Kashmiri Pandits demand probe against Amnesty International over Bengaluru event

Jammu: Hitting out at Amnesty International for hosting an event where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised in Bengaluru, displaced Kashmiri Pandits on Sunday demanded a probe by central investigating agency into its activities in India. [caption id=“attachment_2407036” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] They also dared the NGO to publish a report on the human rights violations and atrocities perpetrated by Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hijbul Mujahideen and its followers like Hizb terrorist commander Burhan Wani. “A central investigating agency should probe into all the activities of Amnesty International for being selective in its protest against human rights violation. “The NGO should come out and openly condemn slogans raised during the event organised by them,” said RK Mattoo, Chairman of the Kashmiri Hindu Cultural Welfare Trust (KHCWT) said. Earlier this week, the Trust had filed a complaint against the NGO for “allowing” anti-national slogans to be raised during an event organised by it on 13 August. “Amnesty International’s report titled ‘Denied: Failures in accountability for human rights violations by security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’ provides a biased perspective and negatively contributes to protection of human rights in the Valley. “So, Amnesty should immediately introspect and inquire into their report making process,” Mattoo said in a statement released on Sunday. The Trust had demanded the NGO also focus on the plight of five lakh Hindus who fled Kashmir decades ago and pursue rehabilitation of Pandits with the Indian government. “Their reports should focus on the three lakh Sikhs under threat by separatists in the Valley and the victims in Shopian incident, where more than 2,000 Kashmiri Pandits employees were tortured and forced to flee and their reports should reflect on the bloodbath and terror unleashed by separatists in the Valley,” he said. Questioning the neutrality of Amnesty, Mattoo narrated the sequence of events that lead to sloganeering. “The programme was initially not designed to include the voices of the Kashmiri Pandits. But after I questioned them through my Facebook post, they invited me to speak. “I spoke on the exodus of five lakh Kashmiri pundits after brutal killing of around 800 of them by Islamic militants in 1989-90,” he claimed. “My positive remarks about the Indian Army was shouted down by some people in the audience. And chaos followed,” alleged Mattoo.