Amnesty Interna - tional’s UK chapter has asked the Rocester-based JCB mul - tinational company to take active steps in preventing the misuse of its bulldozers in Kashmir, counselling the construction equipment giant to be horrified by demolitions undertaken in the Valley.
The call has come amid worries that the government’s anti-encroachment drive might bring back hartal and stone-throwing culture to the Valley.
The campaign has triggered protests in Jammu and Kashmir. Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and her supporters, who are camping in the national capital to force the government to stop demolitions, were arrested during a protest on Wednesday.
The government has launched the biggest-ever drive against alleged encroachments on state land in Jammu and Kashmir, recovering tens of thousands of hectares.
There are allegations that the government is demolishing homes or recovering them without serving mandatory notices to the alleged encroachers and denying them the right to defend themselves.
Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s economic affairs director, in a statement on Wednesday now has mounted an attack on JCB (Joseph Cyril Bamford Excavators Ltd), the makers of the bulldozers used in Kashmir demolitions to take steps to force a halt in J&K campaign.
The statement said JCB bulldozers were being used in house demolitions in Jammu and Kashmir and said the ongoing evictions and demolitions as a “gross violation” of human rights.
“JCB should be horrified that their equipment is being used in some of these demolitions. They must take active steps to prevent this,” Frankental said.
“At the very least, JCB should use their dealer and customer contracts and their diagnostic technology to pre - vent such misuse, including by decommissioning machines remotely where possible,” he added.