Separatists miss no occasion to malign forces: Governor

Jammu, Nov 3 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lieutenant General (Retd) S K Sinha today regretted that terrorist's atrocities on civilians in the state got unnoticed as a handful of separatists always remained on toes to malign the forces for human rights violations.

Interacting with a delegation of European Parliamentarians, the Governor said the Army's human rights record was far excellent than the other armies tackling similar situations. He cited the example of Iraq and Waziristan where heavy arms like helicopter gunships were used to control the situation.

The delegation told the Governor about their meetings, among others, with some victims of terrorism.

He, however, added complaints of violations against the Army and other forces were immediately looked into and action taken against guilty. Taking cognizance of various complaints, 17 personnel were sentenced, some of them getting imprisonment from two to 14 years.

The Governor was referring to the observations of Dr Charles Tannock, Co-President, Friends of India, who said during their meeting with Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in New Delhi it was stated that the Army was taking every complaint on human rights front seriously.

On the condition of the people in J&K, the Governor said they were forward looking and far better off than Muslims in India. He compared people Below Poverty Level (BPL) in the state with rest of the country and said against the national average of 26 per cent, only 3.7 per cent people in the state lived under BPL.

Governor said unemployment was a national phenomenon and its impact was felt in the state too. ''The government is sincerely endeavouring to address to this problem, which was accumulated due to absence of appropriate corporate sector on growth of industries, as investors could not invest in the state due to various factors,'' Gen Sinha told the delegation.

Describing peace as imperative for prosperity and development, Governor said the neighbouring country after failing in its designs on Kashmir resorted to proxy war that vitiated the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

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