Naeem Masood
The issue of Jammu and Kashmir is the world’s oldest unresolved international conflict, having been on the agenda of the United Nations Security Coun-cil (UNSC) since 1948.
The UN Security Council has passed numerous resolutions acknowledging the legitimate right of Kashmiris to self-determination.
This right has been denied by stockpiling an oc-cupation force of over 900,000 troops on behalf of Indian government, making Indian Illegally Occu-pied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) the world’s most militarized zone.
India’s Illegal and Unilateral Actions of 5 Au-gust 2019 invalidated Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution in an attempt to alter the terri-tory’s demographic structure.
To maintain its unlawful annexation of IIOJK, the Indian government has implemented illegal citi-zenship regulations in an attempt to alter the popula-tion of the disputed area in order to extend its ‘Hin-dutva’ goal.
According to reports, India has granted over 4.2 million domiciles to Hindus from outside the IIOJK region.
Additionally, the Indian government has enacted new land laws under the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020″ that allow “citizens of India” to purchase non-agricultural land in IIOJK without ever having a domicile in the occupied terri-tory.
The new citizenship law erodes Kashmiris’ reli-gious, linguistic, and cultural identities and jeopard-izes economic opportunities for indigenous Kash-miris.
India’s illegal and unilateral actions on 5 August 2019 were a flagrant breach of United Nations Se-curity Council Resolutions and international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The Indian government has imposed an un-precedented military blockade and limitations on the Kashmiri people’s fundamental rights and freedoms as a result of this horrible act.
To this day, the Kashmiri leadership is impris-oned on bogus charges.Extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions are all still happen-ing.
The practice of Indian occupation forces mur-dering Kashmiri children in fake “encounters” and “cordon-and-search” operations has become almost routine in IIOJK.
Thousands of people have been held without charges or due process, including children. Arrests of Kashmiri youngsters are also taking place indis-criminately. A whole slew of draconian legislation, including the Public Safety Act (PSA), the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), have made these measures legal (UAPA).
Since August 5th, 2019, more than 519 Kash-miris have been killed by Indian Occupation Forces during detention, false encounters, or staged cordon and search operations.
A total of 584 people have been injured by pel-lets, including individuals who have lost their eye-sight.
Even the dead bodies of those killed in fake en-counters are not handed over to the families for their burial.
Pakistan has constantly been emphasizing that the Indian occupation troops’ gross and systemic abuses of human rights necessitate an investigation by a United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI), as recommended by the OHCHR in its 2018 and 2019 reports.
Government of Pakistan has released a dossier on the Indian Occupation Forces’ human rights abuse, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in the IIOJK on September 12, 2021.
The 113 references used in the 131-page docu-ment are mostly from foreign or Indian sources. Since 2014, 3,432 incidences of war crimes have been reported by 118 Indian Army units, ac-cording to the dossier.
The Dossier contains information on Indian Oc-cupation forces, including torture of Kashmiri youth in custody, violence against women and children, arbitrary detention and “half widows,” indiscrimi-nate use of pellet guns, cordon and search opera-tions, fake encounters, false-flag operations, and fake arms recovery, as well as efforts to effect demographic change after August 5, 2019. Several world parliaments, media outlets, and international organizations, including the UN, UNHRC, EU, OIC, have criticized India’s actions in IIOJK.
The UNSC has discussed the Kashmir dispute three times since August 5.He also called on India to stop using pellets against children in IIOJK in his June 2021 report titled “Children and Armed Con-flict”.
During his May 2021 visit to Pakistan, UNGA President Volkan Bozkir urged all parties not to alter the status of Jammu and Kashmir, stating that a just solution should be found peacefully in accor-dance with the UN Charter and relevant UNSC Resolutions.
Parliaments in the EU, US, UK, Sweden, and Portugal have passed resolutions and debated gross and systematic human rights violations in IIOJK.
The Russell Tribunal on Kashmir met in Sara-jevo on December 17-19, 2021, to investigate Indian war crimes and crimes against humanity in IIOJK where several Kashmiri witnesses were present.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) also detailed the human rights abuses in IIOJK in its 2021 report. Amnesty International’s 2020-2021 “State of the World’s Human Rights” report highlighted grave human rights violations by the Indian Government and Occupying Forces in IIOJK.
[The writer is a contributing columnist and ana-lyst associated with Islamia University Bahawalpur. Pakistan Observer]
