The Hindu : National : Dal Khalsa, APHC, JKLF to form coordination panel

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Sunday, Dec 09, 2007
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Dal Khalsa, APHC, JKLF to form coordination panel

Special Correspondent

To maintain identity of ethnic minorities

CHANDIGARH: The Dal Khalsa, a radical Sikh organisation; the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front are forming a coordination body to ensure that the distinct identity of ethnic, religious and cultural minorities is maintained.

“We will exchange and disseminate information of human rights violations and arrange for media exposure of the information on a regular basis. We will persuade other peoples and nations to join this campaign. We have also resolved to provide moral, legal and logistics support to each other,” said a resolution passed at a seminar, “Whither Human Rights in India — an Ethnic People’s Perspective,” organised by the Dal Khalsa here on Saturday.

JKLF general secretary Ghulam Rasool Dar, APHC Human Rights division chairman Mohammed Ashraf Lone, the former convener of the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights Joyson, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee executive member Karnail Singh Panjoli, the Khalsa Action Committee convener Mokham Singh, the Punjab Human Rights Organisation chairman Ajit Singh Bains, Supreme Court advocate and writer H.S. Phoolka and Delhi University Professor S.A.R. Geelani participated in the deliberations which, the organisers said, were dedicated to the World Human Rights Day on December 10.

Another resolution demanded that in a conducive atmosphere created by the United Nations, the people of Kashmir, Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab be allowed to use their ‘Right to Self-Determination.’

The meeting sought immediate withdrawal of the impunity granted to the police, para-military and armed forces, which were accused of gross violations.

India must sign and ratify the “Optional protocol of civil and political rights.”

“Abolish death penalty”

It was decided to support all efforts being made by Amnesty International, the U.N. and other bodies to abolish the death penalty.

The gathering appealed to the Indian government to announce a moratorium on capital punishment until it was removed from the statute, while for those on death row across the country the sentence might be commuted.

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