Srinagar, Aug 8: Strongly condemning the latest fake encounter killing, this time in Surankote, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today said given the proven government complicity in cover up operations there was hardly any hope of justice in such atrocities. “If any proof was needed to establish deliberate government attempts to protect the guilty it has come in the statement of the chief of the main human rights watchdog in the state” she said in a statement while referring to the disclosures made by the chairperson of State Human Rights Commission Justice Bashiruddin.
 Mehbooba said killing of deranged persons by forces is nothing new as the first gift of present government was delivered in the shape of a deaf and dumb person shot outside the residence of the Chief Minister within days of his assuming charge. 
 Since then the toll of the innocent who fell to government bullets or whose honor was compromised has only been mounting she said.
 While in earlier cases, Mehbooba said, any dead young man would be presented as a terrorist with foreign sounding name, this time the victim turned out to be a deranged person who did not even belong to the community whose tag was assigned to him. She pointed out that this was enough to give an idea to the people in rest of the country about the license available to forces under present dispensation to play with lives of the people and how an entire state is being crushed under draconian repression. And to create a make believe world of its own the government has stamped out all channels of expression and subverted even its own watchdog institutions as pointed out by Justice Bashiruddin.
 The government she said had already perfected the art of denying judicial relief to the victim of its repression, she said.
  She expressed anguish over the conduct of NC led government towards deliberate denial of justice to the families of those killed during the last year’s unrest. In this context she said the report of SHRC that the commission’s recommendations aren’t being implemented with regard to booking of those involved in killing of 120 youth last year should be an eye opener for those who still expected action from this government. The government had already projected the victims as criminals, drug addicts and paid mercenaries earlier in their submissions to the court she recalled.
 Mehbooba said even now wherever the government takes action against its forces involved in atrocities it is not with the intension of punishing the guilty but only to suppress any protest against it.
 In Sopore too, the government took more than a week to arrest the accused only after the demonstrations had spread to Srinagar and other towns against the atrocity committed within the police station and threatened to snowball. There is no reason to hope for any cases being taken to their logical conclusion as the Government that survives only on use of force against its own citizens is completely dependent on police and forces. “This government can never enforce accountability or create an atmosphere of security that is so essential to peace and progress”, she said.
 Mehbooba said the remarks of the Chairman of SHRC should have been enough for any sensitive and democratic government to change its conduct but the present dispensation has decided to try and survive the only way that it knows: brazen it out and accuse all its opponents of creating problems for it.
 But, she said the people of the state are now aware of their rights to a greater degree and they will not allow any government the luxury of ruling them without a question whether it arrests 5000 or even more and tries to muzzle every voice.
 Expressing solidarity with the family of victim in the fake Surankote encounter Mehbooba said it would be particularly shocking for them as the deceased had according to reports been mentally challenged. Instead of providing him care and medical assistance this government has presided over his gruesome death she regretted while conveying her condolences to the family.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 8 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 8 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 9 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST