Afia Ambreen
Recently, an Indian journalist Sagarika Ghose in her piece in “Times of India” admitted that India has become a “de facto Hindu country” and the boiling situation in IOK is a sign of triumph for Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Two-Nation theory. She also admitted that “Today Kashmir is a cantonment, patrolled by lakhs of security forces. Another Indian journalist Santosh Bhartiya in an open letter to Indian Prime Minister Naredra Modi published on ‘Rising Kashmir’ has claimed that although “the land of Kashmir is with us, the people of Kashmir are not with us.” New York Times editorial “Cruelty and Cowardice in Kashmir” also has the same shade commenting on an incident on the current situation in the valley. Former chief of R&AW, A S Dulat felt that the ongoing unarmed uprising has worsened under the current government due to alienation and the anger of youth, young Kashmiri minds have gone out of control. “There is a sense of hopelessness. They aren’t afraid to die. Villagers, students and even girls are coming out on the streets. This has never happened in the past.”
Unfortunately, India has employed various techniques including black laws to crush the Kashmiri Liberation Movement. The Public Safety Act (PSA), Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act 1990 (TADA) and Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA) are enforced in Kashmir despite the fact that they contravene the Indian Constitution and international law. These laws violate basic human rights such as right to life, the right to liberty and security of the person and the right to remedy. These atrocities are a true reflection of the Indian policy of condoning human rights violations by its security forces in occupied Kashmir. The people in Indian occupied Kashmir have suffered massive human rights abuses and since 1947, so far more than 200,000 Kashmiris have been killed by the Indian forces, more than 10,000 people are missing, around 22,826 Kashmiri women have been widowed, 10,717 Kashmiri women have been gang raped and about 107,591 children have been orphaned. Besides, there are an estimated 1500 half-widow wives whose husbands have disappeared but not yet declared as dead.
IOK has been witnessing an unprecedented movement and open rebellion against illegitimate occupation of India. Recent wave of Kashmiri intifada has witnessed repression of Indian armed forces; large numbers of the dead and injured have been youngsters. The pellet guns used by security forces have damaged the faces of 1600 people and more than 1100 people have partially or wholly lost their eyesight making 2016 as the year of dead eyes. Since the cold blooded killing of Burhan-ud-din Wani in last July, IOK has been witnessing an unprecedented movement and open rebellion against illegitimate occupation of India. Since the commencement of Kashmiris’ freedom struggle in 1989, the IHK has become one of the world’s most densely militarised zones as 1 million Indian security forces have been deployed there to crush the freedom struggle. Since 1989, around 65 per cent Kashmiris have witnessed explosions, 39 per cent witnessed damage to personal property, 85 per cent Kashmiris witnessed cross fire, 64 per cent Kashmiris are suffering from anxiety, 87 per cent Kashmiris have been frisked by security forces, 48 per cent Kashmiris think they are not safe, 99 per cent have witnessed crackdowns, and 75 per cent have undergone torture while in detention.
Moreover, nearly, 12 per cent of Kashmiri women have suffered violation of their modesty (associated with an act of sexual assault that varies from rape to inappropriate touching). Indian security forces use rape as a tool of subjugation through humiliation and retaliation against civilians. Moreover, Indian security forces are responsible for the disappearance of more than 8000 people and 6000 unknown and unmarked mass graves. One out of every six persons has been tortured. There have been almost 200,000 tortured victims since 1990 and in the same period there are 1 million physically tortured survivors, 95 per cent of whom are non-combatants. According to Action Aid’s recent survey, more than 30 per cent of Kashmiri men and women are found to have severe mental health illnesses. The most common health illness suffered by Kashmiris is depression. Conflict related depression in Indian-held Kashmir reveals that the prevalence of depression in Kashmiri population is over 55 per cent. The Srinagar Psychiatry Hospital was visited by more than 100,000 patients last year as compared to 1700 patients in 1989.
The Kashmiris have been struggling for their inalienable right to self-determination and India has used brute force to suppress their struggle. Indian authorities have been enforcing inhuman laws like Public Safety Act (PSA) and AFSPA to suppress the indigenous Kashmir freedom movement. The Amnesty International latest report has exposed the real face of India. It is time New Delhi realised the ground realities in Kashmir. The United Nations should take steps to stop Indian atrocities and make efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute in the light of the UN resolutions.
