A civil society delegation comprising noted intellectual and columnist Dr. Jitendra Singh, Human Rights activists Ashwani Charungoo and Civil Rights activists Dineshwar Jamwal and Virender Raina, today called on Justic R.C. Gandhi in his office and handed him over an Interim Report on the Kishtwar violence of August 9.Justice Gandhi, who is heading the Commission of inquiry into the Kishtwar incident, gave the Civil Society representatives a patient hearing and promised a fair probe. He assured, he would take due cognizance of the observations made in the report The report is based on facts and figures recorded by a Civil Society subcommittee that visited Kishtwar soon after the incident. The report offers a chronology of events preceding the August 9 violence as well as the sequence of events that followed August 9. It also provides an estimate of the losses suffered by business establishments and damage caused to vehicles and other property.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, while commenting on the report, said, the events of Kishtwar had brought forth a new and alarming phenomenon of “state sponsored communal violence” and this should be a matter of concern for the whole nation. He accused the state government of “connivance through indifference”. He said, while the local people of Kishtwar wanted to live in peace and harmony, it was the high handedness of administration and the vested interests which were repeatedly triggering communal passions.Ashwani Charungoo said that report emphasized the important role played by Village Defence Committee (VDCs) and denounced the false propaganda against them. He said that there was a design of ethnic cleaning behind Kishtwar incidents. A final and a more detailed version of the report would be brought out soon, he informed.Dineshwar Jamwal narrated certain relevant facts recorded in the report while Varinder Raina held the state government responsible for its acts of omission and commission.