY ADOPTED.
Before commencing the enquiry, the committee at its meeting in Jammu discussed and decided the scope and extent of the Enquiry. The committee then divided itself into two groups. One group consisting of the Chairman, Justice (Retd.) V. S. Kokje, Dr. Yogesh Patel and Smt. Sukhpreet Kaur toured terrorism affected areas of distt.Rajouri,Poonch & Reasi of Jammu Province. Shri Mukundrao Devbhankar accompanied this group. The other group consisting of Shri G. S. Gill, Dr. Deen Mohammad Otha, Mrs. Maya Bohra and Shri Kanhaiyalal Joshi toured terrorism affected areas of distt.Ramban, Doda & Kishtwar of Jammu Province . These groups interacted with the victims and members of their families and prepared copious notes of their statements and the inputs given by them. They also interacted with Social Workers, representatives of the people, journalists and other leaders of public opinion in the area and prepared notes of their statements and inputs. A video camera team was sent along with each group and these teams recorded many important statements, interactions and inputs given to the Enquiry Teams by the affected people and their leaders and sympathisers. After finishing the task assigned to them, both the groups met at Jammu on the last day of their visit and jointly interacted with the victims of terrorist activities in the Jammu region, the terrorist affected migrants from the Kashmir Valley camping in Jammu and social organizations and workers fighting for the cause of terrorism affected people of the State and people displaced due to terrorist activities. After completing the interactions, the Committee deliberated on the data collected by the two groups, exchanged experiences and decided to meet again for preparation of draft report. The members of the committee again met at Ahmedabad on ------------ and started preparing the report.
SUMMERY OF INTERACTION
As stated earlier, for the purpose of interacting with the victims of terrorism in Jammu area, the Committee members formed two groups. One group consisting of Justice V. S. Kokje, Dr. Yogesh Patel and Mrs. Sukhpreet Kaur Grewal toured the distt.Rajouri,Poonch & Reasi. Shri Mukundrao Devbhankar accompanied this group. The other group consisting of Shri G.S. Gill, Shri Kanubhai Joshi, Dr. Deen Mohammad Otha and Mrs. Maya Bohra toured distt.Ramban,Doda & Kishtawar. The details of the interaction with various persons and the inputs received are given below :
Rajouri,Poonch & Reasi :-
Rajouri :
(1) Rubina Kooser D/o Ashiq Hussain Shah, native of village Ludkoti, District Rajouri:
On 21/11/2005, she was abducted from her home by 8 terrorists. They took her to jungle and was forced to marry one of them. At the time of the incident, she was a minor girl of 12 years. She was raped repeatedly by 3 local militants and 5 Pakistani terrorists for one month in the jungle. She was also beaten brutally and received severe injuries on her private parts. After a month, she managed to run away when the terrorists were offering their daily Namaz. She joined her family and migrated with the family to Jammu thereafter. Because of the incident, her life is threatened and she has not been given any kind of security or financial relief by the Government.
(2) Dilbarjan :
She was a resident of village Dadach Madoon, District Rajouri. Pakistani terrorists used to visit their house frequently and had food many times. The family did not have any choice but to feed them for fear of their lives. Because of this they became suspects in the eyes of Armed Forces. A day prior to the incident, the terrorists came to the family and questioned them about the information they gave to the Army. The family denied having passed on any information whatsoever to the military. The terrorist believe this and later on they came to their house and ordered the members of the family to stand in a queue and brutally killed them with gunshots. They were not allowed to take away the dead bodies for burial and the house was put to fire and burnt with the bodies inside it. However, Dilbarjan managed to save herself along with her son. Subsequently when the son became major, he got married and has now separated from the mother. The poor lady has got no relief from the Government apart from compensation of Rs.1,00,000/- which was given at the time of the fatal incident. The lady is now without any financial or social support and she is not getting any pension or any other relief whatsoever from the Government.
(3) (Story of a bride Shaguphta Naz who was killed by terrorists dragging out her from Doli )
Karmat Hussain R/o Gambhir Mughlan, Tehsil and District Rajouri :
Deceased Shaguphta Naz was his daughter who was killed by the militants on 8/6/2002 at Gambhir Mughlan, (Rajouri) while her Doli was taken to her husband’s house. She was killed on the same day of her marriage before reaching the destination i.e. the house of bridegroom. She was suspected as an army informer by the militants who first kidnapped and later on slaughtered her. Her father got Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lac only) as ex-gratia relief. No relief or other compensation was paid to her family and no investigation or inquiry has been carried out in this behalf.
