Srinagar
Today, September 15, is observed worldwide as the International Day of Democracy to review the state of democracy in the world, but Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir continues to have no democratic rights, at all.
An analytical report released by Kashmir Media Service on the day, today, said that the present-day India, which is ruled by Narendra Modi-led fascist regime, is itself shrinking space for democratic credentials, what to speak of Jammu and Kashmir, which is occupied by New Delhi in violation of all democratic norms and international laws.
The report says that values of freedom, respect for human rights and exercise of right to self-determination are essential elements of a democracy, but nothing such exists in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Democracy, the report adds, provides the natural environment for the protection and effective realization of human rights. These values are embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The report cites some Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948, wherein fundamental human rights have been incorporated in terms of 31 Articles to be universally protected and says that none of these fundamental rights are enjoyed by the Kashmiri people under so-called democratic India.
What the Modi government with all its military might is doing in IIOJK, the report suggests, is quite opposite to the text of Article 3 of UDHR, which says, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Similarly, Article 5 of the Declaration says that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, however, the fact is that Indian forces had subjected more than 1480 people to brutal torture in just one year since August 5, 2019, while three journalists including photojournalist Kamran Yousuf were beaten up, quite today, when they were covering a cordon and search operation conducted by Indian Army in Pulwama district, this morning.
India in blatant violation of Article 9 of the same Declaration, which makes UN member countries bound that “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”, arrested more than 14,040 Kashmiris over the past one year alone, the report added. India has granted unbridled powers to its forces under black laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act to arrest and kill anyone at free will in the territory.
At the end, the report says that the link between democracy and human rights is captured in Article 21(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.”
However, when it comes to Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the will of the Kashmiris, as per UN Security Council resolutions, shall be ascertained through referendum to decide their political future, but India has always been creating hurdles in exercise of the very fundamental right of the Kashmiri people and continued to hoodwink the international community through exercise of bogus elections in the territory.—KMS
