Kashmir: What is India Hiding From UN Human Rights Team?

[Riaz Haq]

“Efforts to duck or refuse legitimate scrutiny raise an obvious question: What, precisely, are you hiding from us?....States may shut my office out, but they will not shut us up. Neither will they blind us.”   Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the high commissioner for human rights at the United Nations, to India, as quoted by New York Times.

Indian Soldiers Assaulting Kashmiri Protesters Raising Pakistani Flag

Why is India refusing entry to UN Human Rights team in Indian-Occupied Kashmir? What is the Modi government hiding? Let's try and understand the answers to these question.

Armed Forces Special Powers Act:

When India's founding father Mohandas Gandhi started "Quit India" movement to seek India's independence from Britain, the colonial rulers of British India responded by imposing "The Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance of 1942" on August 15, 1942.

After independence in 1947, the Indian government has made extensive use of the same colonial-era British law to crush legitimate demands for freedom by the peoples of Assam, Manipur, Kashmir and other regions. The Act has now been in force in Kashmir for 26 years.

While Indian government claims Kashmir as an integral part of India, it undermines its own claim by denying fundamental rights to Kashmiris, the rights that are granted by the Indian constitution to all Indian citizens.

Basic Rights Denied:

Not only is the Indian government denying the right of self-determination granted to Kashmiris by multiple UN Security Council Resolutions, New Delhi is also reneging on the commitments made by India's founder and first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Kashmiris and the international community.

Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's Pledge

India is deploying 700,000 troops with extraordinary powers to detain, torture, blind, injure and kill any Kashmiri citizen with impunity under Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990.

Deaths and Injuries:

In the latest Kashmir uprising triggered by the July 8 murder of young Kashmiri activist Burhan Wani by Indian military,  hundreds of protesters have been killed and thousands more injured in peaceful protests.

The extensive use pellet guns by Indian soldiers has blinded hundreds of young men and women, even children, during the current wave of mass protests.

Prior to casualties this latest round of protests, there have tens of thousands of civilians killed and hundreds of thousands injured by Indian military in Kashmir. Thousands of bodies have been found in mass graves in Bandipora, Baramulla, and Kupwara districts in Kashmir, according to The Hindu.

Kashmir Mass Graves:

Dr. Angana Chatterji, a professor of cultural and social anthropology at California Centre for Integral Studies who uncovered the mass graves, reported as follows:  “Of the 2700 graves, 2,373 (87.9 percent) were unnamed. 154 graves contained two bodies each and 23 contained more than two cadavers. Within these 23 graves, the number of bodies ranged from 3 to 17."

Scholars, she said, refer to mass graves as resulting from Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, or Genocide. “If the intent of a mass grave is to execute death with impunity, with intent to kill more than one, and to forge an unremitting representation of death, then, to that extent, the graves in Bandipora, Baramulla, and Kupwara are part of a collective burial by India’s military and paramilitary, creating a landscape of ‘mass burial.’

Dr. Chatterji said post-death, the bodies of the victims were routinely handled by military and paramilitary personnel, including the local police. She said that the bodies were then brought to “secret graveyards” primarily by personnel of the State Police.

The International Peoples' Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice, an independent group headed by Dr. Chatterji, alleged that the violence and militarization in Kashmir, between 1989-2009, have resulted in over 70,000 deaths, including through extrajudicial or “fake encounter” executions, custodial brutality, and other means. “In the enduring conflict, 6, 67,000 military and paramilitary personnel continue to act with impunity to regulate movement, law, and order across Kashmir,” she added.

Indian University Student Protest:

Many enlightened Indians like the Jawaharlal Nehru University students see the brutality and futility of Indian military occupation of Kashmir. At protests earlier this year, many chanted slogans in favor of Azadi for Kashmiris.  "Geelani bole azaadi, Afzal bole azaadi, jo tum na doge azaadi, toh chheen ke lenge azadi! (Geelani and Afzal demanded freedom. If freedom is denied, we will snatch it!)".

New Generation in Revolt: 

During the 26 years of Kashmir under Armed Forces Special Powers Act, an entire new generation of Kashmiris has grown up. This generation, represented by tech-savvy youngsters like Burhan Wani, has seen nothing but repression and violence committed by the Indian military against their people. They are more determined than ever to defy and defeat the illegal and immoral military occupation of their land by India.

