India
Accelerated Atrocities and Oppressive Tactics in Kashmir by Sajjad Shaukat (JR 144 SS 31)
There is a co-relationship of Indian oppressive tactics
in the Indian
Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and
war-like posture against Pakistan, as the extremist government of the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) led the Indian fundamentalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has directed the Indian security
forces to accelerate atrocities in the IOK, want to obtain various sinister
designs, especially to suppress the Kashmiris’ war of liberation and to win the
general elections 2019 at the cost of Pakistan.
Following the false flag Pulwama terror attack in the IOK, which
killed 44 Indian
soldiers
on February 14, this year, Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted pre-emptive air
strike near the town of Balakot, close to the
border with Pakistan’s sector of Kashmir on February 27, 2018, while claiming
that IAF fighters
targeted the camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and killed 350 militants—the
outfit whom New Delhi blamed for the Pulwama attack. Next day, in response, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched aerial
strikes at six targets in the IOK and shot
down two Indian fighter jets and captured Indian pilot Wing Commander
Abhinandan Varthaman who was released as a gesture of peace and handed over to
the Indian authorities.
Without any
investigation and evidence Indian high officials and media started accusing
Islamabad, saying that the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the
assault.
Pakistan’s
Prime minister
Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi, Foreign Office spokesman Dr. Muhammad
Faisal and Director General of Pakistan
Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen. Asif
Ghafoor strongly rejected false allegations of Indian media and
government, which linked the Pulwama terror assault to Islamabad.
Taking
cognizance of Indian blame game and war-like posture, offering cooperation and
another chance at a dialogue over the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Imran Khan said
on February 19, this year that Pakistan will take action, if New Delhi shares
any actionable evidence, concerning the suicide bombing in the Pulwama area.
But, Indian extremist rulers rejected any cooperation with Islamabad and have
continued threatening diplomacy against Pakistan.
In this regard,
in a televised address on February 27, 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan said
that his country is ready to cooperate with New Delhi into the investigation of
the February 14 suicide bombing, claimed by Pakistan-based armed group, JeM
which was banned by the government. He called for talks with India and hoped
better sense would prevail so that both sides could de-escalate.
Meanwhile, journalists who visited the targeted site of
Balakot and a video released by Islamabad exposed India’s false statements that
IAF fighters targeted the camp of JeM and killed 350 militants. Despite
the demand of Indian opposition parties and some responsible media entities,
Indian top civil and military officials have failed to provide any evidence or
video regarding government’s claim in this connection.
Besides, by
creating jingoism in India and war hysteria against Pakistan, Indian extremist
Prime Minister Modi’s government has continued propaganda campaign against
Pakistan. Indian security forces have also intensified shelling across the Line
of Control (LoC) and compelled Pakistan Army to give a matching response.
It is notable
that during the period of nature, law of
jungle was order of the day, as the powerful could kill the weak mercilessly.
In the modern era, India has been following the similar law of jungle in its
refined form by employing barbaric tactics in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK)
in order to suppress the war of liberation which continues unabated by the Kahsmiris who are demanding their genuine right of
self-determination as recognised by the UN resolutions.
In the aftermath
of the Pulwama terror attack, many Kashmiri
people, including students have been arrested and attacked and their
shops looted by the Hindu extremists. Young people have been charged with
sedition for criticizing the Indian Army,
and Indians are lashing out at Pakistani civilians, including Bollywood actors.
Since last 71
years, the Kashmiri people have been endeavouring for an end to India’s illegal
and bloody occupation. Atrocities being inflicted by the Indian forces on the
Kashmiris have increased manifold particularly under the rule of Hindu
fundamentalist party BJP. The amount of torture, killings and rapes perpetrated
on Kashmiri people by Indian army personnel has already crossed all the
thresholds of brutalities. Everyday, incidents of gashing of eyes, chopping off
vital body-parts, use of ever-new methods of persecution during unending
curfews speak volumes for India's state-sponsored violence on Kashmiris.
Even India-based
human rights watchdogs and some veteran politicians in India are now fully
convinced that grave acts of brutality are being committed by occupation forces
in Kashmir. Recently, talking in a gathering organised under aegis of Foreign
Correspondents Club (FCC) South Asia, ex-external affairs minister/BJP leader
Yashwant Sinha candidly termed India’s wrong policies in handling Kashmir as “bundle
of confusion”. He also admitted that “India has lost people of the valley emotionally”
owing to Modi’s doctrine of brutality to suppress Kashmiri people.
