Mohammad Jamil
Pakistan is gravely concerned over the use of chemical weapons by Indian troops in Indian Held Kashmir, which is sheer violation of international laws and conventions, and demanded that this matter should be investigated under international laws. But India should give access to Independent Human Rights Mission to Occupied Kashmir to investigate into violation of human rights of Kashmiris. This was said by Foreign Office (FO) spokesman during his weekly press briefing a few days ago. In his address in Islamabad to mark International Human Rights Day, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan claimed that Indian security forces used chemical weapons against civilians in IHK. Earlier this year, the Foreign Office also tried to draw attention of international community towards the use of chemical munitions against civilians in IHK, which remained mute on this issue.
A series of international treaties, specifically the Chemical Weapons Convention, prohibits the use of chemical weapons not only in international armed conflicts but also non-international armed conflicts; and rather in all circumstances. AJK president pointed out that attempts were being made to change the population ratio in Kashmir, and demographics in IHK are being manipulated with an ulterior motive to harm Kashmiris’ freedom struggle. He said: “The international community has not played its role in solving the Kashmir dispute,” adding that during his recent trip to Brussels and Washington he emphasised the need for the solution of this dispute. For decades, the people of Indian Occupied Kashmir have suffered persistent human rights violations at the hands of the Indian authorities and the Army. Over the years, numerous leading human rights groups like Amnesty International have been critical of India and had asked Indian government to stop repression and suppression on people of Kashmir.
In April 2016, a US report stated: “There were few investigations and prosecutions of human rights violations arising from internal conflicts. The abuses range from mass killings, fake encounters, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. Nothing has been done about the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which is used to kill innocent civilians without trial or judgment. India cannot continue to hide behind the AFSPA anymore. Thousands of lives have been lost.” Kashmiris have faced death and destruction for around seven decades. However, when people of Kashmir realized that international community would neither pressurize India into implementing the UNSC resolutions nor it would persuade India to put an end to its barbarities, Kashmiris took up the arms in 1989, and since then more than 90000 Kashimiris have laid down their lives.
In Pakistan, some analysts had radiated an aura of optimism and pinned high hopes on the Congress leadership during its tenure for the resolution of all outstanding issues including the Kashmir dispute; but they were utterly disappointed over Indian leadership’s intransigence from Congress. There were others who were skeptical about resumption of the stalled composite dialogue till the Congress was at the helm of affairs, because Kashmir was forcibly occupied during Congress rule. But BJP government under Narendra Modi is much more ruthless than the previous governments. Since then, the repression and oppression in Kashmir knows no bounds, and Indian security forces have used chemicals and pellet guns leading to loss of life and blinding thousands of youth and children. However, Kashmiris are demanding the right of self determination as mandated by the UNSC resolutions.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was instrumental in shutting off internet services intermittently, so that civilians cannot communicate with the outside world. It is for all these reasons that India must be held accountable for these human rights violations. Civilians have suffered since the 1990s without any assistance from international bodies. They demand of the Human Rights Council to take account of the evidence with a view to investigating into the serious oppression and human rights violations suffered by the people of Kashmir. In July 2017, clashes broke out on the first death anniversary of Burhan Wani, and India had once again placed Kashmir under curfew, removed all communications and shut down any opportunity for an international civil remedy. Anyhow, if India does not resolve the Kashmir dispute, the people of the region would continue to live in trepidation and fear because both India and Pakistan are nuclear states.
