IIOJK’s Peace Paradox: 4,700 Jailed in One Year
Special Correspondent: The world is observing the International Day of Peace, while
the situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir stands in stark
contrast, marked by continued Indian occupation and ongoing state repression
that have contributed to a climate of fear, oppression and disruption of peace
in the territory.A report released by Kashmir Media Service in connection
with the day, today, revealed that for the past 79 years, the oppressed people
have endured severe political injustice, harassment and brutality at the hands
of Indian forces in IIOJK.The report highlights that Indian forces and agencies
routinely employ brutal tactics, including torture, detentions and house raids
in IIOJK. India has been using state terrorism as an official policy to
suppress the freedom struggle of the caged people of Indian illegally occupied
Jammu and Kashmir and intimidate them into submission for the last several
decades but has failed in its nefarious designs.Since the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, IIOJK has been
subjected to an intensified military siege, with the RSS-backed Indian BJP
government effectively transforming the territory into a vast concentration
camp and attacking Kashmiri culture and history by changing school curricula as
per the Hindutva RSS agenda.The BJP regime has silenced political voices and illegally
detained over 3,000 Kashmiris, including APHC top leaders, activists, women,
youth and human rights activists, who have been languishing in illegal
detention for a long time in IIOJK and Indian jails.Personnel of the Indian
Army, police and paramilitary and sleuths of the dreaded National Investigation
Agency and State Investigation Agency have arrested and interrogated over 4,700
Kashmiris this year during violent cordon-and-search operations and house raids
in different areas of the occupied territory.Those arrested include Hurriyat leaders Hayat Ahmed Butt,
Farooq Ahmad Tawheedi, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, human rights activist
Mohammad Ahsan Untoo, AMU students Yasir Kashmiri, Shahbaz and others. Most of
them have been booked under black laws, the Public Safety Act and the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act.The report asserts that Indian troops, paramilitary forces
and police personnel are involved in widespread war crimes in IIOJK, characterizing
the area as the biggest open-air prison on earth. Caged and suppressed, the
Kashmiris are left awaiting intervention from the international community.For over 79 years, Kashmiris have struggled for their
legitimate rights, the right to self-determination and a plebiscite under UN
supervision, yet India has consistently acted as a barrier to a peaceful
resolution of the Kashmir dispute.India risks becoming one of the world’s main generators of
instability, atrocities and violence because of the massive scale and gravity
of the violations and abuses targeting mainly religious and other minorities
such as Muslims, Christians, Dalits, Sikhs and others. It is not just
individual or local, it is systematic and a reflection of religious
nationalism, the report said.The world must break its silence and express outrage at
India’s state-sponsored terrorism and the international community must come
forward to rein in the Hindutva communal agenda which is threatening peace, the
report added.
The report urged accountability from the Indian government
for its actions in IIOJK and called upon the international community to step in
to save the beleaguered Kashmiris. “The need for world attention and action is
urgent, as the situation in IIOJK continues to deteriorate,” the report
concluded.