(4) Yashpal Sharma and Gulshan Kumar Sharma.
These two brothers were residing at village Patrada at a distance of about 25 Kms from Rajouri with their family. They were running a shop there. At about 8.00 to 8.30 p.m. on 7th August 2002 when these two brothers were in their shop, about 7 to 8 terrorists entered their house which was nearby and collected the entire family at one place and gunned them down. Ruby Sharma wife of Yashpal Sharma, Kiranbala wife of Gulshan Sharma, Mohit Sharma, 3 year old son of Yashpal Sharma and Muskan Sharma, 4 year old daughter of Yashpal Sharma, were mercilessly gunned down by the terrorists. Yashpal’s elder daughter Diksha was in Rajouri on that day and because of that she was saved. They have also stated that the terrorists had come to the village in two groups, one group fired in the air to distract the attention of the villagers from the other group which committed the aforesaid atrocities. They also complained that the police station was nearby, but none of the policemen came to the rescue of the villagers. They also complained that they were forced to migrate from Patrada to Rajouri because of the incident as their business as shop-keepers also came to a halt after that incident. They were being given Rs.400/- per person per month (only for one year) subject to the restriction of maximum of Rs.1,600/- per family and ration which is given to them along with other displaced persons is also of a bad quality.
(5) Sunita Thakur d/o late Baldev Singh
She is a permanent resident of village Kabukote, Tehsil Kalakote, Dist. Rajouri. During the intervening night of 17th/18th June 2000, some terrorists, about 6 in number, attacked her house and they gunned down her father Shri Baldev Singh. Sunita bravely fought against the terrorists and gunned down one of the terrorist out of six and compelled them to flee from the scene of crime. She bravely resisted the attempt of the militants to kill other members of the family and saved three members of the family by firing from 303 rifle which was provided to her father by the army. Her grievance was that her bravery has not been recognized by the State and her application for suitable employment with the Jammu & Kashmir police or any other Government department was turned down. She also complained that no bravery award or reward was given to her while one such female named Rukhsana of village Thana-Mandi (Rajouri) was nominated for award and in 1990 one Lokesh, resident of Rainawari,(Srinagar) was also nominated for bravery award by the Government. Because of the incident in which her father was killed and the family was attacked, she had to migrate to Rajouri.
(6) Massacre in Tehsil Budhal of distt.Rajouri
Shanti Devi w/o late Shoba Ram
Jatti Devi w/o late Hans Raj
Amro Devi w/o late Munshi Ram
Shanti Devi w/o late Gurdeep Singh
Kailas Devi w/o late Rajinder Kumar
Hakam Singh, father of late Satveer Singh
(All resident of Teh.Budhal,Rajouri)
All of them were residents of village Rajnagar, District Rajouri. On 9th October 2005, terrorists came to village Rajnagar and collected male members from the families about whom they had a doubt that they had received rifles for their protection from the Government. When they were told that no such rifles were received by the villagers, the terrorists refused to believe that and went from house to house in search of rifles. When they did not find anything, they slaughtered male members from 28 families. Only female members and children from the families were left alive. According to the victims, they were attacked because they belong to minority community and the terrorists did not want minority Hindus to live in the village any more. After the slaughter also, the female members of the families were and are being threatened to leave the place, otherwise their children would also meet the same fate as the male members of the family had met. The locals of Majority community have also encroached upon and taken possession of their agricultural lands and other properties and have also murdered their children. In the aforesaid circumstances, they had to migrate to Budhal Town of District Rajouri where also these families are being harassed. They have received no relief from the Government and are forced to live in penury and fearful atmosphere.
