Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 4: Justice (retired) Bilal Nazki who assumed the charge of chairperson Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) here today assured settling of rights violation cases under the law as well relief to the victims.
Justice Nazki retired as Chief Justice of Orissa High Court in November 2009 and was later appointed as the chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Bihar. Governor NN Vohra last month appointed Bilal Nazki as Chairperson of the SHRC, which was headless for last five years.
After assuming the charge of his office here, Justice Nazki said the SHRC’s attention would be towards handling human rights situation and awareness of common people. “…The general thing is that our attention would be towards two things. One: wherever human rights violations occur we will try to handle it. Second: there is a need for awareness among people… which is our work and mandate,” he said.
He said that SHRC has its chairperson after five years and “this is almost the dead commission”. “It has to resurrect again,” he said. Justice Nazki said that when matters of rights’ violations would come before the Commission they will settle it in accordance with law. “And, we will try if any human rights violation (case) comes before us, they should get some relief from us and we will deal under Constitution,” he said.
The newly-appointed chairperson when asked whether SHRC would take suo-moto cognizance of human rights’ violations in Kashmir refused to answer and said “I don’t know (about the situation) as I have come here just recently”. He said in Bihar he has seen 30 percent rights’ violations complaints against police department while rest of the complaints were against other departments.
He pointed out towards handling rights violation cases pertaining to other departments as well in the State. “So, we will deal with them also. For instance in the Revenue, you deposit the fee but Patwari doesn’t give you the papers. So, you call it a violation. Somebody’s salary has been stopped for no fault of his, so this is the human rights violation. Somebody’s widow doesn’t get pension to which she is entitled, this is the human rights violation,” he said.
Justice Nazki further said if there is no road, bridge, water or electricity anywhere then that is also human rights violation. “These are all matters which I am going to take up,” he said. Asked whether SHRC would step in to ban use of pellet guns in Kashmir against protesters, he said that it has already been upheld by the High Court and he will not be able to put an end to its usage.
Justice Nazki further said that he doesn’t think there has been any effort in Kashmir with regard to awareness about human rights. “We have done lot of work in Bihar with students, police officers, Revenue officials, administration and there is a need to sensitize the officers’ right from top level to the bottom,” he said and assured of ‘bringing change’ in coming days.
Replying to a question with regard to providing justice to the victims of rights’ abuses in Kashmir, he said he won’t promise anything “except that I will try to do the best for the job I am assigned”. “I will not talk about specific cases this time because I don’t have the details and I don’t have the facts. I am talking generally,” he said, referring to abuses and killings in Valley during the unrest.
He said the victims of the rights’ violations should approach the SHRC and the Commission would try to handle their cases. “They should come to us if they find there is a violation. We will try to handle it,” Justice Nazki added.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman said in a statement here that the SHRC is fully functionalized now and the cases pending adjudication before the Commission will be taken on board as per the cause list.
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