PRESS RELEASE
HCBA/RL/GBM/09-99 DATED:15-04-2009

Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association sharply reacts against the statement of Chief of the Indian Armed Forces General Deepak Kapoor wherein General Deepak Kapoor has observed suspicions of recruitment of women in ongoing armed struggle against Indian Occupation in Jammu and Kashmir. The statement of General Deepak Kapoor reflects fresh on slot against the people of Jammu and Kashmir with a new modus operandai to break the will and nerves of the people of the Jammu and Kashmir. It is a hard fact that the Kashmiri women is a symbol of innocence, pride and honour and cannot shoulder guns in presence of their brothers who are fighting for freedom cause, nor the people of Jammu and Kashmir have ever in history transcended the duty of battle field upon the shoulders of the women folk.

It is pertinent to mention that Indian Armed Forces past 20 years have perpetuated a policy of genocide of Kashmiri Muslims and have in this operation killed more than one lakh and twenty thousand youth. The statement reflects a new policy design of Indian Govt. to target the Kashmiri women under the pretext of likely recruitment of Kashmiri women in militant struggle. Bar Association takes the statement with all seriousness and sensitivity and calls upon the Indian Govt. to desist from targeting-women and use “targeting women” as a weapon of war. Bar Association equally calls for awakeness in Kashmiri Muslims to take the statement of General Deepak Kapoor with all seriousness and prepare themselves to defeat the Indian designs. The Bar Association appeals international community to call upon Indian Govt. to explain it’s position on the statement of General Deepak Kapoor which is by all stretches of imagination of serious consequences, in order to avoid the repercussions and fall out of the said nefarious design likely to be acted as a guise for continuation of genocide of Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir. It is observed across the valley and Muslim dominated areas in Jammu region that women are targeted and abused by and large by the armed forces and in order to shelve gruesome tragedies the statement of General Deepak Kapoor has surfaced at a time when Indian Govt. on one side claims zero tolerance for human rights abuses.

Bar Association condemns the action of the Armed Forces and State Task Force against Advocate Nazir Ahmad Malik it is pertinent to mention here that the Army personnel belonging to 14 RR and members of Task Force Bandipora raided the house Advocate Nazir Ahmad Malik at Laudara Bandipora tonight and subjected the family members of the said Advocate to fear and state abuse. It is third time that the said forces raided the house of the said Advocate past two months, though not a single forbidden item was recovered from his home. The said Advocate has apprehended that the said forces act with a malafide design to concoct the family of the Advocate. Bar Association while condemning the said raid asks the state govt. to desist from harassing the lawyers and their family members for their discharge of professional duties.

G.N. Shaheen
General Secretary,
J&K High Court Bar Association.
Dated : 15.04.2009