Constitute Truth, Reconciliation Commission: KPSG to Govt

New Delhi, Dec 15: The Kashmir (Policy and Strategy) Group (KPSG) headed by senior advocate Ashok Bhan has urged the central government to constitute the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a press release, KPSG held an executive meeting in Delhi to take stock of current Kashmir imbroglio after the Supreme Court judgment on  abrogation of Article 370 of the constitution.

Bhan said, While the judgment of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India regarding Article 370 will continue to invite intense scrutiny and analysis by legal and political pundits, the broader message from the  judges is loud and clear: Move forward and focus on the future of Jammu and Kashmir rather than brood  over its sordid past.”

He added that the subject of Jammu and Kashmir has always been enveloped in a dense opacity with layer upon layer of distortions of history, self-serving myths and competing political interests. “Peeling off these layers by revisiting history without prejudice on the real issues involved can only help in our search for a brighter tomorrow for Jammu and Kashmir,” the KPSG head said.

He stated that KPSG has been continuously holding a dialogue by way of intra-civil society webinars, meetings and interactions through social media platforms emphasising on the dire need for giving a closure to the sordid and brutal phase of societal devastation, death and destruction that has engulfed the larger south Asian region in general and Jammu and  Kashmir in particular.

“The Kashmir Valley carries a historical burden in a social context. The people are carrying the burden as victims of conflict from 1947 and continuing consequences of armed insurgency resulting in exile of the religious minority and killings innocent civilians  in the violence perpetrated by non -state actors, others brutalised anti human groups including the state actors,” he said.

Bhan viewed that while delivering the unanimous judgment on the jurisprudence on the inoperability of Article 370 of the Constitution, one of the judges has empathically held a view that social fabric is waning and inter- generational trauma has already fractured the Kashmiri society. “To heal the wounds and make a forward movement and restore co-existence, tolerance, mutual respect and communal and societal harmony a  Truth and  Reconciliation Commission should be set up expeditiously. The Commission will investigate and report on the human rights violations by non- state and state actors perpetrated in Jammu and Kashmir at least since 1980s and recommend measures for reconciliation. Honourable  Judge said before the memories fade and escape the exercise shall be time bound,”he said.