(7) Mohammad Iqbal S/o Mir Husain, resident of Gambhir Mughlan (Mohra Chattroo), Tehsil and District Rajouri :
On 17th March 2006, four terrorists entered into his residential house and started harassing him as well as members of his family. He informed the security forces immediately and security forces rushed to the spot and launched an operation on the same day. In this operation, all the four terrorists were killed by the police / security forces. In the encounter, his house was totally damaged along with household goods and one buffalo, five goats and 20 chicken were also killed. After the incident, he had to shift to Rajouri along with 7 members of his family including his old aged parents and 4 daughters. He is facing great financial difficulty. According to him, his services in informing the police at great risk to his life and getting the terorists killed are not being recognized and he is not getting any relief whatsoever.
Poonch (distt.HQ)
(1) Shri Mohammad Javed, Shri Mohammad Azam and 28 others of Tehsil Haveli (Poonch)
The Committee also visited Tehsil Haveli, District Poonch where they received information from Mr. Mohammad Javed, Mohammad Azam and other 28 applicants that on 6/8/2000, mines were implanted in their agricultural fields along with the fields of other residents in the area. When the villagers went for agricultural operations, there were mine blasts which resulted in severe injuries causing permanent disability to most of the victims. So far no appropriate relief or compensation has been made available to the victims by the State. The details with medical reports are in the records of the Committee.
(2) Rajesh kumar S/o Shri Lekh-Raj, brother of deceased Chandrakant :He is a resident of village Mangnar, Tehsil Haveli, District Poonch. His brother – deceased Chandrakant was working as a labour in Hotel Anand at Poonch on 14/03/2003 when he was attacked by the terrorists and was killed along with others in the said hotel. No relief or compensation was paid to him.
(3) Rahul Sharma S/o Shri Mangal Ram Sharma, R/o village Mangnar, Tehsil Haveli, District Poonch :
Few militants entered his house and killed his two daughters viz. Priyanka Sharma and Meenakshi Sharma by firing at them on 27/04/2009. No relief or compensation has been received yet.
(4) Mrs. Faizabi W/o Mohammad Abdulla , R/o Chandak Haveli, Pooch (deceased Shamima Akhtar d/o Mrs. Faizabi :
Daughter of the complainant viz. Shamima Akhtar was kidnapped from her residence by 3 terrorists on 21/11/1998. She was raped and brutally killed. The J & K Government has paid Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lac only) to the petitioner as ex-gratia relief. No other help has been given to her.
(5) Ashok Kumar S/o Shri Kanshi-Ram, R/o village Mangnar, District Poonch :
On 12/07/2006, his two sons viz. Lokesh kumar and Pankaj kumar were shot dead by the militants. His another son viz. Arvind kumar was also attacked, but managed to escape. Due to terror and insecurity, he migrated to Poonch City from his native village Mangnar. The Government of J & K did not give any relief or employment to him and his son till date.
(6) Shyam-Lal Bali and others:
About 150 to 200 families were peacefully residing in villages Khanetar, Dalhera, Banchh, Tehsil Haveli, District Ponch. Due to terrorism, most of the minority Hindu families have migrated from the above said villages. At present, only 50 families are residing in the above said villages. The migration has occurred because of non-availability of proper security. It is pertinent to note that in the year 2008, communal riots took place and the house and shops of minority Hindus were burnt by terrorists which resulted in the migration. Number of times the authorities have been informed to provide proper security to prevent further migration of Hindus from the above said villages but to no avail.
(7) Shri Mohammad Javed, Shri Mohammad Azam and 28 others of Tehsil Haveli of distt.Poonch
The Committee also visited Tehsil Haveli, District Poonch where they received information from Mr. Mohammad Javed, Mohammad Azam and other 28 applicants that on 6/8/2000, mines were implanted in their agricultural fields along with the fields of other residents in the area. When the villagers went for agricultural operations, there were mine blasts which resulted in severe injuries causing permanent disability to most of the victims. So far no appropriate relief or compensation has been made available to the victims by the State. The details with medical reports are in the records of the Committee.
Surankote ,Tehsil HQ of distt.Poonch
(1) Imtiaz Ahmed, father of deceased Umar Imtiaz, R/o Village Potha, Tehsil Surankote, District Poonch :
His son Umar Imtiaz, aged about 15 to 16 months was killed in cross firing between terrorists and the Security forces at Fazlabad on 01/07/2004. No relief or compensation was given to him.
(2) Sayad-khan S/o Firoz-khan, R/o Buffliaz, Surankote,
On 02/02/2004, the terrorists set fire on his residential house situated at Buffliaz and also killed his daughter viz. Rubina Akhtar with gun shots. He got only Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lac only) as ex-gratia relief against the killing of his daughter, but nothing has been paid for the damage to his residential house by the Government.
(3) Mrs. Munira Begum of Surankote:
Her son joined Jammu & Kahmir Police following which terrorists killed her husband. Till date, no compensation or employment has been given.
(4) Mrs. Parvez Akhtar W/o late Khalil Ahmad, a victim of terrorism, R/o village Lassana, Tehsil Surankote,
She told us that her huband Mr. Khalil Ahmad was taken away by police on 14/5/2005 at 9 p.m. to assist them in operation against militancy in Fazalbad. On next day, he was found dead. The cause of death till date has not been revealed to the family members in spite of repeated applications. The photograph of deceased was also submitted and is enclosed with the application which is on the record of the committee.
Note:- At Suronkotre Convenor of Tehreek-e-insaf (Terrorism Affected Peoples Front,Jammu, which is fighting for the Justice for terror victims of Jammu region) Dr Mumtaz Hussain Bukhari said that constitution of a high level committee is required to assess the losses suffered by the terrorism hit people of Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Reasi, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch districts.
Talking to the members of the Committee, Dr Bukhari Said that an economic package be provided to these people and reservations given to their wards in the educational institutions especially in professional colleges.
He also demanded that all pending cases of SRO 143 be settled immediately as over 80 percent such cases are still pending in Jammu province for disposal, SPOs be regularized who have played an important role in elimination of terrorism from the state and migrant families be given compensation at par with Kashmiri migrants.
He said due to terrorism in the state, 10,000 families have migrated from hilly areas of Jammu region since 1990 but these families have not been registered by the Govt. Dr.Bukhari alleged that hundreds of innocent women and girls were given maltreatment in these area of Jammu region by terrorists and majority of them are muslims.There was much more worst position in these hilly where gun wielding terrorists were ruling the roost. He said thousands of innocent people were killed by terrorists in these areas which shattered the economy and development in these areas.
Residents of the area toured by the committee:
During our interaction with the residents of the area who came in large numbers to visit us several cases were reported where either because of a suspicion of being informer of army or informer of terrorists, the villagers were either harassed by the armed forces or by the terrorists which created a scare amongst the villagers, driving them to migrate from the villages. It is not possible to catalogue all such incidents reported to us. However, all the documents available with the persons reporting such instances were collected and taken on record of the enquiry and important inputs were video-graphed and included in the record of the enquiry.

Mendher,Tehsil HQ of distt.Poonch
(1) Sikandar Hayat, R/o Mendhar:
He stated that on the fatal night between 21st and 22nd August 2000, a group of terrorists entered the house of Gulam Abbas S/o Kadam Hussain R/o Surhati. He was dragged one kilometre away from his house and was fired at and killed. According to the informant, this was the fourth incident of this nature in the area in the same year. Adequate compensation has not been given to the next of the kin till date.

(2) Roop-Lal Sharma of Mendhar:
He informed that two women and two children were killed along with five adults in Mendhar. The grievance here wais that one person in the family of the deceased victim got the daily wages job who also later on expired. No relief or compensation was given to the next of the kin.
(3) Karamat Hussain of village Kalaban, Mendhar:- Deceased Waqar Ahmed S/o Karamat Hussain of Kalaban was 19 year old. On 18-07-2005 he was taken by the Jawans of 39 RR from the residence of his grandfather at kalaban and later the family was informed that Waqar Ahmed was killed in cross-firing between terrorists & Security forces.
No inquiry has been carried out in this behalf,only Rs.One Lakh was given to the family members of Waqar Ahmed and no other compensation is given to the family members of the deceased
Koteranka,distt.Rajouri (1)....................................................................................................
