International Human Rights Day; Kashmir continues to bleed

Written by: Ahmed Ali

Every year on December 10, the oppressed nations mark Human Rights Day, as the United Nations General Assembly established the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on that day in 1948. It reflected the view that human dignity is at the center of our society and that respect for human rights is crucial for conflict prevention and human development.

Unfortunately, the international community has frequently failed to live up to its commitment to human rights. In the last 75 years, humanity has been rocked by a number of calamities. Conflicts, inequality, violence, discrimination, and exclusion continue to devastate individuals and societies all across the world. In resolving these challenges, human rights are all too often overlooked.

Protests, marches, seminars, and conferences are organized worldwide to create awareness about human rights. In the disputed territory of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), where egregious human rights violations by Indian security forces continue unabated, no such conference, protest seminar is allowed by the occupation authority.

This time, this day has arrived after more than 4 years and three months since the unilateral change in status. However, Indian forces have maintained the lockdown in IOK. In fact, Indian forces have broken all previous records of gross human rights abuses since 5 August 2019 when Indian extremist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked Articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to IOK. In order to turn the Muslim majority into a minority, the Indian government bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, to be ruled by the federal government, and also issued domicile certificates to  non-Kashmiris to change the ethno-demographic structure of IOK.

Since 1947, India has continued its repressive measures in IOK, while since 1989, the Indian Army and paramilitary forces have been committing gross human rights abuses by continuing various forms of state terrorism.

In addition, New Delhi has deployed over 900,000 troops in IOK, and Indian security forces have killed tens of thousands of Kashmiris, including women and children, using merciless techniques such as pellet fire and extrajudicial assassinations. Furthermore, the closing of mosques and the restriction of fundamental religious freedom for millions of Kashmiri Muslims are severe violations of international law and human rights legislation, to which India is a signatory.

Notably, Indian troops have used draconian laws such as the Armed troops Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Public Safety Act (PSA), and others to martyr the Kashmiri people and arbitrarily arrest anyone for an indeterminate period of time. Indian occupation forces and other agencies enjoy complete impunity for all the crimes they are committing against the innocent people of Kashmir. Indian notorious investigation agency (NIA) and its extension in occupied Kashmir called SIA are used to deprive people of their land and other properties.

It is worth noting that many foreign leaders, mainly those of Western countries, their legislators, media, and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and others, as well as the United Nations, have frequently condemned Indian illegal measures and human rights crimes in IOK.

In this regard, on August 4, 2020, UN human rights experts urged India and the international community to investigate all cases of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detentions, in order to address the “alarming” human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2020, Amnesty International stated that it would “stop its work in India because the government has frozen its bank accounts for highlighting rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir… the government had sought to punish it for that.” Amnesty International has also stated that it is “deeply concerned about the disregard for the lives of people in Jammu and Kashmir…The right to life is laid down in major international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which India has ratified… the language publicly used by state officials in Jammu and Kashmir betrays and strengthens disregard for the most fundamental of all rights”. In the new past, the UN Security council in its gathering has repeated for the fourth time that the Kashmir question expects to be settled by the connected Security council resolutions.

Pakistan’s civil and military leadership have over and over expressed that inaction by the global local area, especially the West’s significant powers, against New Delhi, who have monetary interests in India could prompt customary conflict which could finish into atomic conflict between the two nations. Besides, Indian powers had likewise sped up shelling inside the Pakistani side of Kashmir by disregarding the truce understanding across the Line of Control (LoC) and constrained the Pakistan Armed force to give a matching answer. Pakistan and India’s Director Generals of Military Operations had recently agreed to strictly adhere to the LoC ceasefire agreement of 2003, but India continues to violate it.

Unfortunately, the Modi-drove system’s radical moves have totally finished any kind of discourse with Islamabad to settle the Kashmir issue. Despite this, Indian state terrorism is wreaking havoc in Kashmir even as the world celebrates Human Rights Day.

The writer is a student of Peace and Conflict Studies at National Defense University, Islamabad and is currently serving as an intern at Kashmir Institute of International Relations.