Maharaj of Kashmir in his disputed instrument of accession asked India to send its military to defend side by side with the security forces of Jammu and Kashmir - 'life', 'honour' and 'property'. Pakistan places its reliance on 'Trust Obligations' under UNCIP resolutions for her foothold in Azad Kashmir and supports right of self-determination. It involves securing the life of a human person.

In the 129 year old Rights Movement there has never been a loss of life, savaging of honour and destruction of property as we saw in the last 16 years since 1990 in Kashmir. There has never been a use of multiple violence and violation of human rights as we saw in the last 16 years.

A violation of Human Rights in any administration of Jammu and Kashmir does not attract a rebuke in the ordinary sense of the word but it is a serious subject.

It is unfortunate that Justice A M Mir chairman State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has resigned from the post. It is even more disturbing that he had to say, "I am certain that my further continuance will be of no use."

He has charge sheeted the administration in his letter of resignation sent to the Governor, Lt Gen (Retired) S K Sinha, wherein he has given "growing human rights violations in the state and non-implementation of commission's recommendations", as the main reasons for calling it a day.

Justice Mir's charge that "During my tenure, not a single recommendation made by the commission was implemented. SHRC has not been able to accomplish the object for which it was established. I waited for long in the hope that my efforts might yield some results," is a serious accusation in a State which has lost a generation and witnesses blood on its streets every day.

In a hands down despair Justice Mir states, "This was all in vain. During this period, I continued in office much against my conscience. I am certain that my further continuance will be of no use. In the light of the above circumstance, I have decided to resign from the post with effect from August 1, 2006."

SHRC was set up in 1997 and it was seen as an honest and courageous effort to redress the grievances of the common people. SHRC is reported to have received 3,333 complaints of human rights abuses. Out of these, the commission disposed 2,179 complaints after investigation with recommendations to the government for providing relief to the victims. But the commission did not receive any "Action Taken Report (ATR)" from the government on their recommendations.

Since November 2002, when PDP-Congress coalition government assumed office, and PDP gave a slogan of healing touch, SHRC has received a record 1,863 complaints till March this year. These complaints include 240 of harassment, 76 of custodial killings, 248 of disappearance, 24 of murder, 9 of rape, 10 of killing of innocent civilians and 16 death enquiries.

Justice Mir sums up his position in the resignation letter "Right from the day I assumed the office, I have been observing that the Government is not serious about the Commission. I all along made strenuous efforts for drawing the attention of the Government to the difficulties of the institution. The position has worsened from day to day."

As a last word in the administrative wilderness he has thrown in the towel and sealed his envelope of anger and said "I am certain that my further continuance will be of no use."

Where do we go from here in a State inhabited by helpless people? In a State where India and Pakistan have a common and shared obligation to discharge. Multiple killing and a tale of massive violation of Human Rights goes unabated? It is not an ordinary witness who has filed a charge sheet against the administration - it is the very person who was trusted to address the question of 'violation of human rights'.

Justice Mir's statement to a section of press that "Security agencies arrest, harass and kill innocent people with impunity. Our reports are witness to it. In the absence of any investigating agency, I was just wasting my time in the commission by making recommendations which were never implemented," and that "SHRC is just an eyewash to befool the international community that human rights of people are being respected. When our recommendations were not implemented, commission's credibility got eroded and people lost faith in it," adding "this had made the functioning of the commission redundant."

His allegation that the state Government was failing to "tame" the troops and "police", and "the result is that Valley has become a graveyard," should be taken up as a serious dereliction of duty by the State administration.