Retired scientist N K Kalia will not rest in peace till he gets justice for his martyred son Captain Saurabh Kalia, who was captured, brutally tortured and killed by Pakistani intruders just before the Kargil conflict erupted in the summer of 1999.
Continuing his lonely 13-year-long battle, the senior Kalia is now knocking on the doors of the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Union government to take his son’s case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, contending the brutal torture of 22-year-old officer constituted a war crime in blatant violation of the Geneva Convention.
The Indian government should mount pressure on Pakistan to apologize as well as identify and punish those soldiers who had indulged in the barbaric torture, said the senior Kalia, who has been forced to move the Supreme Court because his various representations to the government have failed to evoke any response.
“In the past 13 years, I have seized every opportunity suggested by well-wishers but the case kept on rolling down from one ministry or forum to another in the official labyrinth. I am tired of approaching every authority, including the Army, defence ministry, external affairs ministry and the PMO, all of whom never came out with any positive response and passed the buck to each other,’’ he said. “Even the office of President of India has given me a standard reply that his case has been forwarded to the appropriate authority for appropriate action,” said Kalia.
While terming the violations as “unacceptable’’, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said, “This is an extremely sad story. But having expressed our deep distress and concern, we haven’t got an adequate response from Pakistan...whatever is possible will be done...the matter is before the SC.’’
No comments:
Post a Comment