THIS PAGE WILL UPDATE , ON A WEEKLY BASIS NEW RELATED TO THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM BY THE KASHMIRI PEOPLE.
Kashmir Update 43:
Week Sep., 30, 2019 to Oct.,6, 2019
1. CPA: Sep., 29, 2019: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) has decided
to probe the ongoing siege in the Indian occupied Kashmir and dissolution of
its legislature. The announcement was made by President of the General Assembly
of the 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Rebeca AlitwalaKadaga, in
Ugandan Capital Kampala on September 28. The association asked Pakistan to
submit a written application for an investigation in this matter. Delegates of
the member states joined Pakistan delegation, yelling a loud “No” as an Indian
delegate tried to call the issue an internal matter of India. https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/511607-Commonwealth-Parliamentary-Association-probe-siege-occupied-Kashmir
2.
New York Protest: Sep., 30, 2019:
On Friday, the day Modi addressed the UNGA, crowds of protesters rallied
outside the world body. The rally was organised by a coalition of groups
"seeking an end to the Indian occupation", according to one of the
organisers, who estimated that at least 10,000 people had participated. Members
of various faith-based and ethnic groups were among them. Referring to the reports of mass arrests and alleged
torture since then, Arjun Sethi, an American Sikh human rights lawyer and
law professor in Washington, DC, said that "a lot of the atrocities that
we're seeing happening in Kashmir today also took place in Punjab throughout
the 1980s and 1990s.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/york-thousands-rally-human-rights-kashmir-190928053510778.html
5.
Arizona
University: Sep., 30, 2019: A film screening of the
documentary, “Stand with Kashmir” and a panel discussion of the escalating
problems for Kashmir was held at Arizona State University on Sept. 19. “I landed in San Francisco on the 29th of
July and was at the same place till the 4th of August and that was
the last time I had talked to my family who are in Jammu and Kashmir, I also
have to borrow money from 10-15 of my friends to pay my fees of University,”
the student said. https://nevalleynews.org/11694/news/kashmir-cut-off-fear-and-unrest-removal-of-article-370/
6.
Yassin Bhat: Oct.,
1, 2019:
It was near midnight when the soldiers came for Yassin Bhat. The 25-year-old
pulled on some clothes and stepped into the darkness. Nearby, on the main road,
he saw dozens of Indian army soldiers, Bhat said. One asked him what he thought
about India’s move the day before to revoke Kashmir’s autonomy. Terrified, Bhat
replied that it was a good step. Then,
he said, the abuse began. Several soldiers held him down while others used
thick cables to whip his back and legs. The soldiers then placed on his chest
and genitals electrical wires connected to a battery. He remembers being
immobilized as the current surged through his body. “I thought it would be my
last night,” he said in a recent interview describing the events of Aug. 6. Bhat
was one of 19 people interviewed by The Washington Post across 13 villages in
southern Kashmir who alleged abuses by the armed forces in the days after India
launched a crackdown in the disputed region. Bhat and two other men alleging
abuse remain afraid of retribution but spoke on the record because they wanted
their accounts to be chronicled. The allegations included beatings with rods,
sticks and cables, electric shocks and being hung upside down for prolonged
periods. In three cases, including Bhat’s, The Post reviewed photos and
hospital records detailing the injuries. In six cases, The Post saw either
photographs of injuries or hospital records. For many of the cases, The Post
also spoke with family members and other witnesses who saw the victims
immediately after the alleged abuse An
extensive report by Kashmiri human rights groups released in May profiled more than 400 victims who alleged
torture between 1990 and 2018. Their stories included beatings, electric shocks
and burn injuries. Indian security
forces often surveil and detain relatives of militants, but several of the
young men who alleged abuse, like Bhat, said that they have no such links in
their families. Bhat said there were at least 10 other men with him on the
night of Aug. 6 in Parigam, a small village in the district of Pulwama In interviews, three other men in Parigam said
they too were beaten and subjected to electric shocks in the same incident. Bhat
said that the beatings went on for nearly two hours. At the end, he said, he
and four other men who were naked were asked to lie on top of one another.
Afterward, he fainted, he said. The next morning, he woke up in debilitating
pain at a neighbor’s house, where he was carried by residents after the
soldiers left, the neighbor confirmed. Pink and purple bruises stripe his back
and thighs in photos taken that day. Hospital documents report a broken finger,
multiple bruises on his body and swelling in his lower spine. Lying next to him
at his neighbor’s house was his friend Muzaffar Nabi, 24, a carpenter by
profession. Nabi told The Post that soldiers beat him with sticks, rods
and cables but did not take off his clothes. He said he received electric
shocks in three places — on his thigh, chest and palms. He asked the soldiers
what he had done but received no answer. Instead, they demanded the names of
people who throw stones at security forces during protests, Nabi recalled, but
he told them he did not know.Bhat and Nabi said they were not charged with a
crime. Nabi shared a photo taken the day after the incident, which showed his
lower legs covered with black bruises. Hospital records from Aug. 7 indicate
he had abrasions on both legs and episodes of vomiting and loss of
consciousness. Nabi said he was bedridden for a week. Afterward, he
required help to walk and use a toilet. “If suicide was allowed in
Islam, I would have done it,” said Nabi.
Reyaz Ahmed Mir, a laborer from Gagren village in the Shopian district,
said he was summoned to an army camp late last month. Mir said his brother was
killed by security forces in 2018 after they accused him of shielding a
militant in his home. On Aug. 26, soldiers interrogated Mir, asking him who had
attended his brother’s funeral. When he said he did not know, Mir said, the
soldiers began to beat him with batons and force water down his throat. He said
they applied an electrical current to his genitals and right toe. Next, they
hung him upside down from a T-shaped pole. As one soldier poured water on his
face, he vomited his lunch. “The agony was unbearable,” said Mir, 45. “I was
shouting and crying.” When he was released, his family rushed him to the local
district hospital, whose records noted multiple bruises on his body and
episodes of vomiting. It referred him to a hospital in the Kashmiri capital of
Srinagar the same day. Bhat, who completed a degree in mechanical engineering
last year, has been living in fear since the alleged assault. His injuries have
healed and the deep scars from bruising across his back, buttocks and legs have
faded. But he has not slept a single night at home because he is afraid the soldiers
might come for him again https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/the-night-the-soldiers-came-allegations-of-abuse-surface-in-kashmir/2019/09/28/90969472-d40d-11e9-8924-1db7dac797fb_story.html #FreeKashmir #SaveKashmir
7. LoC fatalities: Oct., 2, 2019: India and Pakistan have again traded fire along their highly
militarized frontier in the disputed Kashmir region killing a woman and a boy
in a border village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Raja Tariq, a local
administrator in Nakyal sector, says Indian mortars “fired unprovoked” Sunday
and hit a home in Drary village, killing 60-year-old widow Salamat Bibi and
wounding a boy who later died in a hospital. Another woman was also wounded. https://mynorthwest.com/1534521/pakistan-says-indian-mortars-kill-woman-boy-in-kashmir/
8. Local bodies: Oct., 2, 2019: The Jammu & Kashmir administration has announced
polls to 316 Block Development Councils (BDC) in the State, as the next step to
devolution of power. . The first was the unlocking of ₹2,700 crore worth of
funds for Panchayats, awarded to the State under the 14th Finance Commission
that could not be disbursed earlier as there had been no local body polls in
the State since 2010. The second spin-off is related more to what the
government wishes to accomplish in J&K, namely real devolution, empowering
local bodies and bringing the administration to the grassroots. The hope is
that with money being available to elected Panchayat leaders, grassroots level
development will see a fillip. The government also hopes that these Panchayat leaders
could form a level of leadership that could provide a political alternative to
the current political parties and their leaders — leaders who, maintain
government sources, have a vested interest in the perpetuation of a conflict https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/analysis-govt-views-grassroots-development-in-kashmir-as-biggest-hope-for-peace/article29557701.ece
9.
Minors detained: Oct., 2, 2019: Indian authorities
in occupied Kashmir have detained 144 minors, including a nine-year-old, since
the government removed the region's special status in August, a police list
seen by AFP showed on Tuesday. Sixty of the minors are under 15, according to the
document submitted to a committee appointed by India's Supreme Court to look
into allegations of illegal detentions. Reasons given by the police for
detaining the minors include stone pelting, rioting and causing damage to
public and private property, the committee said in its report.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1508397/9-year-old-among-144-minors-detained-in-occupied-kashmir
10.
Youth martyred: Oct., 2, 2019: In occupied
Kashmir, Indian troops martyred one more
Kashmiri youth in Ganderbal district, today. The troops martyred the youth
during a cordon and search operation in Ganderbal town. The operation which was
jointly launched by the Indian Army and paramilitary forces on Friday continued
till last reports came in. Seven youth including three in Naranag area of
Ganderbal district were killed by the troops on Saturday. Meanwhile, according
to the data compiled by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, the
troops martyred 16 Kashmiris including a woman and two young boys during the
last month of September. Of those martyred six youth were killed in fake
encounters. The killings rendered one woman widowed and two children orphaned.
