Staff Reporter
A Virtual Conference of Mayors, Deputy Mayors and Councillors, was held to deliberate on Covid-19 and the ongoing year long Humanitarian Crisis in Jammu & Kashmir on 28 July 2020.
The event was organized in the lead up to unilateral and illegal measures taken by India in occupied Kashmir a year ago on 5 August 2019. The purpose was to apprise the international community of the devastating effects of Covid-19 on the lives of the besieged Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).
The Conference was attended by as many as 60 Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Councillors and community leaders from across the length and breadth of the UK. They condemned the inhuman treatment and atrocious attitude towards the Kashmiri people living under Indian military siege during the worst pandemic. The focus of discussion was on ending the human rights violations and bringing the perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice, says a press release received from London here today.
In his remarks on the occasion, the High Commissioner termed the situation in IoK catastrophic. He said the Kashmiri people were already suffering from the year-long Indian military siege but denial of access to medical facilities has compounded their sufferings and devastated the lives of many families. He hoped that expression of concern at such an important gathering would send a reminder to the world and defenders of human rights to address the plight of the voiceless and defenceless Kashmiris who are enduring unspeakable sufferings at the hands of Indian occupation forces. Mr Zakaria said during the unprecedented and difficult times of pandemic, the Kashmiris look up to the world to end their decades-long sufferings which have been aggravated since 5 August 2019 and the pandemic.
Mr Zakaria referred to available documentary evidence published by the UN and other international human rights organizations pertaining to the crimes against humanity committed by Indian occupation forces. In this regard, he mentioned the Reports by the UN Rapporteurs on Extra-Judicial & Custodial Executions, Arbitrary Detentions, Torture, and other inhuman treatment; UNOHCHR Reports of 2018 &2019; Int’l People’s Tribunal Report; Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons Report on discovery of mass graves entitled: Buried Evidence; Amnesty International Report on mass blinding: Losing Sight in Kashmir; and a number of other documented accounts. He said evidence on Mass Graves, Mass Blinding, Mass Rapes, numerous Massacres since 1989, Genocide of 1947, Custodial & Extra-Judicial Killings and Torture is enough for the international community to take action against the perpetrators.