Despite complete
closure of the IOK for the foreign/local human right watchdogs and
international media, the sporadic clippings and footages display the Indian
army’s devilish acts of torture and carnage. As a rare show of moral support,
United Nations Human Rights Council, the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and human
rights set-up of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation also issued
reports in 2018, pointing out grave violations of human rights by the
occupation forces in the IHK.
On the other
hand, Indian media in league with Indian deep state, has been vociferously
blaming Pakistan and its primary intelligence agency ISI for all the unrest in
the IOK , while, the ongoing ‘Intifada’ is an entirely local uprising as
retaliation from the suppressed Kashmiris against Indian occupation spanned
over 70 long years. Meanwhile, Removal of Hafiz Saeed’s name by US from its
2018-NDA list and his release orders by the Pakistani court have further
frustrated the Indian media to spit fire against Pakistan and commit more
atrocities on the Kashmiri Muslims.
It is
mentionable that to pay homage to the martyrs in Kashmir and determination to the
struggle of Kashmiri people, 5the February (2019) was observed with full
support from the Kashmiris, living abroad and Pakistani media. The hallmark was
presence of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quereshi in London to lead the
efforts of international community at international level. Protests and
seminars were organized by Kashmiris and Pakistanis in Europe, North America
and important capitals of the world.
However, under
new BJP-Modi strategy being executed in the IOK, a complete genocide of the
Kashmiri people is being carried out to change the demographic structure of the
IOK in utter defiance of international human rights laws. More bloodshed is
feared in the days ahead due to use of brutal force and extra-judicial killings
of innocent Kashmiris by Indian military and paramilitary troops.
Spill-over of
purely indigenous freedom movement of Kashmiris to the other
insurgency-infested states especially Khalistan, Mizoram and Assam is very much on the cards for India.
Nevertheless,
various forms of state terrorism have been part of a deliberate campaign by the
Indian army and paramilitary forces against Muslim Kashmiris, especially since
1989. It has been manifested in brutal tactics like crackdowns, curfews,
illegal detentions, massacre, targeted killings, sieges, burning the houses,
torture, disappearances, rape, breaking the legs, molestation of Muslim women
and killing of persons through fake encounters.
Notably, in the
recent past, social media proliferated the viral video of 22 year old young
woman namely Ishrat Muneer Bhat (resident of Dangerpora, Pulwama district). Her
bullet-riddled body was found in Sugan, Draggad village, Shopian district on
January 31, 2019. She was doing Masters at the Indira Gandhi National Open
University and was killed by the Indian Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAS).
Besides similar tragic events, her killing is latest barbarity of the Indian
LEAs which are now also not sparing the women folk in their bloody game of
crushing the Kashmir movement.
Indian forces
have employed various draconian laws like the Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas
Act, and the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act and Public
Safety Act in killing the Kashmiri people, and for the arbitrarily arrest of
any individual for an indefinite period.
Besides Human
Rights Watch, in its various reports, Amnesty International has also pointed
out grave human rights violations in the Indian controlled Kashmir, indicating,
“The Muslim majority population in the Kashmir Valley suffers from the
repressive tactics of the security forces”.
In its report on
July 2, 2015, the Amnesty International has highlighted extrajudicial killings
of the innocent persons at the hands of Indian security forces in the Indian
Held Kashmir. The report said, “Tens of thousands of security forces are
deployed in Indian-administered Kashmir…the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
allows troops to shoot to kill suspected militants or arrest them without a
warrant…not a single member of the armed forces has been tried in a civilian
court for violating human rights in Kashmir…this lack of accountability has in
turn facilitated other serious abuses…India has martyred one 100,000 people.
More than 8,000 disappeared (while) in the custody of army and state police.”
In this context,
European Union has passed a resolution about human rights abuses committed by
Indian forces in the Indian Held Kashmir.
It is of
particular attention that in 2008, a rights group reported unmarked graves in
55 villages across the northern regions of the Indian-held Kashmir. Then
researchers and other groups reported finding thousands of mass graves without
markers. In this respect, in August, 2011, Indian Jammu and Kashmir State Human
Rights Commission officially acknowledged in its report that innocent civilians
killed in the two-decade conflict have been buried in unmarked graves.
