Human Rights Day is observed world-wide on 10th of December each year. On this day, ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ (UDHR) was adopted by United Nations General Assembly in 1948. UDHR has mandated itself to protect the human rights of every individual world-wide irrespective of state, region, colour, creed or religion. The salient features of the declaration are; equality of everyone before the law, protection against arbitrary arrest, the right to life and a fair trial, the right to own property; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom of opinion and expression; and freedom of peaceful assembly. It also secures the socio-economic rights, cultural rights, right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living and right to education and health facilities.Whereas, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights demand securing the right of everyone without discrimination, the Kashmiris of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) are undergoing all forms of discriminations, tyranny, suppression and brutalities of Indian occupation forces since last over seventy-five years. There are no human rights of Kashmiris secured under Indian occupation in IIOJK. Indeed, the Kashmiris of IIOJK are facing genocide, displacement, detention, rapes, siege and clamp-down in their own motherland. Now their land is being given to non-Kashmiri Hindus from various Indian states after undoing the special state of IIOJK in August 2019. Under the Indian occupation, the land and properties of Kashmiris are being snatched to inhabit non Kashmiri Hindus for making demographic changes. This act of making demographic changes falls in the category of serious crimes against humanity and a grave violation of human rights. Contrary to the declaration, in IIOJK there are no human rights of the Kashmiri Muslims. They are humiliated, tortured, killed and their women folks are raped only because they are Muslims and demand their right of self-determination. There are no laws for the Kashmiris, except the will of Indian security forces. Security forces have complete impunity to arrest Kashmiris, detain or kill any Kashmir Muslim at will. No one in IIOJK has the right to life, liberty or fair trial. Kashmiris of IIOJK cannot imagine the freedom of thoughts, opinion, expression or freedom of peaceful assembly to even meet each other. Kashmiricultural rights, their identity and right to education and health facilities are out of question in IIOJK.
The spirit of UDHR was to attain and proclaim “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”. This aspect seems unlikely to be fulfilled in the case of IIOJK. It is worth mentioning that, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has highlighted the massive human rights violation in IIOJK more than once. In its Press briefing on October 29, 2019, Mr Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, had highlighted the post August 5, 2019 human rights situation in IIOJK, which is under siege since then. OHCHR criticized the siege imposed by India in IIOJK. OHCHR has also highlighted the human right abuses, excessive use of force including the use of pellet-firing shotguns, tear gas and rubber bullets by security forces during sporadic protests by Kashmiri youth. Very less is known on account of actual killings, torture, arrests and rapes in IOK, since there is no excess of unbiased media in IIOJK.
As per international law, “Torture is totally and unequivocally prohibited,” nevertheless, Kashmiris of IIOJK are facing this globally prohibited act on daily basis. In June 2018, in its 49-page report, OHCHR gave details of details human rights violations and abuses in IIOJK. It was the first ever report issued by the UN on the human rights situation in the state. It was clearly mentioned in that report that, Kashmir conflict has robbed millions of (Kashmiris) “their basic human rights, and continues to this day to inflict untold suffering.” In that detail report, guarantees were sought for ending the cycles of violence in IIOJK. That report asked UN for the establishment of a fair commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir.
Regretfully, India disregarded all UN resolutions, reports of OHCHR, facts presented by Amnesty International and reports of human rights on the situation in IIOJK. On July 8, 2019, another report was initiated by OHCHR, criticizing the Indian Government for continued human rights violations in IIOJK. It was disregarded too and major powers and UN has not been able to give Kashmiris their right of self-determination. The people of IIOJK demandan end of Indian massive human rights violations. They also demand a practical role of United Nations and international community to end their sufferings at the hands of brutal Indian security forces.
The people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmiri questions the civilized international community, Muslim states and international forums over the discrimination, Kashmiris are facing since 1947. They demand that, United Nations’ Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UN resolutions on Kashmir should be implemented in letter and spirit in the case of Kashmir too. The selective implementation of these internationally credited forums is a serious cause of concern for Kashmiris. These forums must treat Kashmiris at par with rest of international humanity at least in the context of human rights in their own state. They must compel India to stop human rights violations and demographic changes in IIOJK.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
Email: [email protected]
views expressed are writer’s own.
