Skip to main content

AFSPA "abuse": J&K accounted for 50% of human rights complaints, its share in monetary relief was 3%

Amidst media reports that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) might be withdrawn from certain parts of Arunachal Pradesh and adjoining parts of Assam, reply to a Right to Information (RTI) plea has suggested that it is not North-East, but Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) which has suffered most because of human rights (HR) violations through using AFSPA.
Considered by human rights activists as one of the most abused laws of India, AFSPA empowers defence and paramilitary forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF) in J&K and North-East to open fire to the extent causing death of any person, conduct searches to “flush out” militant groups, and arrest people without warrant.
The Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) RTI reply to well-known Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) activist Venktesh Nayak says that in all 186 human rights complaints were received between 2012 and January 2016, out of which almost half number (49.5%) were against the armed forces in J&K.
Giving details of the RTI reply, in an email alert, Nayak says, “A little more than 31% of the complaints were received from people in Assam. Manipur accounted for a little more than 11% of the total number of complaints received. Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura accounted for less than 10 complaints each. Only one complaint was received from Nagaland during this period.”
However, regrets Nayak, “While J&K accounted for almost 50% of the complaints of human rights of violation, its share in the monetary relief recommended was 3% at Rs 21,00,000.”
Worse, he says, “Only five cases were found to be eligible for monetary relief in J&K”, adding, “On the other hand, Assam which accounted for less than a third of the complaints, received the largest proportion (48%) of monetary relief recommended by the government. In 57 cases from Assam, monetary relief was recommended to the tune of Rs 3.10 crore.
Nayak notes, “By January 2016, more than two-thirds of these complaints (127) are said to have been disposed of”, though adding, “More than 57% of the complaints of human rights violations received from Assam are shown as pending.”
The RTI reply further shows that there are 12 categories of complaints of human rights violation ranging from "abuse of power" to causing deaths". Nayak says, “The most number of complaints seem to have been received against the defence forces rather than the paramilitary forces of the Union such as the CRPF, Assam Rifles etc. deployed in the seven States.”
Thus, he says, “About 40% of the complaints are clubbed under the category ‘defence forces’ without any detailing as to what kinds of complaints they are. However, when the distinct categories of ‘death in army encounter’ and "death in army firing’ are added, the proportion of complaints received against the defence forces goes up to more than 61% of the total number of complaints.”
Pointing out that while “10 of the complaints relate to the crime of abduction and rape received from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, J&K and Tripura”, Nayak says, “The data does not specify whether these were committed by the defence forces or the paramilitary forces deployed in the seven States.” Then, “50% of these cases are said to have been received from Assam alone, four of which were sent in 2015-16 (up to January), all of which are shown as pending.”

Comments

TRENDING

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.  

Area set aside in Ahmedabad for PM's affordable housing scheme 'has gone to big builders'

Following my article on affordable housing in Counterview, which quoted a top real estate consultant, I was informed that affordable housing—a scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—has deviated from its original intent. A former senior bureaucrat, whom I used to meet during my Sachivalaya days, told me that an entire area in Ahmedabad, designated for the scheme, has been used to construct costly houses instead. 

Just 5% Gujarat Dalit households 'recognise' social reformers who inspired Ambedkar

An interesting survey conducted across 22 districts and 32 villages in Gujarat sheds light on the representation of key social reformers in Dalit households. It suggests that while Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's photo was displayed in a majority of homes, images of Lord Buddha and the 19th-century reformist couple, Savitribai Phule and Jyotiba Phule, were not as commonly represented.