J&K activists' Gujarat consultation: Despite RTI plea, govt refuses to give details of 8,000 "missing" persons

Dr Ghulam Rasool

By A Representative
A senior activist from the Right to Information (RTI) Movement, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), has claimed that neither the Government of India nor the J&K government is refusing to reveal any information about more than 8,000 persons who have gone “missing” over the quarter of a century. Dr Ghulam Rasool, a physician by profession, told a consultation organized by three Gujarat-based voluntary organizations, Janpath, Movement for Social Democracy and People’s Union for Civil Liberties, that these persons were “picked up” by security forces, never placed before courts, and there is no information about their whereabouts.
“We have filed a right to information (RTI) application about them. A term has been coined in J&K about the wives of the missing persons – half widows. We wish to know who they are, whether they are dead or are live, where they have been kept if they are alive, if alive why have they not been placed before the courts of law, as required by the J&K law”, the senior J&K activist, giving a long list of activities they have been doing, said. The figure of 8,000 Kashmiris “missing” has been made available by the Srinagar-based Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP).
Significantly, the “failure” to provide information comes despite the State Information Commission (SIC) directing the State Government way back in early 2012 to provide to an RTI applicant statistics about the persons who went missing in J&K for 20 years. It served show cause notice to the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the state home department that why he should not be penalized for delaying the information to the applicant. Dr Rasool did not reveal what happened to the application, but merely said, “We are still waiting.”
In October 2012, the J&K government, in reply to a question in the state assembly, said 2305 persons were “missing” since 1989 when the turmoil broke out in the state. This, it said, was “as per the information provided by the District Development Commissioners.”
A civil society sponsored programme in J&K in August 2014, ‘Tributes to the disappeared persons and the struggle of their families’, organized by Coalition of Civil Society contested the figure and stuck to the 8000 number. CSS also contested claim of the government that around 4,000 termed as “missing” may have crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and gone to Pakistan to receive arms training but never returned.
The J&K RTI activists told the consultation -- organised in the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad-- how they were “successful” in ending the lease to the army of a magnificent meadow in J&K's Budgaon district, called Tosamaidan.
“It is the most beautiful place in J&K. The army was using it as firing range since 1964, which led to the accidental death of 65 persons and causing disability to 250. The lease was put up for renewal in 2014. Information regarding the lease conditions, renewal, and deaths, was obtained under RTI. A people’s movement not to renew the lease broke out, resulting in government deciding in our favour”, Dr Rasool said, adding, “In April, the J&K government agreed to put up an eco-tourism project.”
Giving examples of successes, J&K RTI activists said, the local administration would refuse to issue passport putting applications of individuals in suspended animation, without any reason.
Abid Jilani, an advocate, said, “I did not get my passport for nearly two-and-a-half years, and I filed an RTI application wondering why was I not being issued the passport and why was it being ‘indexed’, the term they used for not providing me passport. And, I received my passport within one-and-a-half months, as they have no reason for indexing my passport. This has helped others also to obtain passport, as now authorities must provide reason for indexing passport.”

Comments

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD * It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey* Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram* In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

Search This Blog