S. John
Human Rights are the fundamental pillars that support the structure of human race of the world in general and a state in particular. As obvious, human rights claim for the provision of all the basic elements necessary for existence and survival of human on land. In India, human rights are now confined to the right to life. This apparent stance is only for minorities who seldom enjoy any other privilege or even the stated one. India, being a Hindu-dominant country, is hell for all the other minority groups or religions residing on its land. With claims of a secular identity, India since its creation has maltreated all the non-Hindu elements in the country. Muslims and Sikhs are the major victims to Indian carnages.
Muslims ruled the subcontinent for centuries under Mughal reign. Hindus, although outnumbering Muslims, were under their control. After the British invasion of the Golden land, Hindus were again under external command. The English held the subcontinent for nearly a century but had to leave resulting in the transferal of reins to the natives. Being home to many religious and ethnic groups, the subcontinent could not be handed over to any one player against the distrust of millions so the British decided to make autonomous bodies and gave them the right to opt for either of the two majority groups, Hindus and Muslims. The land which now forms part of Pakistan was Muslim majority topography and the one forming India was a Hindu dominant land.
The pursuit for autonomy was an ultimate battle of survival for Muslims and has been proved time and again since the separation of India and Pakistan. Hindus, unable to come into absolute power even once, distressed and frustrated, started oppressing all the minority faith groups on the Indian land they could get their hands on, may it be Muslims, Sikhs or Tamils. More than 200 million Muslims and 20 million Sikhs live in India today and they are the primary target of Hindu oppression. The aggression of the Indian extremist Hindu element which was projected all over the subcontinent during the separation has spread all over India.
Being an overwhelming majority Hindu were able to violate all the International HR laws. United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and UN General Assembly have crafted some country-specific rubrics which India is reluctant to maintain. HR is considered a supreme responsibility of the state as a whole. India exploited the inviolability of the Human Rights in Kashmir, Punjab, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and many other localities. Indian-held Kashmir is and was the most affected place where ill-treatment is even hard to state.
Kashmir, despite evident Muslim majority, fell prey to Hindu monopoly during separation and part of it was held by India with force. The ratio of Hindu to Muslim population is 1 to 5 which is a sure shot Muslim claim. Indians played the card with force and have made numerous attempts to transform Kashmir into an Indian majority state and converting Muslims into minorities. Kashmir dispute is by far the oldest unresolved dispute of its nature in international history. Anything suppressed with force backfires and so did the Muslims of Kashmir who started fighting for their right of sovereignty in a place heavily dominated by Muslims in terms of number. To curb this and similar liberation campaigns India has introduced Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA). AFSPA owned by the state of Hindu extremist majority is behind all holocausts in India.
BJP came to power in the year 2014 with an apparent agenda ‘Sab Ka Sath, Sab Ka Vikas’ that is taking everybody on board irrespective of religion and creed. The ground realities sine then were a complete denial to the stated decree. Mob attacks against Muslims throughout 2017-2018 were common practices of extremist Hindu groups backed by BJP government. Likewise, it has been the deadliest year for Muslims of Kashmir with over 500 citizens killed by Indian forces. A total of about 100000 Kashmiri Muslims have been killed since India took over and deployed its forces against unarmed citizens, according to some HR groups which Indian officials claim to be an exaggerated figure. Use of pallet guns has become a norm with around 4000 registered cases, and thousands went unnoticed.
These atrocities were not limited to Muslims only. Sikhs simultaneously were struggling for their right of freedom. They suffered similar violence. Mass murders of Sikh and their liberation movement for an independent Sikh state took new heights. The idea was first explicitly mentioned in the New York Times by Jagjit Singh Chohan. Proceedings in the Sikh separatist propaganda had been placed strategically as ‘Sikh referendum: Khalistan 2020’. India blamed Pakistan for facilitating the freedom movements in Indian Punjab. Pakistan denied the false allegations and termed it as India’s own misconduct.
The liberation voices in Kashmir and Indian Punjab were repeatedly propagated to United Nations by Human Rights Watch, but India continues to abstain from all the international HR laws. India upholds its own laws which severely contradict UNHRC out of sheer aggression against the threats of its own wrongdoings. Sedition and defamation laws deprive freedom of speech against tyranny. Detention law under public safety act has been misused by extremist Hindu rulers of state against minorities.
The tales of Indian atrocities do not end here; Indian state is party to various serious human rights violations including sexual harassment, enforced disappearance of minority community people, torture and mass killing in the name of religion and state security. India today stands as the ‘Rapist Capital’ of the world with the numbers of sexual violence on the rise. It is found to be the most dangerous country for women according to various international surveys. These violations pave the way for human trafficking, forced marriages and human slavery which pose a threat to the entire world in general and south and central Asia in particular. All these violations are condemnable at international level.
Pakistan has raised the issue of Indian genocides in Kashmir and was strongly opposed by India with vague explanations. Pakistan, on the other hand, is not only a strong advocate of peace in the region but also is a living for it’s own minorities and inside the country. Especially minorities find a safe home in Pakistan as compared to India. With the Pakistan’s initiative of opening of Kartarpur corridor, Pakistan has projected its minority friendly stance in front of the world and is highly welcomed by the Sikh community but has infuriated Indian government which posts India’s Anti-minority stand. Sikh community thanked Pakistan and the gesture was appreciated on all international forums.
India till date has not signed the convention against torture. Pakistan needs to highlight this issue and pin it with the severe Human Rights violations in IHK. Pakistan should seek support of regional powers like China, Russia and central Asian states on the massive Indian HR violations in order to realize the dream of lasting peace in the region.
