Nobody wants violence, it has been thrust upon us by inimical forces: CJ

Chief Justice of J&K and Ladakh High Court Justice N Kotiswar Singh speaking at a function in Press Club of Jammu on Wednesday.
Chief Justice of J&K and Ladakh High Court Justice N Kotiswar Singh speaking at a function in Press Club of Jammu on Wednesday.

‘India’s respect across the world increasing’
*3 J&K journalists get Chhibber Memorial Awards
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 15: Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Justice N Kotiswar Singh said today that nobody wants violence but it has been thrust upon us in Jammu and Kashmir by the inimical forces and that he can guess feelings of the people here who have gone through the trauma.
Justice Kotiswar Singh was addressing gathering of Judges, senior journalists, Advocates, Bar Association office bearers, educationists and prominent politicians among others at Press Club of Jammu after presenting annual RK Chhibber Memorial Awards in Journalism.
The awardees include Amogh Rohmetra (The Print), Satnam Singh (Dainik Jagran) and Ashwani Sharma, former Bureau Chief of Indian Express for Himachal Pradesh. All three belonged to Jammu.
Justice Kotiswar Singh presented the awardees with mementoes and Rs 25,000 worth cheque each on behalf of the Trust in the presence of High Court Judges including Justice Vinod Chatterjee Koul, Justice Rahul Bharti, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Advocate General DC Raina, Deputy Solicitor General Vishal Sharma, Bar Association chief Vikram Sharma, Trust chairperson Sushil Chhibber and Maneesh Chhibber, Press Club president Sanjeev Pargal, Dinesh Manhotra, Secretary General and Zorawar Singh Jamwal, vice president, MK Bhardwaj, senior Advocate, Dr Nirmal Singh, former Deputy CM, Devender Rana, Ajay Sadhotra, Naresh Gupta, Dr Sushil Sharma, Cardiologist, former Chief Secretary BR Sharma and former Press Club presidents Ashwani Kumar and Manu Shrivatas among others.
“I have come here from Manipur. But I can understand your feelings… the trauma you have gone through because of inimical forces. Nobody wants violence but it has been thrust upon us,” Justice Kotiswar Singh said.
He said since he hailed from a State that was in many ways similar to Jammu and Kashmir, he can understand the issues faced by the people here.
“I can fully understand and appreciate the problems faced by the people here. It has always been my understanding that the judiciary has to fulfill its Constitutional obligation to give speedy justice to poor and marginalized,” the Chief Justice said.
He said India remains one of the most respected country in the world because of sheer work of the people.
“This respect has been increasing. India has become focal point of world attention,” the Chief Justice said and added strong position of the country was visible during ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Congratulating the award winners, Justice Kotiswar Singh hoped that they will strive to bring more awards in future and, at the same time, other journalists too would continue to work hard. He applauded Prof RK Chhibber Memorial Trust for recognizing hard work of journalists and establishing the awards.
“The Press Club of Jammu also deserves credit for partnering with the Trust for such prestigious awards so that journalists have an incentive to work hard and also with a spirit of competition,” he said, adding India has a rich culture of a vibrant and free press.
Justice Kotiswar Singh said media is a vital organ and has since independence played an extremely crucial role in sustaining and strengthening democracy.
“Journalists continue to perform their role in a stellar manner. They continue to speak truth,” he asserted.
The Chief Justice said while electronic and social media are growing, the print media continue to play very significant role in chronicling the Indian development story especially since it can’t afford to go wrong on facts,
Earlier, Justice Kotiswar Singh presented RK Chhibber Memorial Awards to Amogh Rohmetra of The Print, Satnam Singh, Senior Correspondent, Dainik Jagran and Ashwani Sharma, former Bureau Chief of Indian Express in Himachal Pradesh.
The awards carried a cheque of Rs 25,000 and a memento.
Press Club of Jammu president Sanjeev Pargal (recipient of first Chhiber Memorial Award) and Secretary General Dinesh Manhotra presented souvenir and shawl to Justice Kotiswar Singh and Sushil Chhibber, chairperson of the Trust. They also handed over life time membership of the Press Club of Jammu to the Chief Justice.
Sushil Chhibber, Managing Trustee of Prof R K Chhibber Memorial Trust said free media is the life-blood of democracy and it was for this reason that good work by hardworking journalists must be supported and applauded. She said from next year onwards, the Trust was planning to include one more award category.
Advocate Ved Bhushan Gupta, Secretary of the Trust, said the best tribute to Prof Chhibber would be to do our respective jobs with honesty and sincerity.
In his address, Maneesh Chhibber said as a Judge, Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh enjoys a stellar reputation of somebody who is a firm believer in the majesty of the laws, one who is very pro-poor and has been known to go the extra mile for the poor and the downtrodden.
“His track record as an eminent lawyer before he became a judge, one where he did a lot of pro-bono work and also ensured that his fees didn’t ever take him out of reach for the poor litigants, speaks much about his idea of jurisprudence. He is also someone who has led the way in introduction and popularising information and communication technology in court work, thus ensuring swifter justice delivery system,” Chhibber said.
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, he said, couldn’t have got a better person to head the legal system.
Advocate Anshuja Sharma-Tak was the master of the ceremony.