Nazia Nazar
UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is considering the proposal submitted by the members of Kashmir delegation to have a special international envoy to monitor the situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). The idea, first floated by Hurriyat leader Ishtiyaq Hameed has been well received in the corridors of the world body and the members of the council are seriously discussing it. The proposal has been source of unease in the Indian delegation to UNHRC but Indian diplomats are quiet about it at the moment, but they must be working on the strategy so that it does not become part of the agenda of the UNHRC. According to the report emanated from Geneva, the development came as pro-Kashmir activists kept up pressure on India by highlighting atrocities committed on the people of Kashmir.
In June 2015, India’s human rights record had come under scrutiny and criticism. The head of the Kashmir delegation and senior APHC leader Altaf Hussain Wani had briefed world diplomats in his speech on India’s policy of paying cash rewards to anyone who kills a militant. “Indian government allocated funds to be given as rewards for killing innocent people,” Wani said while referring to a statement by the Inspector General of occupation police, Javaid Mujtaba Geelani, who announced the increase of monetary rewards from the maximum of $15000 to $19,000. The policy of giving the monetary reward for killing the innocent civilian and branding those militants led to killings and disappearances of several civilians and political opponents of the government who are dubbed as militants and killed to claim the reward.
Once a picturesque valley, Kashmir under military occupation today is a state where thousands of children are growing up without a parent, mostly a father, due to occupation army’s policy of enforced disappearances of male Kashmiris. Altaf Hussain Wani, addressing the 29th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva had said that there is a disturbing rise in mysterious assassinations of freedom activists, especially in Sopore town of occupied Kashmir after Indian defence minister’s policy statement that India will use terrorists to deal with the freedom movement in Kashmir. On September 14, 2015, a six-member Kashmiri delegation attended the 30th session of United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The Kashmiri delegation effectively participated in the UNHRC session and updated the council about the prevailing situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
In fact, 9/11 events had drastically changed political landscape of the world, and became a source of setback for Kashmiris’ liberation movement, as since then even genuine struggle for freedom is construed as terrorist act. India took advantage of the situation and tried to ruthlessly crush the Kashmiris’ struggle. On the other hand, international community failed to stop Indian atrocities on Kashmiris, and also did not exert enough pressure to implement UNSC resolutions that gave Kashmiris the right to self-determination. Amnesty International (AI) issues reports on human rights violations in many countries of the world, but rarely highlights the sad plight of Kashmiris. At least once, the AI had called upon India to revoke especially draconian law, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which provided immunity to the personnel of armed forces involved in human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.
Last year, the Senior Director of Global Operations at Amnesty International Minar Pimple had said: “By not addressing human rights violations committed by security force personnel in the name of national security, India has not only failed to uphold its international obligations, but has also failed its own Constitution.” The report called for an independent and impartial inquiry into cases of abuse, as not a single trooper was tried in a civilian court for violating human rights in Kashmir. The report documented the obstacles to justice for victims and highlighted how the Indian government’s response to reports on rights-abuses had failed to deliver justice for victims and families.
The AI report focuses particularly on Section 7 of the AFSPA, which has been criticized as an excuse for army excesses in that it grants the security personnel virtual immunity from prosecution for human rights violations. Indian security forces can shoot to kill, keep suspects in custody without trial and make arrests without a warrant. The AI document stated that India denied permission or “sanction” to prosecute under section 7 of the AFSPA in every case brought against members of the army or paramilitary, or in a small number of cases kept the decision pending for years. Apart from that Indian Government has enforced many brutal laws in Kashmir.
India’s subjugation of Kashmiri people by denying them the right to self- determination and the violation of basic human rights by Indian army in Kashmir have brought utmost shame and disgrace to the country, which claims to be the largest democracy in the world. According to a report on Human Rights violations in Kashmir published across the web states that between 1989 to June 30, 2015 alone approximately 100000 Kashmiris have been killed by Indian security forces. Additionally, there have been 7500 custodial killings, over 107,351 children have been orphaned, 22,728 women widowed and 9,920 women gang-raped. In fact, the above figures send shivers down the spine of all the conscientious people. Indian authorities had confirmed the existence of mass graves in Kashmir, containing bodies of more than 2,000 people.