During the period, 281 people were injured due to the firing of bullets,
pellets and teargas shells on peaceful protesters by Indian troops and police
personnel. As many as 157 people including Hurriyat activists and youth were
arrested. Twenty five residential houses were destroyed during siege and search
operations during the month.https://kmsnews.org/news/2019/10/01/indian-troops-matyr-one-more-youth-in-iok/
11.
NY Times Editorial:
Oct., 4, 2019: Mr. Modi claims his clampdown would resolve that conflict and
bring normality and development to Kashmir. But it seems more likely that it
will only heighten tensions and make life more miserable for Kashmiris. He
could avoid disaster by lifting the siege, relaxing movement across the border
between zones of the Kashmiri region that are held by India and Pakistan,
releasing political prisoners and allowing independent investigators to look
into alleged human rights abuses. Perhaps India’s Supreme Court, responding to
various legal petitions, could even order him to reinstitute autonomy. The
Security Council should make clear that it opposes Mr. Modi’s brutal tightening
of India’s control on Kashmir. While Mr. Modi may think he can control this
volatile conflict on his own, he almost certainly cannot. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/opinion/editorials/kashmir-india-pakistan-un.html
12.
Courts in limbo: Oct., 4, 2019: Thousands of people have
been detained in Indian-administered Kashmir following a government move to
strip the region of its special status. Worried family members have been
flocking to the courts - but to little avail, reports BBC Hindi's Vineet Khare . Without a lawyer, Mr Lone is
unsure of how to proceed - he has already submitted a habeas corpus petition to
quash the charges against Shabbir. Habeas Corpus, which translates from Latin
to "you may have the body" is a writ that traditionally requires a
person detained by authorities to be brought to a court of law so that the
legality of the detention may be examined. More than 250 petitions have been
filed since 5 August, but none are being heard as the
court has assigned only two judges to hear them. Apart from a lack of lawyers, the
court is down to nine judges from the usual 17. "I don't know what else to
do," said a despondent Mr Lone, adding that he is now taking care of
Shabbir's family - his wife and two young children - and their 80-year-old
mother. Tariq (name changed) who was also at the Srinagar court, said he was
looking for a lawyer to represent his father-in-law who was arrested on 7
August. He said the 63-year-old was taken away by security forces close to
midnight and spent several days at the local police station before being moved
to Srinagar Central Jail. The dismal state of affairs in the Srinagar high court
was raised in the Supreme Court, and even prompted chief justice Ranjan
Gogoi to announce that he would visit Srinagar to see for himself if the situation
was as bad as reported. He has not announced a date to do so as yet. But what
it means is thousands of Kashmiris remain detained in prisons around the
country. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49848899
13.
US Senate:
Oct., 5, 2019: In what could become the first step towards
legislative action by American lawmakers against India on the situation in
Jammu and Kashmir, the United States Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations has added an appeal to end what it calls a “humanitarian crisis” in
Kashmir in its report ahead of the annual Foreign Appropriations Act for
2020.The amendment was proposed by Senator Chris Van Hollen, who visited Delhi
this week as a part of a congressional delegation that discussed the Kashmir
situation as well as India-U.S. bilateral relations, trade ties and defence
purchases with key officials. According to the report, which was submitted to
the Senate by Lindsey Graham, senior Senator and key Republican leader known
for his close ties to President Donald Trump, the committee on Appropriations
“notes with concern the current humanitarian crisis in Kashmir and calls on the
Government of India to: fully restore telecommunications and Internet services;
lift its lockdown and curfew; and release individuals detained pursuant to the
Government's revocation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution.” What makes
the report as well as the tough language on Kashmir more startling is that the
document was submitted on September 26, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was
still in the US, and came just a few days after his joint address at the
‘Howdy, Modi!’ event in Houston with Mr. Trump, as well as their bilateral
meeting in New York. “This amendment, which was accepted unanimously by the
bipartisan committee, is a strong expression of concern by the Senate about the
situation in Kashmir and sends the signal that we are closely monitoring the
human rights situation there, and would like to see the Government of India
take those concerns seriously,” Mr. Van Hollen told The Hindu here, adding that
he had “hoped to share his concerns privately” with Prime Minister Modi, but
had not been able to meet him..
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/in-a-first-us-lawmakers-take-a-step-against-india-on-kashmir/article29598290.ece?homepage=true
14.
Normalcy:
Oct., 5, 2019: And for the hundreds and thousands of those of
us who are made to sit caged in the Kashmir Valley, the rulers continue to sing
that all's okay lullaby This, when
everyone is getting caged for those caged.
In 2018, Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) released a
report titled - Terrorized: Impact of Violence on the Children of Jammu and
Kashmir. This report is the assessment of the violence against children in
Jammu and Kashmir in the last fifteen years (2003 to 2017).It also focuses on
the grim reality that there are nil or near- nil legal and normative processes
or practices protecting children's rights in Jammu and Kashmir, as minors have
been booked under the repressive Public Safety Act (PSA). To quote from this report
- "Children in Jammu and Kashmir are living in the most militarized zone
of the world, with the presence of 7, 00,000 troopers, which exposes them to
the risk of all grave six violations against children as laid out in United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child…The period from 2003 to 2017,
witnessed not less than 318 killings of children (in the age group of 1 to 17)
in various incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. The killing of 318
children constitutes 6.95% of the civilian killings in last fifteen years, as
4571 civilians have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the same period (2003 -
2017). In the same period, i.e. from 2003 to 2017, at least 16,436 killings
were recorded in Jammu and Kashmir, and the majority of them included alleged
militants numbering at least 8537 killings. The numbers indicate that in the
last fifteen years Jammu and Kashmir in an average year has witnessed at least
1,095 killings, which belies the government's claims of 'return to
normalcy'…The pattern of killings of children in the fifteen-year period
suggests that children were direct targets of state violence, as part of its
stated offensive to curb uprising and militancy. At least 144 children were
killed by Indian armed forces and state police in Jammu and Kashmir, which
alone accounts for nearly half, i.e. 44.02 percent, of the total children
killed. Most of the children, at least 110 of them, killed in state violence
were shot dead in different incidents of violence, and not less than 8 children
died due to injuries inflicted from pellet shot-guns fired by government
forces. Twenty-seven children died to due drowning either caused due to the
negligence of armed forces in Wular lake tragedy or being chased by government
forces during a protest, where victims find no way of escape from the armed
forces and forced to jump into water bodies, resulting in their death." In 2018, I heard the Head of the Journalism Department
of the Islamic University of Science and Technology ( IUST, - situated on the
outskirts of Srinagar, in Awantipora)), Dr Ruheela Hassan, speak at a seminar
held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (Centre for Media Studies), focusing on
the difficulties faced by the journalists in the Valley - To quote her from the
report - " The struggle of media in Kashmir throughout its evolution is
witness that the media in Kashmir has never enjoyed real freedom. Be it the
Dogra Rule in 1924, nationalist government (1947-1953), Sheikh Abdullah (1948 -
1953), Ghulam Mohamad Bakshi (1953-1963), Ghulam Mohamad Sadiq (1964-1971),
National Conference (1975-1982/1986-1990), media in Kashmir has never breathed
in free air. At one time, the state was resistant to granting permission and
when the permission was granted their freedom was curbed, strict laws and
regulation like Jammu and Kashmir Press and Publication Act of 1932 were
introduced and implemented to ban publications, seize printing presses, or
demand heavy securities from the journalists…After India gained independence,
it guaranteed freedom of speech and expression to all its citizens including
the citizens of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, but nothing changed for the
press. Older laws were amended and new laws were implemented to muzzle the
press. …The inordinate circumstances in Kashmir from 1990s further worsened the
scenario. Not only the freedom of expression was endangered, but there were now
increased threats to the life of journalists. Their freedom of movement and
right to assess information was also snatched. Several journalists lost their
lives and many were put behind bars. Journalists also fought several battles
with the state... Dr Ruheela Hassan had detailed, "a survey has revealed
that 77% of the valley journalists said that they have faced restrictions of
one form or other while performing their professional duties. 21 % of the valley journalists have been booked or
summoned by the stake or national authorities (mostly booked under draconian
laws like OSA, PSA, security of the state). 20 journalists killed.. Several
kidnapped and illegally detained .More than 25 injured. 80% of valley journalists believe that no
freedom of expression is enjoyed by them as guaranteed." http://www.kashmirtimes.com/newsdet.aspx?q=95173
15.
US
Senate: Oct., 6, 2019:
a US senate panel has included language in its report to a key annual
legislation which allocates federal funds for furthering American foreign
policy aims that specifically refers to a “humanitarian crisis” in Jammu and
Kashmir and calls on India to take mitigating steps. On September 26,
Republican senator Lindsey Graham submitted
the “Department Of State, Foreign Operations, And Related Programs Appropriations
Bill, 2020” to the Senate. This was submitted along with the report of the
senate appropriations sub-committee on state and foreign operations. the report
included language which, for the first time, referred to the continuing
security restrictions in Kashmir. The restrictions were put in place ahead
of the scrapping of Article 370 in the Indian parliament on August 5. The text
is included in ‘title seven’ of the report. Under the section for India, the
committee first recommends $120 million as assistance in 2020, and urged
“enhanced engagement”, especially in Indo-Pacific region. In a sub-section
titled “Humanitarian Crisis in Kashmir”, the report proposes that India should
take three steps to mitigate the situation in the state. The proposal for
inserting the text was made by Democrat senator from Maryland, Chris Van
Hollen, and was unanimously supported by other members. It was
reflected by statements from congressional
panel members and individual lawmakers calling for India to
protect human rights in Kashmir, which were also balanced by referring to
Pakistan to exercise restraint. The initial inclination was to give space to
India to improve the situation in Kashmir, but that tolerance may be running
out. The “growing concern” is demonstrated by the House sub-committee on Asia
holding a hearing on Asia, which will focus on Kashmir, on October 22. The
panel will hear from US state department officials, but also from human rights
activists.
