This Article is From Aug 31, 2011

Start campaign against unmarked graves: Mirwaiz to Anna

Start campaign against unmarked graves: Mirwaiz to Anna
Srinagar: Anna Hazare, soon to be released from a Delhi hospital, has been urged to focus his attention on a campaign for thousands of unidentified bodies found in Jammu and Kashmir.

The 74-year-old activist fasted for 12 days before being hospitalised to pressure the government to consider his version of a new agency - the Lokpal - that will handle complaints of corruption against public servants.

Earlier this month, the J&K State Human Rights Commission reported that more than 2000 unidentified bodies are buried in 38 unmarked graves. These bodies, marked with bullet injuries, were given to the local population by the police, which declared them to be unidentified militants, said the report.

"We appeal to Anna Hazare, his team and civil society of India to start a campaign for unravelling the truth behind the unmarked graves in Kashmir," said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the head of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, in his Eid sermon.

"We have apprehensions that the persons who are buried in unmarked graves are those who went missing from various places in Kashmir," he added.

The Hurriyat chairman said the people of Kashmir have lost faith in government agencies and demanded a probe by an independent, impartial and international agency into the issue. "DNA tests should be carried out on all those buried in unmarked graves across the state so that their identity can be established," he said.
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