Amnesty had not invited Kashmiri Pundits for the event, claims Mattoo
Bengaluru: Kashmiri Pundits were "not invited" to the Amnesty International (AI) India event - 'Broken Families' - on human rights violations in Jammu & Kashmir, said former journalist and spokesperson of the Kashmiri Pundits in Bengaluru, R.K. Mattoo.
"They are lying. There was no mention of Kashmiri Pundits in their invitation. When I came to know about the event I posted about it on Facebook asking the Kashmiri Pundits in the City to attend the meeting at the United Theological College last Saturday," said Mattoo, while countering the AI press statement, which was issued on Tuesday in which the International human rights non-governmental organization stated that they had invited Mattoo to "speak about the human rights violations faced by the members of the community."
Mattoo told Deccan Chronicle that after his FB post, he received a call from the AI office at around 3pm on August 13. "I asked them why the AI was silent on the plight of Kashmiri Pundits and why they had omitted us from the event in the City. Lakhs of Pundits were thrown out from the Valley in 1990 and Amnesty was not interested to talk about it on public fora?" Mattoo observed.
An hour later, at 4pm he said he received a call from AI again and they told him that they would allow him to speak and he should reach the venue by 5.30pm. "We reached the UTC at 5.30 pm and I was told that Seema Mustafa would compere the programme. The programme started at 7pm," he said.
"Tara Rao (programme director, AI India) spoke about human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and mentioned that few thousands of Pundits were asked to leave the Valley. At that a Kashmiri Pundit in the audience corrected her and asked her to present facts. Five and a half lakhs Pundits had fled the Valley in January 1990," said Mattoo.
"There were narratives of the families, who were invited by AI followed by a skit on the Army excesses in the Valley. I was also asked to speak and I spoke in favour of the army. Later, I asked our community members to leave the venue because it was becoming evident that the focus was on army excesses and one sided stories. When we went outside we heard some commotion inside the hall. A rapper was singing and there were slogans on azadi. The police sensed trouble and intervened with caution," he narrated.
"What was the purpose of the programme? Was it just to malign the army? How was AI planning to get justice for Kashmiri victims in Bengaluru?" asked Mattoo.
