By Saifur Rehman
Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between Pakistan and India and this reality has been noticed time and again in the world capitals with concern but serious efforts have seldom been taken by the world forums what to talk of the major powers.
This apathy on the part of global leaders has tended to reinforce India’s hegemonic and jingoistic designs who’s biggest victim have been the innocent, peace-loving people of Kashmir and Pakistani citizens living near the Line of Control (LoC). Thousands of ceasefire and LoC violations have been committed by India’s war-mongers whose ideology is hegemony, the main tools of implementation of this ideology being suppression and oppression. The BJP leadership has crossed all limits while dealing with the people of Kashmir whose majority professes Islamic faith.
Coming to the latest scenario as it prevails in Kashmir, tension escalated after New Delhi withdrew autonomy of the Himalayan region and split it into federally-administered territories last August when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi trampled under his feet the UN Resolutions through use of force, making arbitrary amendment in the Constitution by abrogating Articles 370 and Article 35, conferring special status on the Kashmir Valley.
Following this unconstitutional step immersed in imperialism and hubris, the Indian authorities unleashed a reign of terror in Kashmir by employing different tactics including the stringent and brutal enforcement of draconian laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act. These black laws give wide powers to soldiers who can even go to the extent of detaining any Kashmiri for two years without producing the arrested persons before a magistrate.
Mass graves found in Kashmir tell a clear story of brutalization of Kashmiris at the hands of 700,000 plus regular and 40,000 plus paramilitary troops. Frequent instances of gang rape expose the bestiality of Indian troops which make use of gang rape as a tool of oppression.
Unfortunately, all these blatant violations of inviolable human rights have continued to this day despite a profound softening of attitudes seen among the global leaders following the outbreak of deadly corona virus. The world had to face forced lockdowns imposed as a strategy to contain this menace but in Kashmir, the lockdowns and curfews have remained in force for more than half a year since the times when the corona scare was not there.
The world has changed or, plainly speaking, softened in the wake of corona tragedy but the Indian government is showing no signs of retreat or repentance, let alone humanitarianism. The detention of ordinary Kashmiris and their top leaders is continuing unabated. Youngsters are taken away from their homes and their whereabouts are not disclosed. Some of them are even killed in fake encounters with the security forces.
The Indian government has also resorted to a communication shutdown in the Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) state in what became known as the world’s longest internet shutdown in a democratic country. The authorities also suspended landline and mobile connections in addition to cutting off the internet.
According to some reports, more than 10,000 young Kashmiris have been arrested, while hundreds of them have been martyred. The gang rape data is equally brutal: from as young as an 8 years old girl to an 80-year-old woman were gang-raped during such cruel operations.
It has also been revealed in authentic reports pouring in from Kashmir that as many as 6,000 graves of the unidentified Kashmiris have been discovered. This is a slap on the face of secularism of India, which claims to be the upholder of the largest democracy in Asia. To add insult to injury, India refused to provide relief to Kashmiris despite protests by China, the US, the UK, Germany, France, Malaysia and Turkey aside from the UN Resolutions and the world’s human rights organizations like the African National Congress (ANC).
As for illegal detentions, Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances has taken exception to such macabre occurrences. Chairperson of the Federation, Khurram Parvez, while talking to Middle East Eye has stated “Most of the Kashmiri detainees are not criminals. They are political detainees and are being hounded purely for their political views. There is no reason that the concessions being granted to other detainees, including convicted criminals are not being extended to Kashmiris.”
Nuzhat Shahid, who lives with her two daughters in Srinagar city, says her husband Shahid-ul-Islam’s condition in Tihar Jail has badly affected the mental health of her children.
Currently, Muslims constitute around 68.3 per cent of the 13.5 million population of J&K. The BJP can thus use all its power as a ruling party to suppress endlessly hapless people of the region to demonstrate to the rest of India how strong and decisive it is.
What is more depressing is that there seems to be no imminent end to this state of affairs. Indian authorities’ obsession with an engineered pacification of Kashmir and paranoia about a mass-protest means only one thing and that is ‘a lingering siege’ in its myriad visible and invisible forms. It is an Orwellian world through and through, minutely controlling each and every aspect of life.
This has created a suffocating environment for people in the region. It is as if every person living in the region has been imprisoned. And the people in Kashmir have little option but to endure it, comments Diplomat.
On the other hand, Pakistan has expressed deep concern over continued restrictions in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir despite so many confirmed cases of coronavirus and some deaths due to the disease, as also confirmed by the government spokesman, Rohit Kansal.
The healthcare system in place in Kashmir is quite pathetic. According to Ahmad, a doctor at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, “Doctors fear going home after work as we do not have the required protective equipment. We just wear a surgical mask, normal gloves and surgical gown and a cap.”
To mitigate the crisis, the Kashmir Scholars Consultative and Action Network, an interdisciplinary group, has written a letter to the World Health Organization seeking an immediate intervention in lifting sanctions on high-speed internet in the region.
“The negligence of the Indian state towards Kashmiris can be explicitly seen as criminal and in fact, genocidal,” the group charged, adding:” However, the Indian government is worsening the situation by avoiding testing at the entry points to Jammu and Kashmir and locking up citizens without adequate medical preparation.”
