Srinagar, Aug 9: The former chairperson of State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), Justice (Retd) A M Mir, who resigned from the post in 2006 over unabated human rights violations, Monday said that youth who vent their anger by pelting stones don’t deserve to be killed by bullets.
 “By no stretch of law, the angry youth who pelt stones deserve to be killed by bullets. Excessive use of force with the expression of the right of private defense or maintaining law and order by itself is a grave violation of human rights. This practice requests to be stopped forthwith,” he told Greater Kashmir.
 He said an important factor of ongoing agitation is that teenagers have taken to roads. “They are all born during the period of militancy when guns only rattled in the Valley. They have seen repressions and police power in the State. What should be especially realized by the Government of India is that they (teenagers and youth) don’t veil guns,” he said.
 Justice Mir believes that had Government of India taken his concern over human rights violation seriously, the civilian killings leading to violent protests and unrest in the Valley could have been avoided.
 “I had sincerely tried to impress upon the Central and State Government to stop the human rights violations and adopt a wholesome political policy. But I failed on both the counts and it was a result of such failure that I tendered my resignation. Had the recommendation of the SHRC been translated into action, well in time, situation would not have been grave today,” Justice Mir said. 
 “What am I saying at this juncture has been fully expressed by me in June 2006 when I resigned from the post of Chairman SHRC. In such a capacity, I had an opportunity of studying the unrest and alienation of people of Kashmir and its causes. Human rights violations were rampant and this was the main cause,” he said. 
 He maintained that the human rights abuses derived its origin from the lack of political policy on Kashmir.
 Pertinently Justice Mir’s resignation had caused embarrassment to the Ghulam Nabi Azad led coalition and given an issue to the then opposition National Conference to corner the government on human rights violations.
 Justice Mir believes that the Kashmir issue was a political problem. “It can only be addressed by evolving a political package in consultation with the public representatives and not by use of force or other means,” he stated.

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