The house sub-committee chair, Brad Sherman
had announced that the “hearing will
focus on the Kashmir Valley, where many political activists have
been arrested and daily life, the internet, and telephone communications have
been interrupted”. He also stated that the hearing would “review the
humanitarian situation in Kashmir and whether Kashmiris have adequate supplies
of food, medicine, and other essentials”. Sherman
noted in the press release that he had heard “stories of difficulties” from
“Americans from Kashmiri Valley” and their “fears” for their loved ones.
The hearing will also focus on the National
Register of Citizens issue in Assam and the condition of Muslims, he added.
Even as it considered changes to Article 370
as an “internal matter” of India, US administration has been steadily raising
the level of its concern over Kashmir’s internal situation and
the need for a “normalised political environment” in the state. . https://thewire.in/diplomacy/us-senate-panel-inserts-text-on-humanitarian-crisis-in-kashmir-in-key-legislation
16.
Parvez:
Oct., 6, 2019: Muhammad Ayoub Pala, 60, a frail man with a white flowing beard,
is unsure whether his cancer-stricken son arrested in August is dead or alive.
Parvez Ahmad Pala, 33, from Matibug village in Indian-administered Kashmir's Kulgam district, was picked up by
the Indian security forces in a midnight raid on August 6. "At night, the forces entered our house and
took him away. I ran after him but they kicked me and put him in a
vehicle," his father recounted the night to Al Jazeera. Parvez was booked
under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), a law that allows detention for up
to two years without bail. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/kashmir-siege-man-cancer-jailed-family-fears-life-191004171807819.html
18.
19.
20.
Cost
of Kashmir struggle
HR Violations
(From Jan 1989 till Sep 30,2019)
|
Total Killings *
|
95,454
|
Custodial Killings
|
7,134
|
Civilian arrested
|
158,205
|
Structures Arsoned/Destroyed
|
109,442
|
Women Widowed
|
22,910
|
Children Orphaned
|
107,780
|
Women gang-raped / Molested
|
11,144
|
From July 8, 2016)
(Sep 2019)
|
Total Killings *
|
16
|
Custodial Killings
|
6
|
Tortured/Injured
|
281
|
Civilian arrested
|
157
|
Structures Arsoned/Destroyed
|
25
|
Women Widowed
|
1
|
Children Orphaned
|
2
|
Women gang-raped / Molested
|
4
|
From July 8, 2016)
Casualties during ongoing uprising
(From July 8, 2016)
|
Total Killings *
|
1031
|
Custodial Killings
|
68
|
Tortured/Injured
|
27739
|
Arrested
|
11858
|
Structures Arsoned/Destroyed
|
3306
|
Women Widowed
|
91
|
Children Orphaned
|
205
|
Women gang-raped / Molested
|
933
|
Inured by pellets
|
10298
|
Youth lost total eye-sight
|
147
|
Youth lost one eye sight
|
215
|
Schools arsoned
|
56
|
People detained under PSA
|
951
|
Compiled by: Kashmir Media
|
Kindly respond with comments or news that you
wish included in next weeks update at: jarad_us@yahoo.com
Kashmir Update 42:
Week Sep., 23, 2019 to Sep.,29, 2019
1.
Modi in Houston: Sep., 23, 2019:
Donald Trump joined a rally in Texas to welcome Indian
Prime Minister Modi, who is visiting the US a rare mass
showing for a foreign leader on the American soil despite trade tensions
between the two countries. Nearly 50,000 Indian Americans and Non-Resident
Indians gathered at Houston city's NRG Stadium on Sunday for the "Howdy,
Modi!"
rally hosted by Hindu nationalist Modi's supporters in the US. Outside the stadium, thousands of people protested
against Modi over the alleged human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir
and other places targeting India's minorities,
including Muslims, who make up about 170 million of India's 1.3 billion
population. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/modi-trump-attend-indian-pm-rally-houston-190922150304471.html
#FreeKashmir
2.
Arrested youth: Sep., 23, 2019:
Officials say about 250 of 4,000 arrested since August 5 was moved to various
Indian jails outside the disputed region. At least 4,000 people, mostly young men, have been arrested
since, according to police officials and records reviewed by the Associated
Press news agency. "They
entered his room forcibly and dragged him out of his bed," she said.
Hameeda spent the next 10 days trying to find her son in various jails in
Kashmir. She even travelled to far northern districts bordering Pakistan but
found no information about her son's whereabouts. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/hugged-cried-families-struggle-meet-jailed-kashmiris-190921134717708.html
3.
Samir Ahmed:
Sep., 24, 2019: On 6 August, a graphic designer for the Rising Kashmir
newspaper, Samir Ahmad, (in his early 20s) had remonstrated with a CRPF man
near his home in the Manderbag area of Srinagar, asking him to allow an old man
to pass. Later the same day, when Samir opened the door to his house, CRPF
fired at him with a pellet gun, unprovoked. He got 172 pellets in his arm and
face near the eyes, but his eyesight is safe. It is clear that the pellet guns
are deliberately aimed at the face and eyes, and unarmed, peaceful civilians
standing at their own front doors can be targets. (South Asian Wire). news@southasianwire.com #Samir #FreeKashmir #SaveKashmir
5.
Protest against Modi: Sep., 24, 2019: Around 50 buses have been used to
transport up to 40,000 people to the protest site, who are taking part in the demonstration. Anti-Modi
and anti-India banners have been put up around the venue. Thousands of
Pakistanis, Sikhs and members of human rights organisations on Sunday staged a
protest rally in Houston, Texas to condemn the Modi-led government’s human
rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) https://tribune.com.pk/story/2062635/1-modi-terrorist-pakistanis-sikhs-stage-counter-modi-rally-houston/
7.
Saffron
Curtain: Sep., 24, 2019: Reminiscent of the
infamous “iron curtain,” nearly eight million Kashmiri men, women and children
remain prisoners in their homes, in their very own land – hidden behind what
can at best be described as a “Saffron Curtain.” The fact is that the only
terrorists in IOJ&K are the Indian occupation troops, who have carried out
the world’s worst spree of state-sponsored terrorism against a helpless
population for more than 70 years, but particularly since 1989. The
International community must step-in and call on India to lift the on-going
blockade of IOJ&K; cease the gross violations of human rights immediately;
end impunity; hold accountable those responsible for atrocities; allow
independent observers to the region; and uphold the right to self-determination
of the Kashmiris. https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/time-to-stand-up-for-jammu-and-kashmir-before-it-s-too-late-30036
9.
Global Standout for Peace in South Asia. : Sep. 25. 2019: “Resist to exist”
proclaimed a placard on the steps of MIT. The placard featured the picture of a
woman in a red pheran, the long woolen tunic traditionally worn by Kashmiris
from the Himalayan region in India’s north-west tip. The event at MIT was part
of a series of peaceful protests this past weekend in solidarity with the
Kashmiri people, coordinated by a small coalition called the Global
Standout for Peace in South Asia. the standouts took place in
the San Francisco Bay area, Kolkata (India), Gotenburg (Sweden), Islamabad
(Pakistan), and Kathmandu (Nepal), Supporting organizations in Boston included
Massachusetts Peace Action, CODEPINK: Women for Peace, MIT Students Against
War, Stand With Kashmir, Coalition for Democratic India, Alliance for a Secular
and Democratic South Asia, and Boston University Students for Justice in
Palestine, The event ended with a drum sounding 50 beats, one for each day
since the communication lockdown. https://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20190924/stand-with-kashmir-peace-rally-held-at-mit
11.
