Mirwaiz seeks human rights' intervention in youth's custodial death

Srinagar, Aug 3 : Reacting to the recent custodial killing of a youth, the chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has turned to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to look into alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Farooq, who has been under house arrest along with other Hurriyat leaders, said government officials are provoking public to disrupt normalcy of the region by committing acts like custodial killings.

"The state government itself is engaged in such activities, their agencies, police and their employee on which the public will definitely react. It is so obvious that when violence will take place, when atrocities will happen, when innocent people are killed by torturing them in custody, it is quite obvious that people will react over it. And I believe it is quite natural that people will raise their voice against it," he said.

Farooq confirmed that he has written a letter to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and other national and international Islamic scholars and urged them to take action against police officials in Kashmir.

"As far as human rights are concerned we want to appeal on the name of human rights and as far as religious issues are concerned then we are mailing OIC and other Islamic scholars in India and abroad about the interference in our religious issues by the state government and the administration that they should observe it and take action against it.

Farooq said that residents of Kashmir also desire peace in the region, but such incidents provoke them.

"We also want to say that we are not against them (the authorities), even we want peace, there would be no disturbance in the region. But if the government itself is indulging in such cases and the government officials himself are taking such initiatives and being involved in such cases, then I think this behavior should be condemned," he said.

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-40628.html.