Akhand

Journalist

Odisha

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on 5 June regarding death threats to Mr. Akhand for filing a case against an Indian army officer who used an unarmed citizen as a human shield to escape from stone-pelting in Srinagar, Kashmir. Mr. Akhand is a journalist and human rights defender who is associated with a human rights defenders’ platform in Odisha:  Civil Society Forum on Human Rights (CSFHR), since 2011.

On April 9, an army officer tied a man to the front of an army vehicle and drove him around as a human shield against local protesters. Mr. Akhand filed a complaint petition before the National Human Rights Commission.

On June 02, 2017, at about 1.45 PM, Mr. Akhand received a call on his cell phone from number +91 9819743514. While Mr. Akhand queried about the identity of the caller and his location, the caller said his name was Mohit and that he is calling from Mumbai. He was talking in Hindi. He said,  “How dare you file a case before the National Human Rights Commission against the army officer who tied a man in front of his jeep in Kashmir; you are the agent of Pakistan, you are the agent of terrorist(s) and you are the agent of Kashmiri separatists. As you filled a case against the Indian army, you have no right to live in India. You will be killed soon by us. We have people across the country. I read that you are based in Bhubaneswar, you will be killed soon there. We will not let you sleep. Very soon you will be tied in front of the army vehicle.”

Thereafter, he went on abusing Mr. Akhand and his family members, using vulgar words, and threatened to kill him. Mr. Akhand brought this to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner of Police and also filed an FIR with the Chandrasekarpur Police Station on June 03, 2017.