Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 8: The Tosamaidan Bachav Front, J&K RTI Movement, Civil Society for Justice and Development, Gujjar Bakarwal Youth Welfare Council, and Forest Rights Coalition Jammu and Kashmir, as a joint platform of concerned civil society organisations, have demanded immediate compensation and comprehensive rehabilitation for the victims of the Tosamaidan Field Firing Range, including widows, orphans, persons with disabilities, and families who suffered loss of property, livestock, education, livelihoods, and environmental resources.
“For decades, the people of Tosamaidan and adjoining areas were subjected to artillery firing, unexploded ordnance, and militarised land use, resulting in civilian deaths, permanent disabilities, destruction of livelihoods, ecological degradation, and deep intergenerational trauma, particularly among pastoral and agrarian communities whose survival is intrinsically linked to land, forests, water sources, and biodiversity. This is not merely a humanitarian appeal but a settled legal issue,” said these organizations in a joint statement, issued here today.
The Tosamaidan Bachav Front said that despite repeated court orders, official affidavits, and verified records, nothing substantive has moved on the ground in favour of the victims. Development narratives cannot erase uncompensated deaths, unacknowledged disabilities, lost education, destroyed livestock, degraded forests, damaged pasturelands, contaminated soil, and disrupted biodiversity that sustained generations, it added.
The Front stressed that the compensation must not be limited to deaths alone but must include support for widows and orphans, compensation for permanent and partial disabilities, livelihood restoration, livestock and property loss compensation, educational support for affected children, and ecological restoration measures including rehabilitation of forests, pasturelands, water bodies, and biodiversity impacted by decades of militarised use, as anything less would amount to symbolic justice rather than real justice.
Dr Shaikh Ghulam Rasool, Founder of the Tosamaidan Bachav Front, stated that they not only appreciate Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s role during his earlier tenure in getting the Tosamaidan Field Firing Range closed and ending decades of civilian sufferings, but also hold high hope that justice will be delivered as it always was during his tenure.
“As a joint platform, we also urge the Government of J&K to extend similar compensation and rehabilitation measures to landmine victims along the Line of Control and civilians affected by cross border shelling,” said the Front and demanded immediate implementation of the High Court directions on compensation.
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