SRINAGAR (Kashmir English): Human rights violations in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have witnessed a sharp rise since India’s Hindutva-driven government, led by BJP, revoked the territory’s special status in August 2019.
According to a report by Kashmir Media Service, over 1,043 Kashmiris, including young boys and women, have been martyred, more than 2,656 injured and over 29,997 arrested in the territory since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
Indian forces in their unabated acts of state terrorism martyred two Kashmiris in a fake encounter in the last month of October in occupied Kashmir.
During the month, Indian forces and agencies, including personnel from the Indian army, police, paramilitary, Special Investigation Agency (SIA) and National Investigation Agency (NIA), arrested 42 civilians, mostly political activists, youth and students, during 244 cordon and search operations and house raids across the territory.
Many of the detainees were booked under black laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA).
Additionally, two women were molested by Indian forces in the month.
IIOJK administration under the direct control of New Delhi-appointed Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also continued its punitive measures by attaching properties, including homes and lands, of 20 Kashmiris in October.
Furthermore, two Kashmiri Muslim employees were suspended from their government jobs as part of the ongoing crackdown.
Detained Kashmiri leadership
Meanwhile, over 3,000 Kashmiris, including Hurriyat leaders and activists such as APHC Chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Ayaz Akbar, Pir Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Syed Shahid Shah, Advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Dr Hameed Fayaz, Shahid-ul-Islam, Bilal Siddiqi, Molvi Bashir Irfani, Zaffar Akbar Butt , Noor Muhammad Fayaz, Abdul Ahad Parra, Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo, Dr Muhammad Shafi Shariati, Rafiq Ahmad Ganai, Firdous Ahmed Shah, Saleem Nanaji, Muhammad Yasin Butt, Fayaz Hussain Jafari, Umar Adil Dar, human rights defender Khurrum Parvaiz, journalists Irfan Majeed, and others, continue to endure unlawful imprisonment on politically motivated charges.
They have been languishing in Indian and IIOJK jails for years on fabricated charges.
Political experts and analysts have deplored the silence of the United Nations and other world’s major powers on the flagrant human rights violations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
They questioned whether the world is waiting for another Palestine-like crisis to emerge in South Asia.
The experts argued that the Indian BJP regime is blatantly violating international law and committing gross human rights abuses in a region that remains an internationally recognized disputed territory.
Numerous independent human rights organizations have documented the systematic repression and atrocities committed by Indian forces in IIOJK.
Analysts argue that these continued abuses are part of the BJP regime’s broader strategy to crush the Kashmiri people’s resolve for freedom.
The analysts further pointed out that these human rights abuses in IIOJK were directly linked to the decades-old unresolved Kashmir dispute.
India continues to ignore global calls for an investigation into the rights violations in the territory, despite widespread evidence of abuse.
They called for the United Nations and other peace-loving countries to break their silence and address India’s illegal occupation and state-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
The international community, they stressed, must apply pressure India to resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions and in alignment with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
