Zubair Qureshi
Since August 5, 2019 some 1.5 million Kashmiri children in occupied Jammu & Kashmir have endured extreme forms of violence by the occupying Indian forces. Citizens are forced to live in constant fear of forced abductions, arbitrary arrests torture, extra judicial killings and debilitating injuries from pellet guns.
These views were expressed by the participants of a webinar organized by the Ministry of Human Rights (HR) to explore the Human Rights Crisis in the Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, marking the one-year siege and revocation of the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that stripped the Muslim majority territory of J&K of its autonomous status.
The occupation and annexation of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir is followed by a stringent lockdown, wide scale arrests, and an unprecedented communication blackout.
The panel discussion explored how the situation in IOK deteriorated in the last year, as well as how recent developments related to International Human Rights Law. It was moderated by Federal Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari.
Panelists included Fawad Chaudhary, Federal Minister for Science and Technology; Ahmed Quraishi, Executive Director of Youth Forum for Kashmir (YFK); Syed Ali Mohammad Zafar, Senior Partner of Mandviwalla & Zafar & Legal Consultants; and Muhammad Oves Anwar, Director of the Conflict Law Centre (CLC) at RSIL.
Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, highlighted the significance of the role played by PM Imran Khan in terms of changing the narrative of Kashmir amongst the International Community, by equating Modi’s human rights abuses and blatant refusal to comply with International Law, with Hitler’s Fascism. “Now that Modi’s fascism has come to light, the narrative has changed. We should move forward with active diplomacy.”
Advocate Ali Zafar stated Pakistan’s case was based on self-determination and in today’s world that principle will win against arms and boots. He said that there has been a total denial of Justice for the past 7 decades, which has taken the basic human right to life away from the Kashmiris. He concluded by saying “There are numerous incidents of sexual abuses, their voices have been shut down due to the blocking of internet connectivity and they have no right to trial.”
Oves Anwar shared an interesting presentation exploring the issue through the perspective of international humanitarian law. He noted that India has been turned into a warzone where villagers are used as human shields and 100s of rape cases have been documented between 1989-2017. He spoke about the significance of appealing to the international community at large, by framing the issue in humanitarian terms, so that it could be understood as a threat to Human Rights all over the world.