Summary:

The use of brute force by 700,000 Indian troops over the last 26 years to crush the legitimate aspirations of millions of Kashmiris is backfiring.  The more Kashmiris Indian military detains, tortures, injures, blinds and kills under Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the less sustainable is its hold on the territory.  It is only a matter of time before India is forced to withdraw its troops and agree to let Kashmiris decide their own fate.

https://youtu.be/oKouqpQjEcg

Here's another video discussion on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_VAqyClS-0

https://vimeo.com/182288648

Did India beat Pakistan in the 1965 war from Ikolachi on Vimeo.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

1965 India-Pakistan War

2016 Kashmir Uprising

Kashmir in Context

Arundhati Roy on Indian Military Occupation of Kashmir

JNU Anti-Modi Protests

[Riaz Haq]

Pro-India #Kashmiri #Muslim Lawmaker Quits #India's Parliament to express his anger over #Modi's "brutal policy"

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/15/world/asia/ap-as-kashmir...

SRINAGAR, India — A prominent pro-India Kashmiri politician resigned Thursday from India's Parliament and from his regional party to protest a government crackdown in Kashmir that prevented people from offering Eid prayers for the first time in the troubled region.

Tariq Hameed Karra, a founding member of the People's Democratic Party, said he quit to express his anger over the "brutal policy'" followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and the acquiescence of his party, a coalition partner.

His decision is a setback for his party in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which has been wracked by massive protests for the past two months following the killing of a popular rebel leader. More than 80 people have been killed and thousands wounded, mostly by government forces firing bullets and shotgun pellets to quell the protests.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. Most Kashmiris want an end to Indian rule and favor independence or a merger with Pakistan.

With the entire Kashmir Valley under a strict curfew, most people stayed indoors for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha on Tuesday. Usually bustling on the holiday, places of worship and marketplaces were deserted.

"For the first time in history, the people of Kashmir were not allowed to offer Eid prayers. Certain shrines and even the Grand Mosque were locked," Karra told reporters Thursday in Srinagar, the main city in the region.

"Kashmiri blood is being spilled on the walls, lanes and drains of the valley,'" he said.

He accused the Indian government of brutality and insensitivity toward Kashmir.

Separatist leaders have repeatedly urged police officers and politicians during the current unrest "to disengage from the Indian state.'"

Early this month, protesters set fire to the house of Nazir Laway, a local lawmaker in south Kashmir.

The governing People's Democratic Party is now left with two lawmakers in India's Parliament representing the region.

It emerged in the early 2000s as the strongest opponent to the National Conference, a regional rival which is now an opposition party, using pro-separatist views for electoral gains. It first came to power in Kashmir in 2002 and assumed power for a second time in 2015 in coalition with Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party after failing to win enough seats to form a government on its own.

"Though I was all along feeling suffocated" by his party's alliance with Modi's party, "my conscience was shaken during the last two months," Karra said.

[Riaz Haq]

بلوچستان کا کشمیر سے کوئی موازنہ نہیں: عاصمہ جہانگیر Asma Jahangir: No comparison between #Kashmir and #Balochistan
http://www.bbc.com/urdu/pakistan/2016/09/160916_asma_interivew_fz