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Triyath,Area of Tehsil Kalakote (Rajouri)
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Talwara Migrants Camp of Distt.Reasi
(1) Residents of Talwara (Reasi) Migration Camp: (Biggest migrant Camp of migrants of Jammu Province)
The Committee also visited Talwara Migration Relief Camp. Number of families residing in the said Camp is 1362 out of which many are unregistered. The painful and agonizing information defying all human rights were observed. So much was the plight of the refugees there. They complained that some of the inmates there had to sell their children as they had no means to feed them or rear them up (this issue was raised in Jammu & Kashmir Assembly by Jammu-kashmir Panthers Party). Last year Minister for Revenue and Relief, J&k Govt.Mr. Raman Bhalla in reply to question of Syed Mohammad Rafiq Shah informed the Legislative Council that at present 994 migrant families belonging to Jammu province are residing in Talwara and other migrant camps. He said that directions issued by Honble Supreme Court on 12th of July 2006 have been implemented in letter and spirit. The Minister said that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has directed the Relief Commissioner Migrants to look into the matter and see whether they have been provided with all relief measures to which they are entitled as per the policy. Kashmiri Muslim migrants are being treated at par with other Kashmiri migrants in all respects but Lal Man Singh & Balvan Singh along with many others living in this migrant camp told the committee members that all these announcements made by Minister for Revenue and Relief are on papers. We were also told Unconfirmed and unverified stories about sale of females by the refugees and it was also reported that the women amongst the refugees were exploited in all possible ways. This apart, it was personally observed by the committee that proper hygiene, sanitation, electricity, education and supply of ration was not made available regularly. The ration supplied was not fit for animals also to eat. Even monthly financial assistance by way of compensation is not paid regularly.

(2) Migrants from Tehsil Mahore of distt.Reasi:
About 145 families migrated from Tehsil Mahore of distt.Reasi,due to terrorist threats people are residing at Reasi relief camp. They are facing the same difficulties as are faced by inmates of other relief camps.

Residents of the area toured by the committee:
During our interaction with the residents of the area who came in large numbers to visit us several cases were reported where either because of a suspicion of being informer of army or informer of terrorists, the villagers were either harassed by the armed forces or by the terrorists which created a scare amongst the villagers, driving them to migrate from the villages. It is not possible to catalogue all such incidents reported to us. However, all the documents available with the persons reporting such instances were collected and taken on record of the enquiry and important inputs were video-graphed and included in the record of the enquiry.



District Ramban,Doda & Kishtwar :-
On 3rd June 2010, the second committee headed by Shri G. S. Gill and accompanied by the members, visited Banihal, Ukhral, Ramban; On 4th June Doda, Chapandi Wadi, Kishtwar; on 5th Kawar, Thakarai, adjacent localities of Kishtwar; on 6th Gandoh, Bhadarwah; on 7th Bhadarwah, Pul-doda, Udhampur and on 8th migrated colony of Jammu such as Belicharana. At these places the committee met and interacted with approximately 700 persons in various groups out of which approximately 200 persons were interviewed personally. Almost all of this interaction was video-graphed and has been taken on record in the form of video CDs. The gist of the interaction is given hereunder.
BANIHAL of District Ramban– 3rd June 2010.
At Banihal, the committee met about 25 persons at Tourist Bungalow - Banihal, district Ramban heard them collectively in a group. Out of them some of the important people were personally interviewed, Sh.Mohd. Farooq Mir,former MLAs & Convenor of Tehreek-e-Insaf (Terrorism affected Peoples Front,Jammu) Office bearer of local NGOs i.e. Banihal Development Front & Shri Rajeev Chadak Sr.Leader of the BJP, were separately interviewed.
Mr. Farooq Mir, former MLA, while said Migrants of Jammu Province have been undergoing great hardships due to callous attitude of the Central and State governments in sanctioning relief and other benefits in their favour despite the court directions in this regard from time to time.

He said that due to eruption of militancy in the state in 1990s people from valley especially minorities and political activists as well as minorities from various areas of Jammu province particularly Poonch, Rajouri, Doda. Baderwah, Kishtwar, Ramban, Reasi. Udhampur were forced to leave their native areas and live under miserable and sub-human conditions in Jammu and elsewhere
‘It is sad that Kashmiri migrants were provided relief and ration items but the migrants from Jammu province were denied the same’, he mentioned, adding, migrants are migrants whether from Jammu or Kashmir, they should be treated in same category.
He further mentioned that Supreme Court of India and High Court J&K, in their interim directions have impressed upon the state government to treat the migrants of Jammu province on the analogy of Kashmiri migrants in respect of sanction of relief and other benefits, but the state government is reluctant to implement the court directions as a result of which they have been living in miserable and despondent lives.
