NEW DELHI: At a meeting commemorating the International Day of Disappearances held here on Tuesday, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in Kashmir, formed by a group of women in Kashmir, called upon civil society groups to work with it to ensure that justice was done to those aggrieved by "enforced disappearances."

Members of the APDP described how their loved ones "disappeared" after having been taken into custody by the Army.

Narrating how her teenaged son was forcibly taken away in 1990, APDP headParveena said that despite her getting a favourable direction from the High Court and the Union Home Ministry, hewas still untraceable.

"We want justice"

"This is not just my case. There are over 10,000 people, while 3,931 is the official figure, who have become victims of enforced disappearance. What the Government has offered is just compensation. We do not want compensation or jobs, we want our sons and brothers to return and the guilty to be severely punished. We are facing all odds in our fight for justice and we will continue to fight till the end," said Ms. Parveena, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Said Tahira from Baramulla: "My husband was taken into custody by the Army. Even though I visited the camp where I was told he would be, he was not there, and I have not seen him since."

Bismati from Badgaon said, "My son was arrested while he was on the farm. For two months we asked for his release; if he had died, where is his body? I have been searching for him for 15 years now, but there is no sign of him."

These moving testimonies were followed by a screening of Waiting, a documentary by Shabnam Ara and Atul Gupta, on the families of those who disappeared in Kashmir.

Addressing the meeting, Hafizullah Mir, member of the Coalition of Civil Society, said: "Disappearances are the biggest challenge before our small group working in Jammu and Kashmir. Not a single court has found any perpetrator guilty. As we could not get justice, families have decided to come to Delhi to brief civil society."

Questioning the role of civil society, Parvez Imroz from the APDP said: "We fear that a large number of disappearances will continue in the next few years. Why has civil society been silent on an issue like disappearances in Kashmir?"

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