New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed an NGO seeking rehabilitation of Kashmiri Hindu and Sikh victims of the 1990 attack to withdraw the petition, thereby allowing it to make a representation of the case before the Centre. The petition, filed by an NGO named 'We The Citizens', sought a probe into the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990, along with a demand to carry a consensus of the victims followed by their rehabilitation. The NGO will now be approaching the Union Government with the plea as directed by the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and CT Ravikumar.
During the hearing, the advocate arguing for the petitioner said the 1990 incident was a 'genocide of over 1 lakh Kashmiri Hindus', citing a book written by one of the victims of the attacks, Rahul Pandita. The book titled 'Our moon has blood clots' has a detailed and first-hand account of the ordeals that the victims in Kashmir faced in 1990, claimed the advocate. Using citations from another book based on personal experience of atrocities committed against Kashmiri Hindus, written by the then Governor Jagmohan, the advocate argued that there is no concrete investigation launched into the matter to date.
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Further arguing that the Jammu and Kashmir Police have been inactive since the incident happened, the counsel submitted that the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure are being properly implemented in the state only after the abrogation of Article 370 executed in 2019. Before that, the IPC and CrPC both were stagnant, he said.
After hearing the detailed argument by the counsel, the SC bench asked the NGO if they have approached the central government in these regards. "Approach the government. Why should we hear it? Have you made representation to the Government of India?" the bench asked the petitioner, thereafter directing it to move the matter to the center seeking further action.