He also complained of improper and inadequate compliance of SRO 143. He laid stress on the following points which were also raised by others :
1. Unemployment of shepherds due to terrorism. The terrorists find the shepherds a hurdle in their activities and take them to be the main source of information of the armed forces. Because of this they do not allow the shepherds to carry out their vocation of the higher reaches of the mountains where the Shepherds normally take their sheep during the summer for grazing. Terrorists harassed the shepherds by forcing them to give them sheep for food, compelling them to help the terrorists as guides and informants etc. because of which they became suspects in the eyes of the armed forces. A number of shepherds were killed by the terrorists in the high hills which created a scare amongst the shepherd communities and because of this many people from the communities traditionally dependent on sheep keeping business like Bakarwals and Gaddis lost their vocation and are facing unemployment.
2. Due to continuously diminishing of number of sheep the supply of raw wool is badly affected resulting in unemployment in carpet and shawl industry. This further created unemployment among artisans and semi-skilled workers.
3. Similarly due to terror the unemployed rural labour is not daring to go on the upper side of the hills for picking of herbs and medicinal plant products, such as, Guchchhi, Banafsha, Kalijiri and others. Earlier even a unskilled common labour used to earn approximately 22 to 30 thousand rupees in a season, but due to terrorism he became unemployed, tending towards starvation.
4. Because of diminished supply of milk and milk products due to diminishing number of sheep and goats, the economy based on the milk and milk product is disrupted and had affected the health of the local people as well.
5. Due to terrorism, working hours of the local people had reduced. Earlier the local people were free to work up to late evening but for the fear of terrorists they had to return to their home before 4 pm. Such reduction in working span had further affected their income.
Shri Rajeev Chadak,Sr.BJP Leader reiterated the same things and further added that some people for their personal, economic as well as political interests want to colour the issue of Jammu-Kashmir as communal but in fact the people of Jammu region have been and are being exploited and discriminated against irrespective of their religion. In Jammu region Hindus and Muslims both are killed by the terrorists and in rehabilitation plan both suffered due to discrimination.
Mr. Ata Muhammad Khokha, General Secretary of the Banihal Development Front, became emotional and with tears in his eyes described the incident in which the terrorists burnt his house and all household articles in the year of 2001 which compelled him to migrate to Ramban. Meanwhile, his land was also grabbed. Now he wants to go back and live there but there is no assistance from the state government.
Mr. Khadim Hussen Sohal, resident of Khambal Vaas, narrated the incident in which terrorists killed his three brothers, a sister-in-law and one kid. No security, relief or rehabilitation assistance was provided by the government as a result of which he had to migrate from the village and seek shelter elsewhere and to live a life of a displaced person. No assistance from the govt.
Mr Farooq Ahmed Nayak, resident of Khadi Manjos, complained that his wife was killed by the terrorists but no compensation or relief was given by the government.
Mr. Ghulam Mansoor Vaani, whose property was burnt and family members were killed in 2003, complained of inadequate compensation & ex-gratia .
UKHARAL – 3rd June – 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm
Here the committee met approximately 90 persons, out of which 28 were personally interviewed. Their story was not different from that of people who met us in Banihal. In addition, they brought following problems to our notice :
1. It was emphasized by the people that terrorism is curbed by the security forces with the help of Village Defence Committees (VDCs). So, the security forces should not be withdrawn. They further stated that the members of VDCs, without bothering for the security of their person and property and for the security of the members of their family, played a vital and important role in checking terrorism. But, those who sacrificed their lives in the struggle with terrorists were not adequately compensated. In the same incident or encounter, if a military person is killed his dependents are paid Rs. 20 lakhs, if a police person is killed his dependents are paid Rs. 10 lakhs but if a Special Police Officer (SPO) is killed his dependents are given only Rs.1 lakh as compensation. Besides, if any SPO is killed, the government doesn’t employ and deploy another SPO in his place, so the number of SPOs and arms decreases in the VDC. In one VDC, there is a provision of 3 SPOs with gun. Earlier Rs. 1500/- per month per SPO were given, now it is Rs. 3000. This amount is distributed amongst 8 members of VDC. By the death of one SPO, number of weapons as well as quantum of amount decreases, resulting in the starvation and weakening of VDCs. It was also a common complaint that even such meager amount is not paid well in time.
