J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

NGO: withdraw case against Malik
Srinagar, April 17
The Committee for Initiative on Kashmir, a New Delhi-based NGO, today demanded the immediate withdrawal of the case against JKLF chief Mohammad Yaseen Malik under POTA and an, impartial inquiry into his alleged custodial torture.

Seized money ‘not’ for poll panel’s use
Srinagar, April 17
The so-called election commission, announced by the Hurriyat Conference over two months ago, today denied media reports that a part of $ 1 lakh seized from two persons were meant for its use.

Tapan Bose, chairman, and Ram Naryan Kumar, co-chairman, of the independent "Election Commission" of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, address a press conference in Srinagar on Wednesday.  — Photo Amin War.

NGO: withdraw case against Malik

Srinagar, April 17
The Committee for Initiative on Kashmir, a New Delhi-based NGO, today demanded the immediate withdrawal of the case against JKLF chief Mohammad Yaseen Malik under POTA and an, impartial inquiry into his alleged custodial torture.

Speaking at a press conference here, Mr Ram Narayan Kumar and Mr Tapan Bose of the committee deplored the “abuse of POTA to thwart the political life of a man who had the courage to abjure the path of violence and play a seminal part in enforcing accountability on the self-determination movement of the people of Kashmir.”

They said Mr Malik’s arrest under Section 3 and 6 of POTA had been projected as an attempt to choke hawala funding to support terrorist and anti-national activities in Kashmir. But the history of hawala discoveries and their prosecution in Jammu and Kashmir as well as the specific facts of this case totally belie this claim.

Mr Malik claims that he has nothing to do with the money recovered from two persons on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway last month, they said.

“Mr Malik’s arrest on the basis of statements made by the arrested persons in police custody in conditions that are visibly coercive is illegal also for the reason that the JKLF is not a terrorist organisation within the terms of section 18 of the Act,” they said, adding that the JKLF was not an unlawful organisation under the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act, 1967. PTI

Seized money ‘not’ for poll panel’s use

Srinagar, April 17
The so-called election commission, announced by the Hurriyat Conference over two months ago, today denied media reports that a part of $ 1 lakh seized from two persons were meant for its use.

Terming the reports as incorrect, Mr Tapan Kumar Bose, who is one of the chief election commissioners, said, “The members of the independent people’s election commission would like to state that in confirmation of its independent status, it had not accepted in the past, and will outrightly reject in the future, any funds from the Hurriyat or any of its constituents”.

Mr Bose told reporters here that the commission would assert its independence and will maintain it even at the risk of its ability to function.

He said the commission was announced by the Hurriyat Conference in a bid to break the impasse in the Jammu and Kashmir problem.

Mr Bose said the commission was considering to raise funds through “people’s donations”. PTI