Muhammad Haroon
The appalling crimes against humanity in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) have been witnessed over the past few years. The Indian forces are targeting the most vulnerable sections of society including women, children and minorities. Unfortunately, rape and humaliations have become the new vision of shining India, a single largest achievement of the BJP leadership, which came into power under the fake mantra of ‘Sab Ka Sath, Sab Ka Vikas’ (inclusion and progress for all).
Besides international criticism on India, its politicians are now realizing the greaves of the Kashmiri people. Derek O’Brien is an Indian politician, author, member of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of India’s Parliament) and also the leader of the ‘All India Trinamool Congress’ in Rajya Sabah. He along with his 25 members of the parliament on a ‘Parliamentary Standing Committee’ tour visited the IOK. After the visit, in his speech in the parliament, highlighted institutional and governance crevices within the state of India and number of discriminatory issues which the innocent people of the IOK are facing. He condemned the unfair imposition of GST on the people of the IOK, use of pellet guns, brutalities of Indian armed forces and the political victimization by BJP of Kashmiris in IOK.
The rise of voices like of an Indian politician as Brien for Human Rights in Kashmir is not a new thing. It develops an understanding of everyone’s common responsibility to make human rights a reality in every country. But, some countries especially, India are still ignoring this fact by suppressing Kashmiri Human Rights.
According to international human rights groups, around 100,000 Kashmiri people have been killed since 1989. While the official figures from Indian sources state that the estimates of a number of civilians killed due to the insurgency is in the range of 16,725 to 47,000 civilians in the IOK. The year 2017 & 2018 also turned out to be one of the bloodiest years in the Kashmir Valley. This scenario shows the lawlessness and violation of Human Rights by the Indian government in IOK. Furthermore, India still faces strong resistance. The UN reported the use of pellet-firing shotguns against innocent protesters resulting in deaths and grave injuries. Official government figures list 17 people as being killed by pellet injuries between July 2016 and August 2017, but according to the IOK Chief Minister 6,221 people had been injured by pellet guns fired by Indian Security Forces. Human Rights Watch also criticized that India continued to abstain, and even played a negative role, in country-specific resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and General Assembly. Vigilante violence aimed at religious minorities, marginalized communities, and critics of the government often carried out by groups claiming to support the ruling BJP, became an increasing threat in the IOK. The government failed to promptly investigate the attacks, while many senior BJP leaders publicly promoted Hindu supremacy and ultra-nationalism, which encouraged further violence in the IOK.
The BJP also wants to abort the “Public Safety Act” in the IOK, which was used to detain over 1,000 people, including children’s during March 2016 and August 2017. “The Public Safety Act” is an administrative detention law that allows detention without charge or trial for up to two years and has often been used to detain people on vague grounds for long periods, disregarding regular criminal justice safeguards. The Indian government also frequently uses communication blockades and suspension of mobile and internet services to restrict freedom of expression, targeting of media and journalists in the IOK which is another blow to ban the media.
The human rights reports of reputable international organizations as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch cannot be ignored. India must awake, after decades of violence and killings of innocent Kashmiris, violence can neither resolve the issue nor suppress the desire for freedom. Even, Indian politicians are exposing the brutal BJP’s harsh policies against the innocent Kashmiris. India has been trying to link the Kashmiri freedom struggle with terrorism and has been able to make Western governments to believe its narrative on Kashmir. Pakistan has to deal with this issue by institutionalizing the Kashmir Conflict and International Human Rights organizations would be required to basing it on the Kashmir’s legitimate rights.
Speech of O’Brien exposed the Indian policy of using force to suppress the freedom struggle of the Kashmir. It also exposed the Indian brutal face, as India also has not signed the Convention against torture. Pakistan can highlight this issue under International law and link it to grave human rights violations in the IOK. Moreover, Pakistan needs to seek help from regional powers, i.e. China and Russia by using their media to propagate the Indian violations case and try to pressurize India to restrain from human rights violations and the plebiscite decide their fate.
