Jammu and Kashmir is an oldest unresolved dispute on the agenda of United Nations. Over two dozen United Nations resolutions call for a fair and impartial plebiscite to decide the future status of Jammu and Kashmir as per the wishes of its people.It is a matter of the future of over twenty-million Kashmiris.
India cannot be allowed to continue its fascistic policy of expansionism and forceful illegal occupation on the one hand and host G20 summit to project normalcy on the other.
From the mirror of Human Rights Record of this Fascist so called rouge democracy India, according to Legal Forum for Kashmir ,Year 2022 again witnessed bloodshed of Kashmiris and silencing of Kashmir’s civil society, arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders, journalists and religious clergy. The unparalleled censorship and blackout on all forms of media coverage about the ongoing situation in the war-trampled region has made it more vulnerable for human rights organizations and media to work freely.
In year 2022 alone,India intensified its military density in Kashmir- deploying and mobilizing aggressively 900,000 forces. In addition to this India has engaged more than 130,000 police personnel in anti-resistance operations and created more agencies like SIA and SIU.
Indian troops launched 200 Cordon and search operations (CASOs) and Cordon and Destroy Operations (CADOs).
The CASOs and CADOs also left 212 residential houses vandalized and destroyed at the hands of Indian occupying forces. The infraction and suspension of rights makes IIOJ&K an information black hole. There were 169 instances of Internet blockade. Meanwhile, the Indian fascist state remains infamous as the ‘Internet shutdown capital of the world’, ranking first globally for chronic Internet shutting downs. India also stringently employs internet surveillance machinery against Kashmiris and profiles internet users unethically. India’s counter-terrorism agency attached two dozen properties including schools of Jamaat-e-Islami. Illegal acquisition of land by Indian military and paramilitary forces remained another dominant rights violation issue in IOJK. In January 2022, thousands acres of land in Gulmarg and Sonamarg area of IlOJ&K were declared as ‘strategic areas’ and given to Indian military.
The excessive use of force and impunity enjoyed by Indian forces in IOJK has increased the “Atrocity Crimes” manifold. There have been numerous cases of extrajudicial/custodial killings and denial of burial rites to the family members of civilians and rebels alike. Altaf Ahmad Shah, a prominent pro-freedom leader from Indian Occupied Kashmir died in the Indian custody while fighting renal cancer. Shah, 66, was being held in the high-security Tihar prison in the Indian capital, New Delhi, for the past five years. Shah’s family had raised alarm about his deteriorating health condition many occasions. Kashmiri prisoners of war continue to suffer in various Indian jails and torture centers. On multiple occasions Indian state agencies have taken prisoners out and killed them in fake military operations. Torture and Sexual violence continues to be used as a weapon of choice. Resistance and dissent have been criminalized as Indian state continues to use masquerading language and cloaked terminology to hoodwink international community. The Indian authorities in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir have terminated services of at least 40 employees, citing their affinity to resistance ideology. This social, cultural, economic and political disempowerment is carried to infuse fear among Kashmiri populace and create coercive disciplining.
Religious freedom remains curtailed for the Muslim majority region. It has been 198 weeks in the last six-years that Kashmir’s largest mosque, Jamia Masjid remains locked down. Dozens of Imams and preachers were routinely harassed, while many of them were booked under draconian laws like UAPA and PSA. Massive administrative and legislative changes arming and aiding the Indian settler colonial project saw massive land grabs by Indian defense and Hindu right-wing capitalists paving way for demographic change. In a bid to disempower native Muslim population, India extended voting rights to all the Indian citizens living temporarily in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. These arbitrary orders tantamount to changing the demography of Occupied Kashmir and implemented coercively and incessantly.
The Jammu and Kashmir dispute further flared up four years ago when India’s Hindu nationalist government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, revoked Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which granted IIOJ&K partial autonomy.
Whereas in Dec,2022 India took over the presidency of the G20, an economic cooperation bloc comprised of 19 countries and the European Union, and projects image of normalcy in IlOJ&K and announced Srinagar as the venue for the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting scheduled to take place from May 22- 24 ,2023.
Pakistan called it “India’s irresponsible move and it is the latest in a series of self-serving measures to perpetuate its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir in sheer disregard of the United Nations Security Council resolutions and in violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law. Such events cannot hide the reality of IlOJ&K being an internationally recognized dispute that has remained on the agenda of United Nations Security Council for over seven decades.
It’s time to think for members of G20 nations , what office of the high commissioner’s reports on kashmir says ,what human rights watch says ,what Amnesty international says what Genocide Watch says about J&K. This controversial decision aims to divert global attention from the core issue of the occupation of a people without their consent. It creates ambiguity around the matter and undermines the legitimacy of the Kashmiris’ demand for a plebiscite in accordance with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
It is worth recalling that the personal visits of members of the European Parliament to Kashmir last year was misrepresented by the Government of India as an official EU delegation. Rightly, many EU participants protested this deception. Such public relations stunts are meant to engineer a facade of normalcy and deceive the world into believing that the situation in Kashmir is safe and secure , which actually is not.
Twenty million kashmiris anticipate that the G20 nations, as signatories to the universal declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva convention, will adopt a conclusive, good of the people stance. It is your credibility on the line and we urge you to stand firm and refuse to be weaponized in the disempowerment and subjugation of helpless Kashmiris.
We also urge G20 nations that as you are aware of territory’s disputed nature, you must conduct a comprehensive computation of deteriorating human rights situation in IlOJ&K and suggest the Government of India to change the summit’s location otherwise not to participate. Because economic and tourism outgrowth cannot be flourished under the bloodshed umbrella and massacre of human rights.
Writer is an Assistant Professor at University of Kotli Azad Jammu and Kashmir , Special Procedures Expert at United Nations Human Rights Council Geneva and Director Geneva School of Business and Economics Geneva
By,Dr. Shagufta Ashraf,
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