پاکستان میں انسانی حقوق کی سرگرم رکن اور معروف وکیل عاصمہ جہانگیر نے کہا کہ بھارت اور پاکستان کی سول سوسائیٹز نے مشترکہ طور پر اس بات کو تسلیم کیا ہے کہ بھارت کے زیرِ انتظام کشمیر میں جو بربریت ہو رہی ہے وہ یکطرفہ اور بلا جواز ہے۔
بی بی سی اردو سروس کے ریڈیو پروگرام سیربین میں بات کرتے ہوئے عاصمہ جہانگیر نے کہا کہ وہ اس بات پر بھی متفق ہے کہ کشمیر میں حالیہ عوامی احتجاج میں کسی دوسرے ملک کی شدت پسندی کا ہاتھ نہیں ہے۔
بلوچستان کے بارے میں ایک سوال پر انھوں نے کہا کہ بھارت کے زیر انتظام کشمیر اور بلوچستان کا موازنہ نہیں کیا جا سکتا اور بلوچستان میں انسانی حقوق کی صورت حال اتنی تشویش ناک نہیں جتنی بھارت کے زیر انتظام کشمیر میں ہے۔
انھوں نے کہا کہ بھارت کے زیرِ انتظام کشمیر میں ’شوٹ ٹو کل‘ یعنی دیکھتے ہی گولی مار دینے کی پالیسی جاری ہے جب کہ بلوچستان میں ایسا نہیں ہے۔ عاصمہ جہانگیر نے کہا کہ بلوچستان میں انسانی حقوق کی خلاف ورزیوں کی نوعیت اور ہے۔
انھوں نے کہا کہ اس کے علاوہ بلوچستان پاکستان کا حصہ ہے جبکہ کشمیر کی نوعیت بالکل مختلف ہے اور کشمیر کے تمام حصے متنازع ہیں۔
ایک سوال کا جواب دیتے ہوئے انھوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان اور بھارت میں انسانی حقوق پر یقین رکھنے والے اور انسانی حقوق کی پامالیوں کی مذمت کرنے والے کارکنوں کو مشترکہ طور پر اس بات پر زور دینا ہوگا کہ کشمیر سے فوجوں کا انخلاءہو۔
کشمیر کے علاوہ انھوں نے کہا کہ سیاچین سے فوجیوں کو بھی واپس بلانا چاہیے۔ ان کے مطابق سیاچین میں فوجیوں کی تعینات غیر انسانی اور غیر منطقی ہے۔
کشمیر کے مسئلہ پر ایک اور سوال کا جواب دیتے ہوئے انھوں نے کہا کہ یہ مسئلہ دونوں حکومتوں کا بھی مسئلہ ہے اور بجائے اس کے دونوں ملکوں کے لوگوں کو دور کیا جائے دونوں ملکوں کو قریب لا کر اس مسئلہ کا حل نکالنا ہو گا۔
بین الاقوامی انسانی حقوق کی تنظیموں سے رابطے کے متعلق ایک سوال پر انھوں نے کہا کہ وہ بین الاقوامی تنظیموں سے مسلسل رابطے میں ہیں یہ ان کا روز مرہ کا کام ہے ۔انھوں نے کہا کہ ان رابطوں کا اثر بھی سامنے آیا ہے۔
بھارت کی سول سوسائٹی سے متعلق ایک اور سوال پر انھوں نے کہا کہ بھارتی سول سوسائٹی کشمیر کے بارے میں پوری طرح آگاہ ہے اور ان کا ردعمل بہت حوصلہ افزا تھا۔

[Riaz Haq]

Silence over #Indian atrocities in #Kashmir speaks volumes

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/aug/14/silence-over-ka...

nce known for its extraordinary beauty, the valley of Kashmir now hosts the biggest, bloodiest and also the most obscure military occupation in the world. With more than 80,000 people dead in an anti-India insurgency backed by Pakistan, the killings fields of Kashmir dwarf those of Palestine and Tibet. In addition to the everyday regime of arbitrary arrests, curfews, raids, and checkpoints enforced by nearly 700,000 Indian soldiers, the valley's 4 million Muslims are exposed to extra-judicial execution, rape and torture, with such barbaric variations as live electric wires inserted into penises.

Why then does the immense human suffering of Kashmir occupy such an imperceptible place in our moral imagination? After all, the Kashmiris demanding release from the degradations of military rule couldn't be louder and clearer. India has contained the insurgency provoked in 1989 by its rigged elections and massacres of protestors. The hundreds of thousands of demonstrators that fill the streets of Kashmir's cities today are overwhelmingly young, many in their teens, and armed with nothing more lethal than stones. Yet the Indian state seems determined to strangle their voices as it did of the old one. Already this summer, soldiers have shot dead more than 50 protestors, most of them teenagers.

The New York Times this week described the protests as a comprehensive"intifada-like popular revolt". They indeed have a broader mass base than the Green Movement does in Iran. But no colour-coded revolution is heralded in Kashmir by western commentators. The BBC and CNN don't endlessly loop clips of little children being shot in the head by Indian soldiers. Bloggers and tweeters in the west fail to keep a virtual vigil by the side of the dead and the wounded. No sooner than his office issued it last week, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, hastened to retract a feeble statement expressing concern over the situation in Kashmir.

Kashmiri Muslims are understandably bitter. As Parvaiz Bukhari, a journalist, said early this week the stones flung randomly by protestors have become "the voice of a neglected people" convinced that the world deliberately ignores their plight. The veteran Kashmiri journalist Masood Hussain confessed to the near-total futility of his painstaking auditing of atrocity over two decades. For Kashmir has turned out to be a "great suppression story".

Those western pundits who are always ready to assault illiberal regimes worldwide on behalf of democracy ought not to be so tongue-tied. Here is a well-educated Muslim population, heterodox and pluralist by tradition and temperament, and desperate for genuine democracy. However, intellectuals preoccupied by transcendent, nearly mystical, battles between civilization and barbarism tend to assume that "democratic" India, a natural ally of the "liberal" west, must be doing the right thing in Kashmir, ie fighting "Islamofascism". Thus Christopher Hitchens could call upon the Bush administration to establish a military alliance with "the other great multi-ethnic democracy under attack from Muslim fascism" even as an elected Hindu nationalist government stood accused of organising a pogrom that killed more than 2,000 Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat.