Srinagar, May 6: Unidentified gunmen in civvies, suspected to be personnel of Special Operations Group, abducted and beat up a prominent journalist and human rights activist of Doda district, Naseer Khora, on Saturday evening. Police has registered a case.
“I was picked up by gunmen in civvies near Ram Munshi Bagh Police Station around 8:30 pm. They bundled me into a white Mahindra vehicle and drove off. Inside the vehicle they beat me up savagely,†Khora told reporters Sunday on the side-lines of Human Rights Defenders Meet organized by Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS).
Khora said the gunmen had pushed him out of the vehicle near Shalimar in unconscious state. “After regaining consciousness people told me I was at Shalimar. I called up my friend and told him about the location and he took me to SMHS hospital,†Khora said.
“The gunmen were repeatedly asking me ‘are you working with Parvez Imroz?’†Khora said. Parvez Imroz is the president of JKCCS and noted lawyer and human rights activist.
The gunmen have shaved off his beard on left side of the face. Khora showed the face to reporters.
Khora was in Srinagar to attend a two day meeting of human rights defenders from different states where anti-India movements are raging for the past several decades particularly Nagaland, Tripura, Chattisgarh, and Manipur. Human rights activists from these regions formed an alliance which would ensure protection to the rights activists. The alliance was named as Asian Human Rights Defenders Network. The alliance comprises organisations and individuals working for human rights in Asian countries.
The ad-hoc committee of the alliance consists of members from Protection of Democratic Rights, West Bengal; Delhi Support Group; Human Rights Alert; Human Rights Forum; JKCCS, Jammu and Kashmir; Movement for Human Rights; Peoples Democratic Forum; Peoples Union for Democratic Rights; Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Commission.
The rights activists from North East and other regions of India said the Indian government harassing rights activists everywhere particularly in Jammu and Kashmir and North East regions,
They said the primary task of the new alliance would be to share information and respond to attacks on and threats to human rights defenders at the individual and collective levels.
The alliance would share information and reports about human rights violations in general and in future take up fact finding missions and protest demonstrations jointly.