Indian Punjab protests: Sep., 25, 2019: Punjab is the only such state in India where local people are
on the streets protesting against the ongoing military lockdown in occupied
Jammu and Kashmir. Common people, farmers, workers, laborers and intellectuals
are participating in protests, dharnas, processions and seminars. Many
well-known organizations in Punjab have been active in protest against the
repeal of Article 370. Prominent among these are: Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Lok
Morcha Punjab, Reasonable Society, Punjab Student Union, Bharatiya Kisan Union,
Factory Mazdoor Union, Textile Hosiery Workers Union, Pendu Mazdoor Union,
Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Patriot Memorable Hall Committee, Punjab Employees
Union and Desh Kisan Morcha.. On 15 September in Chandigarh, along with 15
other farmer organizations, these organizations staged a massive protest
against the repeal of Section 370. The same day other cities like Bathinda,
Mansa, Mukatsar, Faridkot, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Barnala,
Patiala, Nabha and Nawanshahar also saw similar protests. When a delegation of
some organizations tried to go to Kashmir, they were stopped at Pathankot
before Jammu. Purushottam Lal of one such organization, ‘Pind Bachao’, said
that he was stopped a little ahead of Pathankot by the Indian forces. Amolak
Singh, convenor of Lok Morcha Punjab and member of Patriot Memorabilia Hall
Committee, says, “Kashmir has been forcibly taken over by the government.” Sushil
Kumar of Punjab Student Union says, “Now in the eyes of the government every
person is a traitor who has been logically opposing the excesses happening on
Kashmiris.”Legendary playwright late Gursharan Singh’s daughter Nav Kaur says,
“It is deeply ironic that if you protest against the situation in Kashmir, it
is seen as some sort of crime.” Farmer leader Gurchetan Singh said: “Don’t see
the central government’s action limited to Kashmir only. I am afraid that
tomorrow even Punjab can be divided into Majha, Malwa, Doaba areas and puppet
chief ministers deployed there.” Farmers Struggle Committee leader Kanwaljit
Singh Pannu says, “Punjab farmers view abrogation of Article 370 and 35A as a
permission to outsiders to occupy as much land of Kashmir as possible. We, as
farmers stand with our brothers in Kashmir over this issue.” There are not only
demonstrations on the streets in Punjab but also seminars and seminars are
being held in the Indian state. Almost all progressive intellectuals are
opposed to abrogating 370 and writing fiercely against it. https://kmsnews.org/news/2019/09/25/punjab-at-forefront-in-india-against-delhis-kashmir-policy/
12.
Indians protest Modis Houston visit: Sep., 26, 2019: A coalition of Indian-Americans
protested against Modi’s visit to Houston on Sunday. The coalition spoke
against human rights violations happening in the US and in India. The coalition
comprises groups of Indian-Americans across religions, including the Hindus for
Human Rights (HfHR), the Indian American Muslim Council and the Organization
for Minorities of India. WATCH VIDEO https://thewire.in/video/watch-modis-houston-visit-indian-american-coalition-protests-against-modi-trump #FreeKashmir #SaveKashmir
13.
Turkish support: Sep., 26, 2019: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated his
country’s resolve to defend the rights of Muslims living in Occupied Jammu and
Kashmir including freedom of speech and movement. “Responsibility falls on all [foreign] state
institutions,” said the Turkish president, and urged more active steps on
regional and international levels over the issue https://tribune.com.pk/story/2065427/3-turkey-committed-defend-rights-muslims-iok-erdogan/
14.
RSS
organized Houston event: Sep., 26, 2019:
“‘Howdy, Modi’ is a blatant celebration of the destruction of democracy and a
complete disregard for human rights,” said Sana Qutubuddin, an organizer with
the Alliance for Justice and Accountability, a coalition of progressive South
Asian American groups. Behind the event was Texas India Forum, which has direct
links to members of U.S.-based Hindu nationalist groups affiliated with the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a fascist paramilitary organization that espouses
the notion that India should be a Hindu state and its minorities second-class
citizens. https://theintercept.com/2019/09/25/howdy-modi-trump-hindu-nationalism/
15.
OIC: Sep., 26, 2019: The Organisation of
Islamic Countries (OIC) on Wednesday asked India to reverse its decision of
revoking the special status of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and allow “full and
free access” to international bodies, including OIC and UN, to independently
investigate reports of “gross and systematic human rights violations
taking place there.” The
statement by the 57-member bloc of Muslim countries was issued following a
meeting of foreign ministers of OIC Contact Group on Kashmir held on the sidelines
of 74th session of UN General Assembly in New York. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2065200/1-diplomatic-triumph-oic-urges-india-restore-kashmirs-special-status/
16.
International
aspects: Sep., 26, 2019: It is perhaps time, then,
to recognise that the Kashmir dispute, which was once ‘international’ only in
the sense that it had a United Nations resolution to its name and a few
countries (especially the U.S.), and their leaders, had, from time to time,
offered comments on it, is now international in a localised sort of way. It
has entered local politics at least in
two countries—the United Kingdom and the United States. there is reason to
start to imagine that certain aspects of Indian politics, indeed certain
disputes, may have started to acquire a global footprint, with all the allied
repercussions that such a spread implies. https://www.fortuneindia.com/polemicist/the-kashmir-issue-has-entered-global-local-politics/103589
17.
Women: Sep., 26,
2019: team of 5 women visited Kashmir from
September 17th-21st 2019. We wanted to see with our own eyes how this 43 day
lockdown had affected the people, particularly women and children. The team consisted
of Annie Raja, Kawaljit Kaur, Pankhuri Zaheer from National Federation Indian
Women, Poonam Kaushik from Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan and Syeda Hameed from
Muslim Women’s Forum. This Report is our chashmdeed gawahi (eye witness
account) of ordinary people who have lived for 43 days under an iron
siege.Shops closed, hotels closed, schools, colleges, institutes and
universities closed, streets deserted was the first visual impact as we drove
out from the airport. To us it seemed a punitive mahaul that blocked breathing
freely. The picture of Kashmir that rises before our eyes is not the populist
image; shikara, houseboat, lotus, Dal Lake. It is that of women, a Zubeida, a
Shamima, a Khurshida standing at the door of their homes, waiting. Waiting and
waiting for their 14, 15, 17, 19 year old sons.Across all villages of the four
districts, peoples’ experiences were the same. They all spoke of lights, which
had to be turned off around 8PM after Maghreb prayers. In Bandipora, we saw a
young girl who made the mistake of keeping a lamp lit to read for her exam on
the chance that her school may open soon. Army men angered by this breach of
‘curfew’, jumped the wall to barge in. Father and son, the only males in the
house were taken away for questioning. ‘What questions?’, no one dared ask. The
two have been detained since then. ‘We insist that men should go indoors after
6 PM. Man or boy seen after dusk is a huge risk. If absolutely necessary, we
women go outside’. These words were spoken by Zarina from a village near
Bandipora district headquarters. ‘In a reflex action, my four year old places a
finger on her lips when she hears a dog bark after dusk. Barking dogs mean an
imminent visit by army. I can’t switch on the phone for light so I can take my
little girl to the toilet. Light shows from far and if that happens our men pay
with their lives’. The living are inadvertently tortured by the dead. ‘People
die without warning or mourning. How will I inform my sisters about their
mother’s death?’ Ghulam Ahmed’s voice was choked. ‘They are in Traal, in
Pattan. I had to perform her soyem without her children’. The story was the
same wherever we went. People had no means of reaching out to loved ones. 43
days were like the silence of death. Public transportation was zero. People who
had private cars took them out only for essential chores. Women stood on
roadsides, flagging cars and bikes for rides. People stopped and helped out;
helplessness of both sides was their unspoken bond. ‘I was on my bike going
towards Awantipora. A woman flagged me. My bike lurched on a speed breaker. She
was thrown off. I took her to the nearby hospital. She went in a coma. I am a
poor man how could I pay for her treatment? How and who could I inform?’ These
daily events were recounted wherever we went. At a Lalla Ded Women’s Hospital
in Srinagar several young women doctors expressed their absolute frustration at
the hurdles that had been placed in their way since the abrogation of Article
370. ‘There are cases where women cannot come in time for deliveries. There are
very few ambulances, the few that are running are stopped at pickets on the
way. The result? There are several cases of overdue deliveries that produce
babies with birth deformities. It is a life long affliction, living death for
parents”. Conversely, we were told that several women are delivering babies
prematurely due to the stress and khauf (fear) in the present condition. “It
feels like the government is strangling us and then sadistically asking us to
speak at the same time,’ a young woman doctor said as she clutched her throat
to show how she felt. A senior doctor from Bandipora Hospital told us that
people come from Kulgam, Kupwara, and other districts. Mental disorders, heart
attacks, today there are more cases than he could ever recall. For emergencies
junior doctors desperately look for seniors; there is no way of reaching them
on phone. If they are out of the premises, they run on the streets shouting,
asking, searching in sheer desperation. One orthopaedic doctor from SKIMS was
stopped at the army imposed blockade while he was going for duty. He was held
for 7 days. Safia in Shopian had cancer surgery. ‘I desperately need a check up
in case it has recurred. Baji, I can’t reach my doctor. The only way is to go
to the city, but how do I get there? And if I do, will he be there?’ Ayushman
Bharat, an internet based scheme, cannot be availed by doctors and patients.
