Army has zero tolerance for HR violation, past record worthy: Lt Gen Parnaik

Srinagar: While claiming that army has zero-tolerance for human rights violations, Lieutenant General KT Parnaik, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Monday commended track record of the Indian Army on the front in Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing a seminar titled ‘Evolution of Human Rights in Kashmir and its relevance Today’, Lt Gen Parnaik emphasised the importance of Human Rights not only for the Army alone but for the civil society as a whole. The Army Commander commended the track record of the Indian Army, despite overwhelming challenges. The General officer stressed on ‘minimum force and acting in good faith’ while reiterating that the army has ‘zero tolerance’ for Human Rights. The General also hailed the role played by the media in low intensity conflict zones.In his address, General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps Lt General Syed Atta Hasnain said that power does not come from the muzzle of the gun. “It comes from upholding dignity of the people and respecting their sentiments,” he said in his welcome address. Gen Hasnain said Army would try to win over hearts and use that as its main weapon in combating militancy in Kashmir. ‘Heart’ is the central concept to the thinking of the Army today,” he added.  Spread over two sessions, the two-day seminar was participated by former Army Generals, High Court Judges, Vice Chancellors, journalists and writers took part in the seminar. The first session deliberated on ‘Kashmiriyat, Sufism and the aspirations of the Kashmiri Awam’, was Chaired by Manoj Joshi, a journalist. The speakers included Ms Sadia Dehlvi,; Dr Riyaz Punjabi, Vice Chancellor Kashmir University and others. The second session ‘Human Right Concerns of a society in Prolonged Externally Driven Conflict’, was chaired by General VG Patankar (Retd), a former Chinar Corps Commander and member of numerous National Think Tanks, with eminent speakers as Justice BC Patel former CJ of High Court Jammu and of Delhi Courts who is now a Member of the NHRC; Justice Syed Bashiruddin, a retired judge of J-K High Court; Dr Siddiq Wahid and Col NK Nijhawan.As per Press Bureau of India the deliberation were attended by academicians, members of the intellectia, university students and officers of the Chinar Corps.