HUMAN Rights Day is observed annually on December 10 to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.
The declaration laid down a comprehensive framework for protecting the inherent dignity and rights of all individuals, regardless of nationality, region, colour, creed or religion. Among its key provisions is the equality of all before the law, protection against arbitrary arrest, the right to life, liberty, fair trial, freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression; as well as the right to peaceful assembly. The UDHR also guarantees socio-economic and cultural rights, including the right to work, education, health and an adequate standard of living.
While the declaration promises universal protection, the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) continue to be denied even the most basic human rights. For over seventy-eight years, Kashmiris have endured widespread discrimination, repression and state-sponsored violence under Indian occupation. In IIOJK, human rights are not merely violated rather systematically trampled. Kashmiris continue to face killings, enforced disappearances, displacement, arbitrary detentions, torture, sexual violence and collective punishment in what is one of the world’s most militarized regions.
Since 2019, when India unilaterally revoked the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, the situation has further deteriorated. Beginning in 2020, large tracts of land have been allotted to non-Kashmiris from various Indian states. This state-led demographic engineering enabled by new domicile laws and land ownership policies aims to permanently alter the State’s Muslim-majority character. Such acts fall squarely under grave violations of international law and crimes against humanity. Kashmiris’ land, property and basic rights are being eroded to facilitate the settlement of non-Kashmiri Hindus, turning the very identity of the State into a target. Under this occupation, Kashmiris have no protection under law but only the unchecked authority of Indian security forces, who enjoy complete impunity under draconian legal shields. Arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, custodial torture and summary executions are routine. Fundamental freedoms of speech, assembly, press, religion and movement remain unimaginable. Education, healthcare and cultural rights are systematically denied, as the entire region continues to experience repeated lockdowns, curfews and communication blackouts. The spirit of the UDHR is to uphold “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.” Tragically, this ideal remains distant for the people of IIOJK.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has repeatedly highlighted the massive scale of abuses in IIOJK. On October 29, 2019, OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville expressed deep concern over the post-August 5, 2019 situation, noting that the region had been placed under an unprecedented siege. The prolonged curfew severely restricted movement and denied people their basic rights to education, health, peaceful assembly and religious freedom. OHCHR also documented the excessive and indiscriminate use of pellet guns, tear gas and rubber bullets against civilians, particularly youth, during protests, leading to deaths, blindness and lifelong disabilities. Due to harsh restrictions and media censorship, the true scale of killings, torture and sexual violence remains grossly underreported.
OHCHR also raised alarm over reports of Indian forces forcing civilians to pose for photographs to fabricate the appearance of normalcy. International law unequivocally prohibits torture; yet, for Kashmiris, torture has become a daily reality. In 2018, OHCHR issued its first-ever 49-page report on the human rights situation in Kashmir. It documented in detail a pattern of violations committed by Indian forces, concluding that millions of Kashmiris had been deprived of their basic rights and subjected to “untold suffering.” The report called for the establishment of aUN-mandated Commission of Inquiry to investigate these abuses independently and comprehensively. A follow-up report issued on July 8, 2019 reiterated these concerns, criticizing India for continued violations and the international community for failing to initiate the recommended inquiry report.
Both reports highlighted Indian repeated suspension of internet services, restrictions on local media and the arrest of journalists. Dozens of reporters were interrogated, detained or charged under anti-terror laws merely for performing their professional duties. Youth across the region continued to be targeted, intimidated and killed. On November 24, 2025, UN Experts issued another detailed account of human rights violations in IIOJK. The findings underscored a systematic pattern of torture, custodial deaths, incommunicado detention, denial of fair trial rights, punitive home demolitions, forced evictions and recurring communication shutdowns. The experts also documented the blocking of 8,000 social media accounts, the silencing of dissent and the rise in hate speech, harassment and lynching of Kashmiris and Muslims across India.
The oppressed people of IIOJK demand an immediate end to these violations. They call upon the United Nations, major world powers and the international community to uphold their responsibilities, ensure accountability and support the Kashmiri people’s legitimate right to self-determination as guaranteed by UN resolutions. Without concrete and practical implementation of these resolutions and without extending the protections of the UDHR to Kashmir, international law, global norms and humanitarian principles will remain unfulfilled promises for the millions living under occupation.
The world must recognize that the Kashmiris seek not charity, but their fundamental, internationally recognized rights. The United Nations and the civilized international community must treat the people of IIOJK at par with all other human beings, at least in the domain of basic human rights in their own land. Indeed, IIOJK is a graveyard of the commitments of UDHR.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
