State-sponsored hooliganism in IIOJK
EVERY state is responsible to protect the life, property and privacy of its citizens. International law also fixes some obligations on the occupying powers like India to protect the life, demography, property and privacy of people in occupied areas.
But the analysis of the situation of IIOJK shows that the Indian state is behaving like hooligans in IIOJK.
It is not a new policy but India has been repeating it since 1947. In 1947¡ Patiala forces¡ which were under the control of the Indian government, RSS and Akali Dal workers with the help of Dogra forces conducted genocide of Kashmiri Muslims which resulted in the killing of at least 2,50,000 unarmed Muslims in Jammu.
In 1947 a group was created in the name of the Peace Brigade. This brigade comprised goons of National Conference workers and unscrupulous elements to maintain peace but they were involved in humiliation, rape and abduction of women to silence those people who were against Indian aggression or were pro-Pakistan.
In the same pattern “Khoftan Faqirs” (The Beggars of the Night) was established by Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad in 1953.
In 1994 Indian government founded and sponsored an organization “Ikhwan” headed by Koka Pare to kill and threaten pro-freedom people in IIOJK.
Human Rights Watch reported in 1999, “Indian security forces have been making systematic use of state-sponsored counter-military forces, frequently called “renegades” by Kashmiris, composed of captured or surrendered former militants, in effect subcontracting some of their abusive tactics to groups with no official accountability.
Many of these groups have been responsible for grave human rights abuses, including summary executions, “disappearances,” torture and illegal detention.
”On October 1, 1995, the Indian government established “Village Defence Committees” (VDCs) in the Jammu division.
These VDCs were a force of volunteers trained in “self-defence” against freedom fighters, the government issued/provided weapons in the form of 303 rifles along with 100 rounds of ammunition for each weapon.
These VDCs have committed war crimes like kidnappings, murders and rapes. According to official data, 221 criminal cases have been filed against VDC members in Jammu, including 23 cases of murder and seven cases of rape, 15 cases of rioting, three anti-drug cases and 169 other cases, out of which charges have been filed in 205 cases.
In 2019 Indian government changed the status of IIOJK and the prime objective is to change the demography of the State.
New domicile law was introduced in 2020 to settle Indian and more specifically RSS and terrorist Hindus in Kashmir.
Soon after the approval of the Indian Constitution and granting special status to Kashmir in article 370, RSS and its allied wings Paraka Parsiahed and Jan Sangh started agitation against it.
The founder of Jan Sangh Dr. Shyama Prasad died in Srinagar Jail on June 23, 1953. In April 2022 Mohan Bhagwat warned that those who are opposing Akhand Bharat will be either pushed out or eliminated.
According to Akhand Bharat ideology, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are one nation and will become part of Baharat.
Moreover, RSS believes in the supremacy of Hindus and that India is only for Hindus. This is the same dream as Hitler’s lebensraum dream for greater Germany and Vladimir Putin is trying to convert Russia into another Soviet Union.
These wishes of changing the maps and geographical boundaries will not be fulfilled but the price will have to be paid in terms of loss of lives and property.
RSS is targeting all religious minorities in India like Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Jains and Dalts.
The Indian government led by Modi is facilitating and supporting RSS to complete its nefarious agenda of hate, terror and destruction.
In 2022 the Indian government issued a fresh order to establish Village Defence Guards (VDGs).
These are not Village Defence Guards but these are Village Deployed Goons (VDGs), because these are to suppress Muslims in Kashmir.
On January 08, 2023, in India illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the authorities resumed the process of distributing weapons among the Hindutva terrorists in the name of security in the Jammu region.
In 2017 Christophe Jaffrelot in the article “India’s democracy at 70: Toward a Hindu state? ” rightly pointed out that India is on the path to become an ethnic democracy meaning that one core ethnic group will form the core nation in the state and rule the government and see non-members of the core group as a threat and will thus grant them limited rights.
The core ethnic group in India is the Hindu terrorist group BJP. According to Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, founding President of the global organization “Genocide Watch”, “We believe that the Indian government’s actions in Kashmir have been an extreme case of persecution and could very well lead to genocide.
” The actions of the Indian government in IIOJK are a clear violation of international law and recent steps of distributing arms to Hindu terrorists will lead towards the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Muslims.
The world must take notice of these gross human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against Humanity by the Indian Government.
—The writer is Director Kashmir Policy Research Institute, Director JKLC.
