NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Union Home Secretary and the Defence Secretary to probe all aspects of unmarked graves in three districts of north Kashmir.
The NHRC was moved by rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy alleging that cold blooded murders were not reported by the state authorities and that the family members were totally kept in dark over this.
“It is beyond doubt that unmarked graves containing dead bodies do exist in various places in North Kashmir. There is every possibility that these unidentified bodies buried in various unmarked graves at 38 places may contain bodies of enforced disappearance cases as the bodies were unidentified,” said the petitioner.
Tripathy pleaded with the NHRC to conduct a thorough probe into the mystery behind these cold-blooded murders.
He also requested the matching of the DNA sampling of the bodies with the relatives whose relatives were missing.
Incidentally, the J&K State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) had created ripples by revealing that 2,156 unidentified bodies are lying in ‘mass graves’ in three districts of north Kashmir. It has called for the DNA sampling of the bodies to compare them with the next of kin of people who have disappeared.
The special investigation team (SIT) of the SHRC headed by a Senior Superintendent of Police, in its 17-page report has taken the lid off some shocking facts, revealing that 2,730 unidentified bodies had been buried in 38 sites in north Kashmir’s Baramulla, Bandipore and Kupwara districts.
“These were claimed to be the bodies of unidentified militants by the police and handed over to the local people for burial in various unmarked graveyards of north Kashmir,” said the report given by the 11-member SIT.
The Association of Parents of Displaced Persons (APDP) had in its reports maintained that 2,373 were buried in these mass graves.
The report also suggested that ‘to stop the misuse of powers under AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) and the Disturbed Areas Act’, it is necessary that wherever anybody is killed, his or her identification profile,
including the DNA profile should be maintained properly.