Women in villages stood before us with vacant eyes. ‘How do we know where they
are? Our boys who were taken away, snatched away from our homes. Our men go to
the police station, they are asked to go to the headquarters. They beg rides
from travellers and some manage to get there. On the board are names of ‘stone
pelters’ who have been lodged in different jails, Agra, Jodhpur, Ambedkar,
Jhajjar.’ A man standing by adds, ‘Baji we are crushed. Only a few of us who
can beg and borrow, go hundreds of miles only to be pushed around by hostile
jail guards in completely unfamiliar cities.’ At Gurdwaras we met women who said
they have always felt secure in Kashmir. ‘Molestation of women in rest of India
about which we read is unheard of in Kashmir’. Young women complained they were
harassed by army, including removal of their niqab‘. Army pounces on young
boys; it seems they hate their very sight. When fathers go to rescue their
children they are made to deposit money, anywhere between 20000 to 60000’. So
palpable is their hatred for Kashmiri youth that when there is the dreaded
knock on the door of a home, an old man is sent to open it. ‘We hope and pray
they will spare a buzurg. But their slaps land on all faces, regardless whether
they are old or young, or even the very young. In any case, Baji, we keep our
doors lightly latched so they open easily with one kick’. The irony of these
simply spoken words!. Boys as young as 14 or 15 are taken away, tortured, some
for as long as 45 days. Their papers are taken away, families not informed. Old
FIR’s are not closed. Phones are snatched; collect it from the army camp they
are told. No one in his senses ever went back, even for a slightly expensive
phone. A woman recounted how they came for her 22 year old son. But since his
hand was in plaster they took away her 14 year old instead. In another village
we heard that two men were brutally beaten. No reason. One returned, after 20
days, broken in body and spirit. The other is still in custody. One estimate
given to us was 13000 boys lifted during this lockdown. They don’t even spare
our rations. During random checking of houses which occurs at all odd hours of
the night, the army persons come in and throw out the family. A young man
working as SPO told us. ‘We keep a sizeable amount of rice, pulses, edible oil
in reserve. Kerosene is mixed in the ration bins, sometimes that, sometimes koyla’.Tehmina
from Anantnag recently urged her husband, ‘Let us have another child. If our
Faiz gets killed at least we will have one more to call our own. Abdul Haleem
was silent. He could see the dead body of his little boy lying on his hands
even as she spoke these words. ‘Yeh sun kar, meri ruh kaanp gayi,” he tells us.
A thirty year old lawyer from Karna was found dead in his rented accommodation.
He was intensely depressed. Condolence notice was issued by Secy Bar
Association. Immediately after that he was taken into custody. Why? We spoke to
a JK policeman. All of them have been divested of their guns and handed dandas.
‘How do you feel, losing your guns?’ ‘Both good and bad’ came the reply. ‘Why?’
Good because we were always afraid of them being snatched away. Bad because we
have no means now to defend ourselves in a shootout. One woman security guard
said ‘Indian govt wants to make this a Palestine. This will be fought by the
us, Kashmiris’. One young professional told us, ‘We want freedom. We don’t want
India, we don’t want Pakistan. We will pay any price for this. Ye Kashmiri
khoon hai. Koi bhi qurbani denge’. Everywhere we went there were two inexorable
sentiments. First, desire for Azadi The humiliation and torture they have
suffered for 70 years has reached a point of no return. Abrogation of 370 some
say has snapped the last tie they had with India. Even those people who always
stood with the Indian State have been rejected by the Govt. ‘So, what is the
worth in their eyes, of us, ordinary Kashmiris?’ Since all their leaders have
been placed under PSA or under house arrest, the common people have become
their own leaders. Their suffering is untold, so is their patience. The second,
was the mothers anguished cries (who had seen many children’s corpses with
wounds from torture) asking for immediate stop to this brutalisation of
innocents. Their children’s lives should not be snuffed out by gun and
jackboots. As we report our experiences and observations of our stay in
Kashmir, we end with two conclusions. That the Kashmiri people have in the last
50 days shown an amazing amount of resilience in the face of brutality and
blackout by the Indian government and the army. The incidents that were
recounted to us sent shivers down our spines and this report only summarises
some of them. We salute the courage and resoluteness of the Kashmiri people.
Secondly, we reiterate that nothing about the situation is normal. All those
claiming that the situation is slowly returning to normalcy are making false
claims based on distorted facts. https://www.change.org/p/india-the-kashmir-referendum-petition/u/25115588?cs_tk=Aii5nOAxkpYzCPB0j10AAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvMaYE8rynUgbgEtbSFOR62w%3D&utm_campaign=6e53293609bd451f8b5eda00bc5ecb4a&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs
18.
UK Labor supports Kashmir: Sep.,
26, 2019:
UK Labour delegates unanimously passed a motion on Kashmir at their party
conference in Brighton . The motion says Kashmir should be given the right of
self-determination as per UN resolutions and urges Labour to stand with Kashmiris “fighting against
occupation “72 years of human rights
violations, of gang rapes and mass rapes by armed forces, and pellet gun
injuries”. “We must urgently request India opens access so humanitarian
agencies can go in and provide help,” she said. “This is now a major crisis. We
cannot allow a century of oppression to take place. For too long, we have said
Kashmir is a bilateral issue but the Kashmiri people need intervention,” she
had said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-fumes-as-uk-party-backs-kashmir-plebiscite/articleshow/71302601.cms
#FreeKashmir
19.
US
concern: Sep., 27, 2019: "We hope to see rapid action — the lifting
of the restrictions and the release of those who have been detained,"
#AliceWells, the top State Department official for South Asia, told reporters. "The United States
is concerned by widespread detentions, including those of politicians and business
leaders, and the restrictions on the residents of Jammu and Kashmir,"
Wells said. "We look forward to the Indian government's resumption of
political engagement with local leaders and the scheduling of the promised
elections at the earliest opportunity.""The world would benefit from
reduced tensions and increased dialogue between the two countries [India and
Pakistan] and, given these factors, the president is willing to mediate if
asked by both parties," she said. https://www.dawn.com/news/1507655/us-presses-india-on-kashmir-rights-seeks-lower-tensions
#FreeKashmir #SaveKashmir
20.
Anchar:
Sep., 28, 2019: there is little sign of an end to the standoff
in Anchar, home to about 15,000 people. Entrances to the area are guarded by young people manning
barricades made of tree trunks, electricity poles and barbed wire to keep the
police out. Laneways have been dug up to block security vehicles. As night
falls, groups of youths, many wearing masks and armed with stones and tree
branches, are huddled around bonfires, sipping tea provided by neighbours.“I am
spending the night outdoors so I can protect my family and not let Indians, who
have been committing atrocities on us, to enter,” said Fazil, a 16-year-old
student. “There is no fear in me,” he added, holding a thick tree branch as he
watched the street from a checkpoint. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-india-kashmir-neighbourhood-widerimag/barricades-and-books-life-in-restive-kashmir-neighbourhood-idUKKBN1WB34C
21.
Kashmir
at US University: Sep., 28, 2019: Minaret of Freedom Institute “American
University in Washington DC hosted a teach-in on Kashmir Thursday, September 26. Kashmiri speakers
also addressed the humanitarian crisis and the fascist nature of the RSS while
an interfaith panel of religious leaders provided context.” Rabbi Alana Suskin, Hamza Khan & Dr.
Taseen Mir joined panel moderator Imad Ad-Dean Ahmed at American University for
a discussion about the humanitarian and political crisis in Kashmir. Rabbi
Alana Suskin: Echoes of the Anschluss & Holocaust Hamza Khan: Political
History of the Conflict Dr. Taseen Mir: Eyewitness Account of Kashmir under
Lockdown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDhSGHzam9w&feature=youtu.be
22.
IK at UN: Sep., 28, 2109: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday addressed the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The highlight of his
more than 45-minute-long speech was intense criticism of India for its
annexation of occupied Kashmir and the continued restrictions imposed in the
region. The issue which the prime minister
talked in most detail about was the oppression of the people of occupied
Kashmir. I know India keeps alleging that these groups are there. "I welcome UN observers, see for
yourself. "That's when we realised that there was an agenda and that
agenda became obvious on the 5th of August when India went against 11 United
Nations Security Council resolutions which say that Kashmir is a disputed
territory and the people of Kashmir have the right of self-determination,"
he said."They went against the Simla Accord — which is about sorting out
our differences through bilateral means.
"They actually went against the Indian Constitution. Illegally,
they revoked Article 370 which gave Kashmir the special status and [stationed]
an extra 180,000 troops there," said Prime Minister Imran, providing the
backdrop to India's actions in Kashmir. "What kind of people bring in
900,000 troops for eight million people? These are human beings," said
Prime Minister Imran to applause from the audience. "What comes with Aryan superiority is arrogance and it makes
people commit mistakes and do stupid, cruel things like what Modi has done. "It is arrogance that has
blinded Modi. Has he thought about what will happen after the curfew in Kashmir
is lifted? "What will he do? Does he think
the people of Kashmir will quietly accept the status quo?" What is
going to happen will be a blood bath. The people will come out. "Has he thought it through what
happens then? Has anyone thought what happens when there is a bloodbath? https://www.dawn.com/news/1507675/pm-imran-minces-no-words-at-un-calls-out-modi-govt-for-oppression-of-kashmiris.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1507675/pm-imran-minces-no-words-at-un-calls-out-modi-govt-for-oppression-of-kashmiris
24.
Summary: Sep., 28, 2019: Impressive speech by Imran Khan does
not mask fact that the culmination of the UNGA meeting is
disappointing for Kashmir, the following need attention: There was no UNGA resolution set
down on Kashmir. Pakistan has given no reason; there is still no Human Rights Council resolution for
Kashmir. Therefore no vote was taken for a full inquiry;
the neglect of Kashmir on the
Responsibility to protect agenda has
not been corrected by Pakistan. This means Kashmir still remains low on the
agenda; at present there doesn't seem to be any moves to move to the ICJ for Kashmir
given the legal advice in Pakistan is negative. We need a detailed well considered plan on the
Kashmir , this will be a long haul and needs sustained and continuous attention
by Pakistan.
