Reema Shaukat
Beautiful valley of Kashmir is turning intoabyss by Indian forces over the years. Instead of decline in violence in the past one year, IHK is witnessing surge. Particularly Post Burhan Wani uprising has made life of occupied Kashmiris more grim. Indian forces ae leaving no stone unturned to make life of people in IOK hell. Using humans as shields, stone pelting, unprovoked firing, tear gas shelling, arrests, torture in detention centres are very common methods of abuse by Indian forces on Kashmiris. Having an authority to use Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA) Indian forces take undue advantage of these freedom acts and can arrest and enter into anyone’s house without a warrant or legal notice. They are authorized to fire or deal with force on protestors. Therefore youth leader Burhan Wani’s death in July, 2016 has sparked new passion in Kashmiris to fight for their right of self-determination andfreedom against Indian cruelties.
Statistics by different watchdogs show that masses in IHK have undergone massive human rights exploitations and violations of basic rights. So far more than 200,000 Kashmiris have been killed by the Indian forces and more than 10,000 people are missing. Figures of torture on children, young women and girls being victim of abuse raise on daily basis. Indian melodrama of surgical strikes, firing across LoC, false claims of encounters are not new. This has been done by them as an effective propaganda strategy to divert attention of local and international spectators from their ruthlessness in Kashmir.Hundreds of civilians including women and children have reportedly been extra judicially executed by Indian security forces and the killings are concealed as fake encounters. Despite government denial, Indian security officials themselves have reportedly confessed to Human Rights Watch of the widespread occurrence of fake encounters and its encouragement for awards and career promotions. Media reports state that for Indian forces ‘fake encounter’ killings are those in which security personnel kill someone in cold blood while claiming that the casualty occurred in a gun battle. Encounter inquiry reports try to prove for sure that the security personnel are Kashmiris and even surrendered militants. Recently, Indian media is again found propagating about fake encounters and blaming Pakistan for mishaps.Both Indian print and electronic media are found running a false propaganda campaign in which they have claimed killing of 13 militants in the areas of Machil, Uri and Poonch sectors in counter infiltration. While Indian forces are boosting of its achievements in media, ground realities and facts show that Indian Army is actually targeting and killing innocent villagers who are residing near the LoC. It is general practice among local villagers that during the spring season and when weather is favourable for different plants to sprout, they go and collect these plants and later sell them in markets or use these herbs as medicines. As that area is far off from rest of population, local villagers use them as an immediate medicine or even as food when nothing is available. While collecting these herbs often children and women also accompany and sometimes they usually go near the LoC unintentionally. Such cases of mistakenly standing near the LoC and later killed by the firing of Indian Army are very common. Poor villagers who use these saplings as a source of income by selling in markets are either arrested and most of the time killed by Indian forces firing which they claim as militants were killed who were trying to cross border.Indian army frustrations and aggressiveness is visible from reports in which they are apprehending innocent Kashmiri people and later declare them either as militant or facilitator.
Not only Indian army put blame on locals as militants but they even don’t hesitate in putting responsibilityon Pakistan Army for infiltrating militants and disturbance of Law and order situation in IOK. The only purpose of Indian propaganda is to create pressure on Pakistan so that they stop supporting Kashmiris. India is always active in declaring Pakistan as state sponsoring terrorism and through these fake encounters it is trying another tool to fix Kashmir issue according to its will.Indian security forces are also involved in fake encounter of civilians and even stone pelters who were already in police custody. As the pressure on India is mounting up in Kashmir since Burhan Wani and later Sabzar Bhat death, they are trying these tactics to create deterrence among the local population living alongside LoC so that they refrain from supporting Kashmir struggle.
It is fact thatviolence against powerless Kashmiris in the troubled valley goes unchecked as the international community turns a blind eye to grave human rights violations by Indian forces.A number of houses have been damaged using improvised explosive devices by Indian troops and the use of pellet guns has left dozens of Kashmiris with eye injuries. Such media blame game by India of providing support to armed infiltrators cannot influence Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir. Pakistan has always supported Kashmir cause and will continue to do so unless a peaceful Kashmir emerges on world map.
