By: Dr. Shagufta Ashraf
Jammu and Kashmir is the 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 democ-racy India, according to Legal Forum for Kashmir, 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 infrac-ion and suspension of rights makes IIOJK an in-formation 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 IIOJK 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 freedom fighters 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 centres. On multiple occasions Indian state agencies have taken prisoners out and killed them in fake military operations. Torture and sexual violence continue to be used as 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 IIOJK 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 to project image of normalcy in IlOJK, New Delhi announced Srinagar as the venue for the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting scheduled to take place from May 22- 24, 2023.
[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.]