25.
Youth killed: Sep., 29, 2019: Indian security forces killed four alleged fighters in occupied Kashmir
on Saturday, police said, as the disputed Muslim-majority territory simmers
under a lockdown imposed by New Delhi after it revoked its constitutional autonomy in
August. According to Kashmir Media Service
Indian troops killed three youth during cordon and search operations in
Naranag area of Ganderbal and three others in Batote area of Ramban district in
the Jammu region. Indian security forces had tightened restrictions in Kashmir and the Hindu-majority
Jammu region on Friday, fearing protests ahead of speeches at the UN by the
leaders of India and Pakistan https://www.dawn.com/news/1507835/4-kashmiris-dead-in-raids-by-indian-security-forces
26.
Kashmir Update 41:
Week Sep., 16, 2019 to Sep.,22, 2019
1.
Support for IOK: Sep., 15, 2019: The
Left parties and Sikh organisations in Punjab have jointly condemned Indian
government’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and divide
it into two Union territories, a report in The Wire said. The
development is much significant as these organizations spent three decades at
odds with each
other over militancy Punjab. “Various democratic organisations of
Punjab decide to stand in solidarity with the people’s movement of Kashmiris,”
stated a joint press statement of 15-odd organisations ahead of a protest march
scheduled for September 15 in Chandigarh. “We will stand tooth and nail against any move of the Modi
regime’s agenda of Hindutva that it is spreading in the name of
ultra-nationalism, putting the lives of Kashmiris at stake now,” Lachhman Singh
Sewala, General Secretary of the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union, an offshoot of
CPI-Liberation, said. Eleven organisations from Punjab, under the banner of
‘Solidarity Committee for Kashmiri National Struggle’, have even come out in
favour of the “right to self-determination of the Kashmiris”. The
committee’s 11 constituents include the Punjab Students’ Union, Naujawan Bharat
Sabha, Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Pendu Mazdoor Union (Mashal) and different
Left-leaning industrial workers’ bodies. https://kmsnews.org/news/2019/09/15/left-sikh-bodies-jointly-denounce-indias-action-in-iok/
2.
Sikh Dalit support: Sep, 16, 2019: The
March and rally will be organized jointly by Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and
Dal Khalsa in which representatives of United Akali Dal, Sikh Youth of Punjab
will join. Leaders and activists of political party Naam Tamilar Katchi from
Tamil Nadu and Committee for Release of Political Prisoners from Delhi will
also participate in the public demonstration at Jantar Mantar on the eve of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the UN General Assembly, scheduled
for September 27. AT international level our aligned group Sikh Youth of
America and our own organizational units in America will join the Sikh, Tamil and Kashmiri
Diaspora, outside UN head quarters to protest against India’s highhandedness
against minorities and lockdown in Kashmir https://sikhsiyasat.net/2019/09/15/sikh-and-tamil-groups-to-demonstration-in-delhi-against-indias-occupation-of-kashmir-on-sept-26/
#FReeKashmir #SaveKashmir #Khalistan #Dalits
3.
AI: Sep., 16, 2019: Human rights group Amnesty International has
launched a petition on its website, urging
people to raise their voice against the government-imposed communications
blackout in India-occupied Kashmir that has been in place for over a month. “Nearly 8 million
people have been living through a communication shutdown since August 5,” the
human rights organization stated on its website.“The world needs to know what’s
happening,” it said and urged people to "take action and demand that the
government let Kashmir speak.”https://www.dawn.com/news/1505356/amnesty-international-calls-for-removal-of-communications-blackout-in-occupied-kashmir
4. British and EU Parliamentarians;
Sep., 16, 2019: Addressing the protest, John Howarth,
Member of European Parliament (MEP) belonging to UK’s Labour party, said the
international community must come forward and take notice of the rising human
rights violations in IoK. “International observers must be allowed to visit IOK
to end the violence being committed by Indian forces to ensure peace in the
region,” he added. Member of British Parliament (MP) Matt Rodda, speaking on
the occasion, expressed concern over the current situation in IOK. He said
human rights are being violated in Occupied Kashmir and the issue must be
resolved as per the wishes of Kashmiris. President Tehreek-e-Kashmir UK Fahim
Kayani said “Kashmir has been under
siege since August 5… [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi has adopted polices
of dark ages when Kings used to put cities under siege by cutting off their
supplies to make them to bow down to their terms and conditions. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2057246/1-uk-european-mps-join-chorus-kashmir-lockdown/
5.
Protests:
Sep., 16, 2019: Kashmir has seen an average of nearly 20
protests per day against Indian rule over the last six weeks despite a security
lockdown to quell unrest, a senior government source said. Altogether there
have been 722 protests since Aug. 5, with Baramulla district in the northwest
and Pulwama in the south the biggest hotspots after Srinagar, the source said.
Since that date, nearly 200 civilians and 415 security force members have been
hurt, according to the source Ninety-five of the
civilians were injured in the last two weeks, the official said. So far more
than 4,100 people — including 170 local political leaders — have been detained
across the valley, with 3,000 released in the past two weeks, the official
said. https://www.dailysabah.com/asia/2019/09/15/kashmir-has-seen-20-daily-anti-india-protests-despite-crackdown-source-says
#FreeKashmir #SaveKashmir
7.
Electric shocks: Sep., 16, 2019: The
soldiers came after midnight, Abid Khan says, his hands trembling, one of
around two dozen young men in just one part of occupied Kashmir who say they
have been tortured by the Indian army.
Khan, 26, from Hirpora village in Shopian district, says he was dragged
out and blindfolded along with his brother, who has learning difficulties, on
August 14. “They gave electric shocks to my brother right on the road outside.
I heard him scream painfully,” Khan told AFP, showing marks on his arms, legs and
buttocks. Once inside the nearby Chowgam army camp, Khan said soldiers
stripped him naked, tied up his legs and wrists, suspended him and beat him
with rods. The camp major, Khan said, accused him of inviting Riyaz Naikoo from
Hizbul Mujahideen — one of several armed groups fighting Indian rule — to his
recent marriage. “I kept repeating that was not true,” Khan said. “Then they
gave me electric shocks again on my genitals and wounds. One of them said 'I
will make you impotent'.” After being released at dawn and barely able to
stand, Khan says he kept vomiting for 10 days and only managed to start moving
around again after 20 days.“I can't eat properly anymore,” he said. “I don't go
into the room my wife sleeps in anymore [...] It's better to die with a bullet
than undergo such torture.” People in
Hirpora say they often hear screams from the army camp at night. Three other villagers told AFP they were also
tortured. In total, around two dozen young men in the villages of Shopian told
similar stories. “The army is making
examples of two or three young men from each village,” said one resident of
Shopian who has compiled a list. The pattern
is often of soldiers raiding homes, taking identity cards and mobiles and
telling young men to report to the camps to retrieve them. One 21-year-old, who declined to be named but shared with
AFP photos of his wounds, said he has reported to the Pahnoo camp three
times since August 27 and was abused each time. An
officer accused him of giving food to Kashmiri fighters and then offered him
money for information, he said. Another time, he was grilled about a former
classmate who is now a fighter. “They gave
me electric shocks inside a dark room for about two hours,” the man said,
showing scars on his forearm. Obaid Khan,
also 21, from Gugloora village said he had to go to the same camp to retrieve
his ID and phone on August 26. “Eight soldiers kept beating me with rods for a long time. Before
they let me go, they asked me to come back with names of stone throwers in my
village,” he said, referring to protesters who clash with security forces.
Sajjad Hyder Khan, a local official in Pinjoora village, told AFP he has
seen a list of 1,800 people detained by police and soldiers from Shopian alone,
one of the four districts in the southern Kashmir Valley. https://www.dawn.com/news/1505539/they-gave-me-electric-shocks-in-a-dark-room-screams-in-the-night-in-occupied-kashmir
8. HRW: Sep., 16, 2019:
Human Rights Watch on Monday urged the Indian government to “immediately
release detained Kashmiris who have not been charged with a recognizable
offense”. HRW’s latest report, India: Free Kashmiris
Arbitrarily Detained, documents the detention of over 4,000
Kashmiris, including politicians, activists, separatist leaders, lawyers, and
journalists, who have been held in detention camps since India stripped
occupied Kashmir off its special status on August 5. Approximately 400 elected
officials and political leaders, as well as former chief ministers of Jammu and
Kashmir belonging to the National Conference and the Jammu and Kashmir People’s
Democratic Party have also been detained. The human rights watchdog states that
many detainees have not been allowed to contact their families or
lawyers.“Anyone who has been detained in Kashmir without evidence of a crime
should be immediately and unconditionally released,” According to an official document seen by
Reuters, as of September 6, the authorities had arrested more than 3,800
people, and of them, 2,600 had been released. “The government should release a
list of all detainees and their whereabouts,” the human rights watchdog
urged .”The court also ordered Indian
authorities to allow others, including the daughter of the detained former
chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, to visit their relatives.“The persecution of
mainstream workers is shocking beyond belief,” Mattu told the media, adding
“Several of my party men are under detention.” The Indian security forces have
detained the family members of suspects, in cases when they failed to locate
the suspects, citizens of the occupied valley told HRW. “This amounts to
collective punishment, in violation of international human rights law,” the
report states. The report asks the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to urge
India to end the collective punishment on Kashmiris and act on recommendations
in the report of the UN high commissioner for human rights.“India
is making a mockery of its human rights commitments by denying Kashmiris a
voice in their future, jailing political leaders, and suspending basic freedoms,”
Ganguly said. “The government’s heavy-handed measures are only making a bad
situation worse.” https://tribune.com.pk/story/2057683/3-hrw-urges-india-immediately-release-detained-kashmiris/
#FReeKashmir
9. Torture videos:
Sep., 18, 2019: In video recorded interviews, the
victims allege that the Indian army subjected them to immense physical pain and
psychological pressure. Khan, 26, said that on the night of August 13,
Indian army soldiers tortured him inside a camp and filmed parts of it. He had
passed out after being administered electric shocks. What happened during that
unconscious state is what worries “What if they had committed be-satree and filmed that too?
