WORLD-wide Human Rights Day is observed on 10th of December every year. On this day, ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ (UDHR) was adopted by the 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 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 discrimination, tyranny, suppression and brutality of Indian occupation forces for the last over seventy-six 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 status 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 Kashmiri Muslim at will. No one in IIOJK has the right to life, liberty or fair trial. Kashmiris of IIOJK cannot imagine the freedom of thought, opinion, expression or freedom of peaceful assembly to even meet each other. Kashmiri’s cultural 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 violations 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 has been 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 the Kashmiri youth. Very less is known on account of actual killings, torture, arrests and rapes in IOK since there is no access 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 a daily basis. In June 2018, in its 49-page report, OHCHR gave details of 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 the Kashmir conflict has robbed millions of (Kashmiris) “their basic human rights and continues to this day to inflict untold suffering.” In that detailed report, guarantees were sought for ending the cycle of violence in IIOJK. That report asked the 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 the UN have not been able to give Kashmiris their right of self-determination. The people of IIOJK demand an end to Indian massive human rights violations. They also demand a practical role of the United Nations and international community to end their sufferings at the hands of brutal Indian security forces.
The people of India-occupied Jammu and Kashmiri question the civilized international community, Muslim World and United Nations over the discrimination, they have been facing since 1947. They demand that the UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UN resolutions on the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir should be implemented in letter and spirit. The selective implementation of these internationally credited forums is a serious cause of concern for Kashmiris. These forums must treat Kashmiris at par with the 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. Besides, Kashmiris should be given their right of self-determination.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