2. It was also reported to the committee that after the advent of terrorism, use of alcohol and drug addiction has increased, resulting in cruelty towards women and children on the one hand and increase of health hazards on the other hand.
3. It was brought to the notice of the committee that after the advent of terrorism, functioning of the schools is badly affected. The number of students as well as teachers has decreased.



Ukharal of Ramban
At Ukharal, in addition to the above mentioned facts, some people stated their personal grievances, complaining of inadequacy of relief given by the government.
Smt. Bansu Devi of village Nagantar, Tehsil Banihal, stated that her husband, son and brother were killed in 1996 but no compensation was given simply for the reason that her daughter had not attained the age of 18 years.
Dharmi Devi, whose four sons, including three who were married, were killed and her daughter lost her eye-sight due to gunshot injury. No relief was given to her by the government.
Rano Devi, whose house was burnt and her husband was killed in 2002, complained that the government gave Rs. 4 lakh to her son who took away the money leaving herself and her daughter to starve without any succour. The government had not bothered for her and her blind daughter.
Shri Udham Singh of Upper Fagmula (Banihal), stated that his brother was killed on duty as SPO but no compensatory employment is given to him for the reason that he is less educated.

RAMBAN,district HQ – 3rd April 2010 – 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm local important persons at Ramban, personally aggrieved persons as well as Development Front, Local Congress, BJP,NC & Panther Party Leaders & Local National Front Leaders, met the committee at tourist bungalow. Generally, in addition to the issues raised at Banihal and Ukharal, the following grievances were brought to the notice of the committee.
1. Due to terrorism number of families, had to shift to Jammu or nearby region. After effective control by the security forces and active role of VDCs, horror of terrorism decreased and people started returning to their native places. After returning they found that there were fraudulent changes made in the revenue records deleting entries relating to their ownership and substituting new entries in their place. They have to go through a long process of litigation to get them corrected. Only a few of such persons could get their lands back for cultivation. The government has to take effective steps to get these entries wrongly made during the period of the terrorism corrected.
2. It was reported that terrorism is not buried forever and even today there is danger of recurrence of terrorism and a few incidents have already taken place in the near past. Sumbad, Gool, Rajgadh, Topbiru, Bhaisah, Sikhly, Milan and Gurmul were identified as super sensitive areas which needed more attention in this respect.
3. In addition to this, individual cases were also reported by following persons:
(i) Shri Balkrishna, S/o Hariram Sharma, resident of Rajgadh, with tears in his eyes stated that he was among the 32 persons attacked by the terrorists out of which 26 persons were killed at Chapandi. He also sustained gunshot injuries resulting in to disability of leg and damage to eye sight. He has not been given any compensation. He has not been given any benefit given to disabled persons either. He complained that he has not been issued disability certificate even today.
(ii) Smt. Bimladevi w/o Amarnath of Saravdhan (Ramban), told the sorrowful story of this village in which not only 13 persons were killed but they were killed brutally by piercing hot rods in their ears and eyes and cutting their necks. So the people of this village had to migrate. The government has not planned rehabilitation of this village as yet.
DODA district HQ – 4th June 2010 – 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Doda which is known in media as hotbed of terrorism was visited by the committee on 4th Morning. Many important persons of the area including advocates, social activists, reformed militants and office bearers of the Doda Development Front expressed their views and grievances. In addition to reiterating the same issues which were earlier raised by the residents of Banihal and Ramban area, they raised the issues of development of the area also. They stated that basic necessary infrastructure is not developed in this area and corruption is at the peak. At Doda, there is District Hospital but it does not have even basic staff. And sometimes essential equipments and medicines are not available to meet out emergencies. Anaesthetist is not available in the hospital and because of this surgeries are not possible.
Besides this the following individuals interacted with the committee and shared their experiences:
(i) Mr Mohmad Ashraf Zargar – Doda
Terrorists asked for his son to join terrorist activities. He refused, his one son was killed and all property burnt. No compensation was given to him.
(ii) Mr Faler Singh - SPO Badge No 1680, Khuddhar
He was working with Army and was killed. Rs. 2 lakhs were demanded by terrorists for returning his dead body. Family members refused to give the amount. The dead body was sent by the terrorists after two days. Army disowned him and did not accept that they had employed Mr Falersingh for their work. Because of this no compensation was given to the dependents.