It is better to die in that case,” he said, using the Kashmiri expression be-satree
that broadly defines various forms of sexual violence. He said a group of
soldiers led by an officer entered his home in Hirpora, Shopian, about 65
kilometres south of Jammu and Kashmir's capital Srinagar. Several army vehicles
were waiting on the road outside the house. A few soldiers grabbed his youngest
brother Suhail, he said, and gave him an electric shock in the chest with the
help of a handheld device. “Suhail passed out in the courtyard and was let off.
They pushed me into a vehicle and took me to the camp, blindfolded,” said Abid.
At the camp, designated as 66 Rashtriya Rifles B Company, at Chowgam, about
eight kilometres from his home, Abid said he was stripped naked, water-boarded
and forced to drink copious amounts of a “horribly smelly” liquid. “Two of them
punched me in the gut until I vomited and urinated,” he said. Khan said his
hands and ankles were tied with a rope. He was then hung from a pole. He said
four soldiers took short run-ups and struck his buttocks, hips and back with
batons. “As I struggled in pain, my wrists and ankles got bruised. The bruises
became worse after every beating,” he said. Faded baton marks are still visible
on his buttocks, 32 days after the beating. Khan showed these reporters a video
of his swollen and blackened buttocks his family members had filmed the day
after the torture.“They passed electric current through my body after dunking
me in water. They did it several times. At one point, when I could take it no
more, I feigned fainting. But another electric shock startled me. I prayed for
death. Within no time I had passed out,” Khan said. After each brief reprieve,
he said “worse would follow”. “When I regained consciousness, they hit my
private parts with a stick.“One officer told me ‘I will end your life now.’ "He
drew a red-hot iron rod close to my penis but stopped short of touching it. I
cried a lot. His colleague told him ‘don’t do it. He has been married recently.
After all she is our sister too’. They pulled skin near my private parts with a
plier. It still hurts when I urinate. Once my entire body was bruised they
rubbed salt into the wounds. These mountains are witness to my ordeal. They
have heard my cries,” he said. Before the
torture began, Khan said, an army officer told him that he had invited Riyaz
Naikoo, the most-wanted Kashmiri rebel commander, to his wedding in July. The
officer accused him of building a hideout for militants in his home, which stands
in the middle of an eight-acre apple orchard. “I told him go and bulldoze my
home to the ground and if you find there is a hiding place anywhere, set the
entire thing on fire. But if there is none, build me a fresh house. The [army]
Major became angrier. He wanted me to confess, anything,” Khan said. “He
then told me to confess that Naveed Baba [a militan] has been hiding in the
home of my neighbour Peer Sajad. I told him why would I falsely accuse somebody
of something I know nothing about?” Khan said that on August 13 he was taken to
an army medical facility where several injections administered to him at
intervals “made the pain disappear and me light-headed”.“I could even sit on my
bruised buttocks,” he said. Two “kindhearted Sikh medics” shouldered him to the
gate of the camp. Khan was released in the evening and his family members were
waiting for him outside the entire day. He said the officer threatened him that
if he were to visit any doctor or file a complaint with the police, all his
family members would be detained. His wife, father, brother and the village
head were asked to sign some papers, he added. At home, he started vomiting
intermittently and the pain recurred. “I told my family we should visit a
hospital. At first, they didn’t agree but when the pain became unbearable we
went to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar at 1am so that nobody saw us leaving,” he
said. His hospital medical record reads: “Trauma due to assault by security
forces”. His buttocks were swollen and had turned purple. After 10 days of
treatment, an acquaintance advised him to leave the hospital so as to avoid
being noticed by Criminal Investigation Department personnel. “Had we stayed
the police might have filed an FIR [a report for criminal investigation]. We
are very scared,” Khan said. Locals say four other youths were detained and
beaten up at the same camp. Although they have been released, none of them was
present in the village at the time when these reporters went to their
respective homes. The sister-in-law of one of them said he too had been given
electric shocks and beaten with sticks but “not as severely as One such raid was conducted on the home of
Idris Malik of Bagander locality in Shopian town at midnight on August 7 by the
soldiers of the same 66 RR camp at Chowgam. At the camp, Malik said he was told
that “your neighbour”, a militant who hails from the same locality, has been
injured. “They said ‘who has been taking medicine to him?’” Malik said. “How
would I know? They beat me up the entire night with sticks and gave me electric
shocks. My hands and ankles were tied with a rope and I was hung upside down
from a bar. My face was covered with a cloth and several buckets of water were
thrown at it. At one point I felt so cold that I feared my blood would freeze,”
he said. “In the morning leashed dogs were brought in to scare me. I was made
to stand in the open and stare open-faced at the sun. My mouth dried up and
when I asked for water they put a stick in my mouth and said it should stay in
the mouth,” Malik said. The 27-year-old courier worker said he was told to
inform on “incidents”, apparently meaning militants’ activities or stone
throwing protesters, in his locality.“I told them I am scared of both sides.
When I got sick of the beating I even told them that yes we are all militants,
my father is a militant,” he said. He was released in the evening the next day
after medics administered the unknown injection which made the pain go away. He
was also given some pills and lotion was applied on his wounds. The injuries on
his ankles have not healed fully. Tiny black spots beneath the kneecap, he
said, are the places where the current was passed through his body. His
hospital medical record dated August 8 reads, among other things, “multiple
trauma on buttocks”. Obaid’s father Muhammad Ashraf said that on the night of
August 26 the soldiers raided his house and took away his son’s ID card, asking
him to present himself at the camp the next day. Ashraf and a neighbour, who
accompanied Obaid to the camp, were seated and served tea while Obaid was taken
to a room he said was dark.“I was beaten for a pretty long time with sticks and
gun butts. From the neck to the feet no part of my body was spared. They
punched my face and head. My wrists and ankles were tied with a wire and then
they gave me electric shocks,” Obaid said. Ashraf said his son was “almost
dead” when they let him go.“We took him to the sub-district hospital in
Shopian. The doctors said he is under severe pressure,” the father said and
added that the army has withheld Obaid’s ID card, asking him to provide a list
of stone-throwers and militant sympathisers in his area. “He can hardly sleep
since the day he was detained. The sound of vehicles scares him. He fears they
are coming for him again. It is worse than hell for us,” Ashraf said. A
21-year-old man in Pinjoora village of Shopian said his ID card too was taken
away during the night raid on August 8 and he was asked to report at the Pahnoo
camp the next day. At the camp, the soldiers stripped him naked and beat him up
after tying him to a pole. “With a blade they made long cuts in my legs. The
Major asked me to become their informer and provide information about Omar
Dhobi and Shakir Pal [both militants]. I told him I don’t have any information
about them. He said ‘you have no other option.’” him.https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/india-s-torture-methods-new-claims-emerge-from-disputed-kashmir-29879
12.
Kashmir
Economy: Sep., 20, 2019: Despite being harvest time, the market in the
northern Kashmiri town of Sopore is empty, while in orchards across occupied
Jammu and Kashmir unpicked apples rot on the branch. Apples are the lifeblood
of occupied Kashmir’s economy, involving 3.5 million people, around half the
population. Two other key sectors of occupied Kashmir’s economy, tourism and
handicrafts, have also been hit hard. https://www.dawn.com/news/1506118/its-hopeless-lockdown-in-occupied-kashmir-puts-economy-in-tailspin.
“It is for the first time in
Kashmir's history that its fruit is falling off or is likely to fall off the
trees, and most farmers are watching haplessly. Thanks to abundant timely
rains, this year Kashmir has had a bumper produce of apples and pears worth Rs
9000 crore. Modi government's back-breaking mobile phone and Internet closure
in Kashmir is leaving farmers in the countryside with hardly any means to
contact traders and Kashmir-based warehouses and coordinate sale and
transportation of their fruit. There have been few takers of the government's
NAFED purchase plan, which looks impractical and has been largely ignored by
fruit growers. As apples and pears worth Rs. 9000 crore are over ripening and
falling off the trees for want of necessary logistics, at several places in
Bandipora, Sopore, Kulgam, Chrar Sharief, Budgam and also around farm in Sumbal many farmers selling their fruit for peanuts.
Those low prices would barely cover their production and transportation costs.
The fact of the matter is that farmers in Kashmir store sell and transport
apples and pears in sync with supply and demand factors in outside markets. In
the absence of mobile and Internet connectivity, an economic catastrophe is
unfolding in Kashmir in a sector which is the mainstay of the local economy”.
