Author: Wilson John
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: December 25, 2002
I am desperately searching for some
human rights activists-even one will do-who can take up the cause of the
children being killed by terrorists in Kashmir. These do-gooders seem to
have suddenly vanished into thin air. Perhaps it is the season: Christmas
day and less than six days to New Year's eve. There are plenty of things
to do. There are the 'dos' for hack diplomats (wonder how some people have
all the time in the world to write poems, partyhop every evening and hold
a full-time Government job), and there are the dos for diplomatic hacks
and for all kinds of people forming the swish set of the metropolis. Everyone
is entitled to their individual share of fun and frolic, including those
who live well.
My problem is with those who emerge
from their cocoons once in a while, holding up the banner of human rights.
Remember the ruckus created when two Lashkar- e-Toiba terrorists were shot
in an encounter at Delhi's Ansal Plaza? A concerted campaign was launched,
with the gullible media doing the chant, against the policemen who caught
the terrorists in time.
All kinds of fictitious stories
were planted in newspapers with the 'largest' circulations, raising serious
doubts about the police version of the incident. Ironically, the campaign
was carried out by the same set of journalists that has never bothered
to cross-check police versions of incidents earlier. What was the objective?
Pure mischief. No effort whatsoever was made to pursue the case independently.
Most depended on a fake doctor with questionable antecedents for their
version of the encounter. No one bothered to find out about the terrorists
involved. Were these men innocent, as media reports implied? No. They were
terrorists, freshly recruited by agents who have long been put in place
by the Inter- Services Intelligence in various corners of the country.
One has to merely look at the dubious
functioning of many madrasas and religious institutions, particularly in
western Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal. There are credible
reports, for instance, of organisations like the Ahle Hadis based in Moradabad.
This secretive Deobandi organisation, with links to the Lashkar-e-Toiba,
is recruiting youngsters for terrorist attacks within the country. Some
of the accused in the Mumbai serial blast and Rajdhani blast cases, Dr
Jalees Ansari and Abdul Karim Tunda, for instance, were members of Ahle
Hadis. Tunda is today the deputy commander of Lashkar's India operations.
The point is, neither the media nor the human rights activists ever talk
about these matters.
Before taking up the issue of children
in Kashmir, I would like to dwell on the human rights set making a hue
and cry over the death sentence given to three terrorist conspirators in
the case concerning the attack on Parliament on December 13 last year.
The human rights activists have formed a group to defend the Zakir Hussain
College lecturer, SAR Geelani, and are planning to file a case before the
National Human Rights Commission against the death sentence accorded him
for his role in the terrorist attack.
Nothing could be more ludicrous.
Geelani was convicted and sentenced after a special court went through
a mountain of evidence, mostly telephonic conversations, that proved his
complicity in the most brazen terrorist attack ever witnessed on Indian
soil. In fact, had the attack succeeded, it would have surpassed the 9/11
WTC attack in magnitude and impact. It was not a run-of-the- mill operation
planned by the Al Qaeda. The objective was to take the Prime Minister,
the Home Minister and the Defence Minister hostage, kill a few Ministers
and Members of Parliament, and spell out a ransom demand once the attack
had succeeded.
The terrorists were obviously not
properly trained. Nor was their homework complete (they were not sure of
the layout of Parliament, especially the access points). As a result, they
panicked when their car banged into a stationary car in the Vice-President's
cavalcade. The suicide bomber too faltered and could not blow himself up
in time. The plan was to explode a few bombs at the gate to divert the
attention of the security forces and sneak into Parliament. This was the
modus operandi they had tried out in the October 1 attack on the Jammu
& Kashmir Assembly building in Srinagar.
These facts are of no concern to
the human rights activists who find in Geelani an innocent victim of the
system. The real victim is Navjyot Sidhu, wife of one of the three convicted,
whose only fault was to be in the house where the plot was discussed. She
was aware of the attack and should have informed the police even if it
meant squealing on her husband. No one has come forward to defend her or
plead for her.
And pray, why the NHRC? If the activists
were genuinely concerned about Geelani, they should have gone to the appellate
court, the Delhi High Court. The NHRC has neither the jurisdiction nor
the powers to adjudicate legal matters. The problem is, the group would
have found the court dismissing its plea at the outset on the question
of locus standi. And rightly so.
The human rights activists need
not worry though. There is a real, burning issue they can take up and get
immense public support and appreciation. It is about terrorists killing
girls for not wearing burqa. It is about young, innocent children being
targetted by frustrated killers. If they dared, the activists would raise
a banner, wear black badges, speak on television and take out a rally in
downtown Srinagar. If they dared, they would try to save children from
the terrorists.
These terrorists the activists seem
to be so concerned about are ruthless killers, working on the orders of
desperate elements in Pakistan. Can the so called guardians of human rights
turn their attention to those who call for strikes when the law punishes
killers? Can they take a flight to Srinagar, drive down to the villages
where these children were killed in cold blood and tell their parents that
terrorists have human rights? Can they look into the eyes of the unfortunate
fathers and mothers who survive the death of their offspring instead of
the other way round?
Sadly, Kashmir has a history of
the skewered application of the concept of human rights. Killing of terrorists
make for impassioned speeches and fiery commentaries. But condemnation
and insults are heaped freely on security forces doing the most thankless
job in the world: Protecting those who throw mud at them at every opportunity.
So when a busload of soldiers get blown up by IEDs planted by terrorists,
the event hardly stirs anyone in the charmed circles of Delhi.
Terrorists have killed women and
children in the past too, and in large numbers. I have yet to hear anyone
in Delhi taking out a protest rally in memory of the victims. No one mourns
them. No one writes about them. It is as if innocents have no human rights,
only their killers have. Look at the hypocrisy that fuels another set of
radicals, Muslim counterparts of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. When temples
are attacked by terrorists, no one raises a stink. But when security forces
storm mosques to rid the holy place of terrorists, murmurs of protests
can be heard in the corridors of the India International Centre.
This sham must end. It has ruined
Kashmir. It has made the Government defensive. It has sullied the image
of the security forces. It has emboldened only the forces of disruption
and violence. It has boosted the morale of secessionist elements like the
All-Party Hurriyat Conference. Don't give the terrorists a voice. There
is no justification for violence in a democracy, not even bad governance.
So next time when the human rights brigade take up the cause of a Geelani
or an Afzal, think about the parents whose children were killed in front
of their eyes by desperate terrorists.
