- Waqas ur Rehman
The Indian security forces have crossed the limits of brutality in the Occupied valley of Kashmir. They killed 11 innocent Kashmiris in the southern Pulwama district of the Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK) on December 15, 2018. The Indian army labeled 3 of them as militants, 1 as a soldier and 7 as protestors. As a matter of fact, the Kashmiris were protesting against the fake encounters by the Indian army. It is important to note that the Indian army has been systematically killing the Kashmiri youth through a planned strategy for the past two years. The Indian army initiated this wicked strategy after the new wave of the Kashmiri freedom struggle by the youth. The Kashmiri youth was inspired and mobilized by the ‘social media campaign’ of Burhan Wani in 2016. Following his martyrdom in July 2016, the Kashmiri youth took the central stage of the ‘Kashmir Freedom Movement’. The youth have, in fact, rendered innumerable sacrifices in way of their freedom struggle.
The local Kashmiri youth residing in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) valley are firmly determined to get their legal right of self-determination at all the costs. However, on the other hand, the Indian army and its paramilitary forces have decided to kill the Kashmiri youth through fake encounters. Notably, the Indian army chief, General Bipin Rawat while outlining his strategy of killing the Kashmiri youth in February 2017, gave a free-hand to his troops to kill even those kids who just raise pro-freedom slogans and throw stones at the ‘Armoured Personnel Carriers’ (APC). Similarly, he warned the Kashmiri youth to surrender in front of the Indian occupation forces. It is ironical to believe that the Indian security forces can kill any Kashmiri at any time without any consequence; but the innocent Kashmiri children are not even allowed to resist and throw small stones.
The Indian troops should keep this in their minds that they can martyr thousands of the Kashmiris; however they cannot eliminate the will and resolve of the Kashmiris to get freedom. The young unarmed Kashmiris are resisting the brutal Indian troops equipped with full weaponry with mere small stones, which show their strong resilience. How can these unarmed Kashmiri kids be labeled as militants? The world must realize this fact that one of the world’s largest armies are crushing these innocent Kashmiri children having no external support at all. They are the indigenous people fighting for their legal cause. The Indian army must realize this fact that with every single Kashmiri they martyr, they are actually giving air to the Kashmiri freedom struggle. The fake Indian propaganda at the global level cannot hide the historical facts and figures about the State of J&K. Apart from that, the Indian government has been deliberately changing the demography of the Jammu by instilling the Hindu population in the valley. The India government must keep this in mind that it cannot alter the ground realities of the valley.
It is also very shameful that the Kashmiri students acquiring higher education in various Indian universities are facing discriminatory behavior. Recently, the Indian intelligence agencies martyred PhD students while branding them as terrorists. In many cases, the Indian army uses the strategies of humiliating and raping the Kashmiri women in the garb of search operations. These molesting acts are resisted by their male family members, who are killed subsequently by the Indian security agencies. Recently, 19 months old baby, Hiba Nisar faced pellet injuries in her eye on November 26, 2018. She was neither a militant nor a terrorist. She is the youngest child sufferer of the pellet shotgun in Shopian district of the IOK. According to the medical staff, she suffered corneal perforation in the right eye due to pellet injury. On the very same day, the Indian army martyred 6 Kashmiris in a fake encounter along with injuring 36 others.
It is a sad reality that martyring the innocent Kashmiris on daily basis means nothing for the Indian army. The Indian government never owned the Kashmiris and subjugated them for eternal sufferings. The Indian army has literally converted the Heavenly Kashmir valley into a Hell. Unfortunately, the global community and the champions of the human rights don’t raise their voice for the Kashmiris. Hundreds of the Kashmiri people have been blinded and paralyzed by the Indian forces since the last two years. As a matter of fact, the Indian forces are committing organized act of genocide of the Kashmiris. The United Nations (UN) must take notice of the Indian brutalities in the valley. The government of Pakistan should highlight this Indian tyrannical attitude at international forums through its diplomatic means. Moreover, the ‘Kashmiri Diaspora’ must mobilize the global civil society and academic circles to highlight the Indian barbaric acts in the Occupied Kashmir.