(iii) Mr. Pritam Singh – Kashtigarh – A matador driver
In 2006, he was kidnapped and his body was found in river with multiple injuries after 40 days. FSL report has not been received as yet and that is why his dependents are not given any compensation.
(iv) Mr Gulam Mohmad Bhat – Gundana, Dist Doda
On 1st May 1993, he was killed by militants and his house, house-hold goods and sheep and goats were burnt. His family was given Rs. one lakh only. No any other compensation.
Dr.Shafia Mir( Social Activists)of District doda told the committee members that In the Muslim belt of the Jammu region the mass anti-India demonstrations or for Azadi have been rare. But such demonstrations do occur when the security forces kill an innocent. Such incidents further weaken the fight against terror . The forces need to be sensitized to the importance of winning the confidence of the local people and therefore made accountable for their lapses . Most of the Human Rights groups and media representatives are headquartered at Srinagar. Thus there is a need for State Human rights Commission to open its offices in this part of the state to check human rights abuse. Similarly the security forces need to observe greater restraint in dealing with the civilians so that no body is pushed to the path of militancy. The security of the Hindus in the remote hills spread over long distances needs special attention. Usually the militants strike at the places which fall on the highway routes to make sure that their march remains safe.
(v) Mr Firoz-din Mangta Nayak – Pul-doda
Two brothers, one son and one cousin brother were killed by the terrorists. The case is still pending, no compensation.
Kishtwar – 4th June 2010
In the evening, at Kishtwar, a public program was organized by the Kishtwar Development Front, in which approximately 70 persons participated including advocates, doctors, ex-administrative officers, political workers from Congress,BJP, National Front, Hurriyat Conference including certain eminent women of the city. General issues in the meeting were raised regarding brutality in killing, migration, unemployment, repeated forced call for “Bandh”.The people stated that the Kishtwar area is known for world’s best quality of Saffron, but the government is reluctant to provide the appropriate environment to the cultivators.
There is unique hill where precious stone “Nilam” is found, but proper planning for excavation as well as marketing is not made by the government. There is a lot of scope of tourism due to high green hills and deep valleys but government is not planning to develop the area as tourist centre. Furthermore, there are hydro-electric projects but the employment is not being given to the local people.
GANDOH – 6th June 2010
The Gandoh town, which may be named as among best sights of the world and called “Mini Switzerland”, is trying to rise from the “MURCHHA” of terrorism. Here the committee met approximately 30 persons out of which 18 persons were interviewed. Here the leader of National Conference told the committee that we people are the victim of discrimination as Kashmiri migrants are getting all the benefits from govt. & we are totally neglected by the govt.
Bodies of children killed at Gandoh in Doda district.
Thakarai and Kavad – 5th June 2010
Ramesh Kumar, a retired Army Officer and his wife Parkas Devi along with his two brothers were killed by terrorists. The brutality of the killing can be known from the fact that a victim’s heart was removed by piercing a sword in his chest while he was alive. No wonder that the remaining members of the family migrated to a safer place.
Jairam Lalchand was killed and his family consisting of three dependents was given Rs. one lakh only. Narang Devi Tarachand, resident of Srawa stated that in the year 1998, 25 terrorists came to her place early in the morning and killed her three in-laws along with her husband. Two other family members were also injured. Only Rs. one lakh was paid as compensation and one job was given to member of the family in the year 2003. Sajjan Thakur, s/o Sheruram, a teacher was killed on duty in 1994 because he resisted the terrorists. A job was given to a dependent in 2004. Binorilal, s/o Premnath, resident Hadna-Sanna village, a VDC commander, badge no. 901, was killed in 2005. His body was found on second day in the forest area. He left behind five dependents and all are jobless till date.
Bhadarwah – 6th June 2010
At 6:30 pm, public meeting was held with committee members. A nearly 40 people attended this including prominent leaders of different political parties, prominent citizens, advocates, and members of Bhadarwah Development Front. Their story is not very much different from that of other areas. Sr.Member of Tehreek-e-Insaf, Mr. Hafiz Khateeb said that Doda migrants have