Srinagar, Mar 10: “Where are our loved ones?” – is the question parents and relatives of disappeared persons have been asking for years – and today they once again sought answers to this query as they assembled inside the Srinagar’s Pratap park under the banner of Association of Disappeared Persons (APDP).
On Saturday, as APDP members assembled for the protest — demanding to know the whereabouts of their ‘disappeared’ kin – the long list of victims of enforced disappearances with the group has a new entry – that of Lolab Kupwara’s Manzoor Ahmad Khan.
According to his two brothers, who were part of today’s protest, Khan along with another civilian Nasrullah was taken by Army camp stationed in Lolab. They said, Nasrullah was tortured by Army to the extent that his kidneys were damaged, while as the whereabouts of Khan continue to remain a ‘mystery’.
As per estimates of the APDP, over 10000 people have been ‘disappeared’ in Kashmir since the inception of militancy here.
The participants in today’s protest of APDP also saw protestors demanding stern punishment to the perpetrators in the rape-and-murder of a minor girl Asifa Banu in Kathua.
“While we continue to ask ‘where are our loved ones/’, we also believe whosoever committed this heinous crime against Asifa, the person should be hanged. Animals will also be ashamed of this gruesome act. Where is the law?” asked Parveena Ahangar, chairperson of the APDP.
APDP wants that the Government of India and Jammu and Kashmir government should abide by the international humanitarian law and human rights law, and initiate processes of justice for the victims of enforced disappearances in Kashmir.
