Kargil martyr’s father Approaches the UN

Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia’s father Narinder Kalia along with  the Flags of Honour Foundation and Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka Rajeev Chandrasekhar have filed a complaint with the UN for securing justice to his young son who was brutally tortured to death after being taken captive by the Pak forces.

The 15-page complaint mailed to Juan E Mendez,  Special Rapporteur on Torture at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva,also mentioned that Narinder had made several futile attempts to secure justice through appeals to the Indian and Pakistani Governments.

And the complaint filed through the Bangalore-based law firm Poovayya and Company sought “a full and independent investigation” to  punish those responsible for the “torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”, that resulted in the death of the young Army officer.

“Pakistan did not officially report the capture of Captain Kalia and his men at that point of time as they were denying any official role in the infiltration.

“Twenty five days after his capture on June 9, 2009, Captain Kalia’s disfigured body was handed over to the Indian authorities by the Pakistan Army. The body was mutilated, bore multiple wounds and evidenced cruel,inhuman and degrading treatment, if not torture, which Captain Kalia was subjected to,” the complaint dated December 7, 2012 said.

Detailing his long battle for securing justice, Narinder mentioned that he had petitioned the Governments of both India and Pakistan.

Though the Indian government had promised to raise the issue with Pakistan bilaterally and also at the UN Commission on Human Rights, ‘there has been a failure to carry out a full, effective and impartial investigation into the torture in captivity of Captain Kalia, which is capable of leading to the truth of what had occurred and as appropriate, the prosecution of those responsible.’ Narinder told Express over the phone that the issue was not just about his son and the five dead men from his patrol team, it was a national issue for India and a human rights issue for the global community.

“We demand that action is taken against those who perpetrated this act,” he said. 

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