Jammu and Kashmir govt's refusal to disband notorious state-run militia likely to spark protests

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday revealed that there were no plans to disband the Village Defense Committees (VDC), a state-run militia, which faces crisis over its constitutional validity with serious criminal charges registered against its members. The government, in response to the questions raised by two legislators of Opposition, National Conference (NC) in State Assembly, said the VDCs were under review and efforts were being made on a regular basis to improve their working. “Whenever any member of Village Defense Committees is found to be involved in misusing the weapons, he is immediately disengaged and appropriate action is taken against him,” the government said in its reply. The state government said a total of 221 cases were registered against the VDC members in Jammu region, which included 23 murder cases, seven rape cases, 15 rioting cases and three cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. “So far, 205 cases have been challaned and the inquest proceedings were underway in four other cases.” [caption id=“attachment_2567014” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Army personnel train Village Defence Committee members. File photo. PTI[/caption] The government revealed that out of the 221 cases, only five accused have been convicted of their crimes, while 42 accused have been acquitted and 121 cases are still under trial. The VDCs came into focus after its members killed three persons in Rajouri district of Jammu region in December last year, in two separate incidents. The slain included a woman Shamima Akhtar (36), her four-year-old son Tawheed Ahmad of Samote village and a youth leader of NC, Ishtiyaq Choudhary, in Kalakote village. The then government headed by late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had to face severe criticism from all the quarters, including citizens, civil society groups, human rights organizations, Opposition parties and separatists as well. In the past, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has largely remained silent over the issue of the disbanding of the VDCs, while in the power. But its coalition partner Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has outrightly rejected any such proposals before. After last year’s killings, the Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, a BJP leader, ruled out speculations of disbanding of VDCs. “VDCs have played a major role in combating militancy in remote areas,” he had said. “If the member of a Force does something wrong, will the entire force be blamed for it?,” Singh told reporter in Jammu last year. A senior PDP leader and Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, who belongs to the Rajouri district where the killing took place, said the government will not tolerate the use of state weapons to kill innocent people. “The government will disband VDCs as it cannot tolerate the use of state weapons to kill innocent civilians,” he said amid uproar over the three killings by VDCs last year. What are VDCs? The VDCs were formed in 1995 during the President’s Rule in the state to combat militancy in remote and far-flung areas. According to the media reports, the VDCs have a strength of 26,567 members in 10 districts of Jammu region and Leh district of Ladakh. VDCs personnel are provided basic training in local Army and police camps and are armed with .303 rifles. Depending on the size of the village, each VDC consists of 5-12 members, including some Special Police Officers (SPO), who are paid a paltry sum of Rs 3,000 as stipend from the government. The VDCs operating in the villages are predominantly Muslim majority areas while the personnel recruited are from Hindu population which has created a sense of insecurity among the Muslims of these areas. Human rights violations The VDCs are accused of many human rights violations which include rape, murder, abduction, rioting, drug trade, etc. According to the newly released statistics by the government, a total of 221 cases stand registered against VDC members in the districts of Kishtwar, Doda, Jammu, Kathua, Poonch, Ramban, Udhmapur and Samba. Hue and cry by the Opposition The National Conference, which over the years maintained silence on VDCs, came out all guns blazing over the killing of their youth leader and called for “immediate disbanding” of Village Defense Committees. National Conference Chief Spokesperson, Aga Syed Ruhullah, had accused the PDP-BJP government of using VDCs to “create an atmosphere of insecurity in the state.” “The coalition was using the Village Defense Committees as political militia to silence the dissent,” Ruhullah had said. In 2013, when communal riots broke out in Kishtwar on the eve of Eid, the VDCs members were initially accused of instigating the clashes in which three persons were killed and eight injured. “Any decision with regard to the VDCs will be taken by the police,” Omar Abdullah, the then Chief Minister had said after the riots. After the Kishtwar riots, the current Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti accused Farooq Abdullah of being the brainchild behind VDCs and called for the disbanding of this force. The National Conference has maintained double standards on VDCs over the years. In 2011, when the Supreme Court of India declared Salwa Judum — a militia created to counter Maoists — unconstitutional, the then J&K government headed by Omar Abdullah had an opportunity to disband VDCs but it chose the other way. Instead, the Omar Abdullah-led government went on to introduce the draft VDC and Police Bill which could have regularized and given them legal cover. Eventually, the government failed to introduce the Bill following the widespread criticism to turn J&K into a police state. Even Omar’s father, Farooq Abdullah, has advocated for giving sophisticated weapons to VDCs in 2001. Congress leader Aijaz Khan, in a statement, had said the “government was setting a dangerous trend” by allowing the misuse of government weapons. Most of the senior leaders, including Omar Abdullah, preferred to remain tight-lipped on VDC after they killed three persons last year. Growing protests Protests and a partial shutdown was observed in December in Kashmir region against the killing of mother-son duo and a youth leader of NC by VDC members in Rajouri district with some of the protests turning violent. Hurriyat (G) Chairman, Syed Ali Geelani has termed the crimes of VDCs a “growing barbarism.” Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has expressed similar views to disband the VDCs. “There are around 200 murder cases against VDC, still the government continues to patronise them. We demand their immediate disbanding in Jammu, Chenab and Pir Panjal regions,” Mirwaiz tweeted last December. Besides, various civil society groups have also appealed the government to disband the VDCs. The revelations by the government in the state Assembly over the continuation of the VDC militia is likely to cause clamour from people particularly civil society groups, human rights organizations and separatists.