Foreign sources
and human rights organisations have revealed that unnamed graves include those
innocent persons, killed by the Indian military and paramilitary troops in the
fake encounters including those who were tortured to death by the Indian secret
agency RAW. In the recent past, more unmarked graves have been discovered.
Some online
authentic sources suggest that recent wave of Kashmiri ‘Intifada’ has witnessed
repression of Indian armed forces; large numbers of the dead and injured have
been youngsters. The pellet guns used by security forces have damaged the faces
of 1600 people and more than 1100 people have partially or wholly lost their
eyesight making 2016 as the year of dead eyes.
In 2017, reports
also disclosed that in the IOK, Indian security
forces have also used chemical weapons against the Kashmiri civilians in
violation of international law and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In a development on July 4, 2017, the Indian Army had
destroyed houses in Pulwama and killed 3 Kashmiri civilians. Upon recovery of
the bodies, it was discovered that they were burnt beyond recognition.
Sources report that Indian Army is emulating Israeli tactics
by using white phosphorus bombs to destroy houses of Kashmiris suspected of
harboring Mujahideen. The same tactics was used by Israel during its attacks on
Gaza and it seems that these weapons have been provided by Israel to India for
use in the IOK.
In fact, Indian
authorities are not willing to talk with Kashmiri people on political grounds.
New Delhi reached to a conclusion that only bullet is the right way of dealing
with Kashmiris, demanding their right of self-determination. Surprisingly,
Indian successive governments and particularly the Modi regime are trying to
ignore the dynamics of the freedom movement of Kashmiris for the sake of their
alien rule.
Failed in
suppressing the Kashmir movement, Indian central government imposed President’s
rule in Jammu and Kashmir which started from December 20, 2018. The main
purpose was to accelerate atrocities on the Kashmiris who are demanding their
genuine right of self-determination.
Taking note of
the recent war-like situation between Pakistan and India, especially, Russia
and some Arab countries, including Turkey and the United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over tensions between
the two neighbouring countries, and have offered their mediatory roles between
both the nuclear countries for de-escalation.
Unfortunately,
New Delhi which has refused the mediatory role of any country, is still showing
its intransigence to resolve the Kashmir issue with Islamabad by neglecting the
fact that Kashmir remains a nuclear flashpoint between both the neighbouring
countries.
It is
worth-mentioning that the organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on February
26, 2019, condemned India’s incursion against Pakistan, urging the two
countries to exercise restraint and avoid any steps that could endanger peace
and security in the region. On the same day, in an emergency meeting, the OIC
Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir expressed grave concern at the rising
tensions in South Asia and strongly condemned the recent wave of repression, killing
of innocent civilians, and frequent incidents of rape perpetrated by Indian
forces in occupied Kashmir.
In this
connection, concluding the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of
the OIC, held in Abu Dhabi on March 1-2, 2019,
a resolution was passed,
which condemned the Indian state terrorism in occupied Kashmir and reaffirmed
its unwavering support for the Kashmiri people. It reiterated that Jammu
and Kashmir remained the core dispute between Pakistan and India. The resolution also reminded the international
community of its obligation to ensure implementation of UN Security Council
resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The OIC member states adopted
another resolution which expressed grave concern over the Indian violation of
Pakistani airspace; affirmed Pakistan’s right to self-defence; and urged India
to refrain from the threat or use of force. The resolution on regional peace
and security in South Asia also welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s renewed
offer of dialogue to India and the goodwill gesture of handing over the Indian
pilot. However, it also proved Pakistan’s diplomatic victory over India.
It is noteworthy
that Indian Prime Minister Modi’s extremist party-BJP had got a land sliding
triumph in the Indian elections 2014 on the basis of anti-Muslim and
anti-Pakistan slogans. Therefore, double game has become the BJP strategy to
win the Indian general elections 2019.
Undoubtedly, we
can conclude that by exploiting the false flag terror attack at Pulwama, Indian
Prime Minister Modi has intensified war-hysteria against Pakistan. New Delhi’s
main aim is to deflect the attention of the international community from the
new phase of Kashmiri ‘Intifada’, while in this regard; pressure has been
mounting on the Modi government both domestically and internationally to
resolve the dispute of Kashmir with Pakistan. As the struggle of Kashmiri
people has entered into crucial phase with increasing frustration of New Delhi,
India accelerated atrocities and oppressive tactics in the Indian Occupied
Kashmir.
Sajjad Shaukat
writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic
Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International
Relations
Email:
sajjad_logic@yahoo.com