(Facebook blog)
13.
Modi sued:
Sep.,20,2019: A pair of Kashmiri citizens sued the prime minister of India in
federal court Thursday ahead of his much-anticipated arrival in Houston,
alleging that his unilateral annexation Aug. 5 of their homeland caused the
detention, disappearance and deaths of their loved amid ongoing repression. The
civil complaint accuses the Indian head of state of human rights violations
under the The Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, a federal statute that
allows civil suits on U.S. soil against foreign officials suspected of
committing torture or extrajudicial killing. The act was first used the
following year by Sister Dianna Ortiz, who sued the defense minister of
Guatemala, Hector Gramajo for her abduction, rape, and torture by military
forces. A federal court in Massachusetts awarded her $5 million in damages. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/India-Prime-Minister-Modi-faces-Houston-federal-14453957.php
#FreeKashmir
14.
Modi in US; Sep., 21, 2109: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi of
India prepares for a big trip to the United States, human rights groups and
three Nobel Peace Prize winners have criticized the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its plan to bestow a
prestigious award upon Mr. Modi next week during his visit. The Nobel laureates
sent a letter to the Gates Foundation stating
that under Mr. Modi’s leadership, “India has descended into dangerous and
deadly chaos that has consistently undermined human rights, democracy.’’ “This
is particularly troubling to us as the stated mission of your foundation is to
preserve life and fight inequity,” said the letter signed by Mairead Maguire, a
peace activist from Northern Ireland; Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman, a Yemeni
journalist and politician; and Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and political
activist. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/world/asia/narendra-modi-bill-gates-foundation.html
16.
17.
Kashmir Update 40:
Week Sep., 9, 2019 to Sep.,15, 2019
1. Curfew: Sep., 9, 2019:
India on Sunday imposed curfews in several parts of the contested Kashmir
region, after clashes between security forces and Shi'ite Muslims taking part
in a procession, officials and eyewitnesses said. At least 12 locals and six
troops were injured on Saturday evening, officials told Reuters, as the
worshippers on the traditional mourning procession of Muharram clashed with
troops trying to stop it. Troops used tear gas and pellet guns on the crowd,
which insisted on carrying on with the procession, one in a series held at this
time of the year, and pelted stones at security forces, an Indian official who
declined to named told Reuters. "The clashes continued till late night
during which the troops fired tear gas and pellets," he added The most recent clashes occurred in
Rainawari and Badgam, two Shi'ite majority areas of Srinagar, Indian-administered
Kashmir's main city. The five km (3 mile) procession route that passes through
the city centre has been barricaded by armed troops wearing helmets and bullet
proof vests. On Sunday, police vans fitted with loud speakers announced
curfew-like restrictions in Srinagar's city center Lal Chowk and adjacent
areas, according to two Reuters witnesses."People are advised to stay
indoors and not venture out of their home," the police announced. Suhail Ahmed, a Rainawari resident, said that
there have been frequent clashes in the area for last three to four days as
troops have been trying to block the procession. "We hear deafening sounds of tear
gas being fired for last few evenings. We mostly stay indoors but the gas comes
into our homes making it difficult to sleep," Ahmed said.
2.
Iranian
Cleric: :Sep.9,2019: Ayatollah
Nouri-Hamedani during his meeting with a group of Kashmiri students studying at
seminary schools said, “If you want to secure your right, you must be prepared
for martyrdom and fight,” he was quoted as having said. “Our government, the
Leader [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei], all of us will help you,” the top
cleric vowed, stressing that Kashmiri clerics, in particular, must be prepared
to sacrifice their lives if they want to obtain the people’s right, reminding
them of Iranian clerics who were marching in the front lines of protests during
Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
3. UNHRC: Sep., 10,
2019: The United Nations human rights chief on Monday
said she was "deeply concerned about the impact of recent actions" by
the Indian government on the human rights of Kashmiris. In her introductory
address
for the start of the Human Rights Council's latest session, Michelle Bachelet
aired concerns over India's actions against Kashmiris as well as unlawful
killings and injuries of Palestinians by Israeli security forces. "While I
continue to urge the governments of India and Pakistan to ensure that human
rights are respected and protected, I have appealed particularly to India to
ease the current lockdowns or curfews; to ensure people's access to basic
services; and that all due process rights are respected for those who have been
detained," she urged."It is important that the people of Kashmir are
consulted and engaged in any decision-making processes that have an impact on
their future."
4. Asian Political Parties : Sep.,
10,2019: Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed on Monday said that the participants
of International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) held in Baku, have expressed their full support to Kashmiri people living in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he said that Bangladesh and Malaysia have also supported the point of view of Kashmiri people, who
wanted to resolve the issue as per United Nations Security Council charter.
Mushahid said that participants of the conference had demanded to end the
massive human rights violations being committed by Indian forces in the Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Russia, Japan, Korea, and Central Asian States were also in favour of addressing the issue of Kashmir as
per the UN charter, he stated. He said that a
large number of people took out a procession in Bangladesh for expressing solidarity with the IOJ&K people.
5.
Communications: Sep., 11, 2019: The
troubled region where some 10 million people live had been placed under a
security lockdown on 5 August, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped it of
its autonomy and downgraded its status. The isolation is exacerbated by an
unprecedented communications blockade: landline phones, mobiles and the
internet were suspended. Kashmir sunk into what a local editor called an
"information black hole". More than a month later the
blockade remains in place. The woman had put pen to paper after she came across
a Facebook post from a freelance Kashmiri journalist who was visiting Delhi. On
a whim, he had posted a message on the social networking site, saying people
from his home district in Kashmir could send him messages for their families
with their addresses. He would, he wrote, "try his best to reach every
address" on his return. Two days later, Mr Sayed flew back to Srinagar
with 17 such messages on his phone from people around the world. They were
addressed to family and friends who lived in three districts of southern
Kashmir, the most restive region in the Muslim-dominated valley. Many had sent
digital messages. Others had written letters on paper, photographed them and
sent them via Facebook Messenger. The Delhi-based woman - who is not a Kashmiri
- was one of them. In her letter, the anxiety triggered by the communications
blackout is evident. She writes of how her "fingers have turned sore"
dialing numbers in Kashmir without success, and "frantically at night I
get up to check my messages, dial a few numbers and go through the pictures of
my holiday in Kashmir over and over again". Back in Kashmir, Mr Syed
became an itinerant messenger. He drove out of Srinagar to deliver the messages
to homes in shuttered towns and villages. His lifeless mobile phone had turned into
a carrier of precious tidings. India has more than a billion mobile phone
subscribers and 560 million internet subscribers - it is one of the world's
fastest growing digital markets. In comparison, there are only 23 million
landline phones. But in Kashmir people are applying for new landline
connections or trying to restore unused ones. As the shutdown entered its
second month, more such phones sputtered back to life. But people complain that
they are often not able to get through to "working" lines. On the
streets security forces have set up free makeshift phone booths - a plastic
table, a few chairs and a working Chinese-made phone - and some police stations
are offering free calls. At one booth, Manzoor Ahmed's dilemma was illustrative
of how the blockade is hurting people and livelihoods. The 55-year-old shawl
trader was trying to call customers outside Kashmir who owed him money.
"They sent me cheques. I went to the bank [some of the banks are open],
but they said they have no connectivity and are not able to process the
payment. So I am walking around town and looking for a phone to call my
customers and ask for a bank transfer," he says. "It was a very
emotional time," says Ms Masrat. "Everyone in the room was
sobbing." Another time, a man arrived and called his son to inform him
that his grandmother had died some days ago. And when even landlines are
difficult to get through to, Kashmiris living elsewhere in India and abroad are
flooding a local news network with messages to their families.,Gulistan News, a
Delhi-based satellite and cable news network, has been receiving messages and
videos that it plays on a loop during and between news bulletins. It also
carries messages from locals in Kashmir. The network says it has run hundreds
of messages of cancelled weddings - this is peak wedding season in Kashmir - on
an extra scrawl on its English and Urdu language bulletins, as well as video
messages from people living outside the region. One morning last week, Shoaib
Mir, 26, arrived in the network's office in Srinagar with a curious request:
could they help him track down his missing father? The 75-year-old from Bemina, some 12km (7.5 miles) away,
had gone out for a morning walk the previous week and disappeared. Mr Mir says
they searched far and wide and drove miles before filing a missing person's
report at a police station. "There are no people on the roads, everything
is shut, and the police are busy enforcing the shutdown. Maybe a video message
from me with my father's photograph will help track him down," he says.
While the channel has helped connect families, it struggles to do its work. The
shutdown has hurt local media like never before. It has made newsgathering
difficult. A courier from a news network flies to Delhi every day carrying three
to five 16GB pen drives containing footage and news. The material is then
edited and broadcast from the office in Delhi.Local newspapers have shrunk to
six to eight pages from the usual 16 or 20. For weeks, some 200 journalists
crowded around 10 internet-enabled desktops at a makeshift government media
centre in Srinagar. Here, they access email, send stories, pictures and video.
Couriers download news from the wires onto their pen drives and run to the
newspapers to help them fill the pages. Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of
Kashmir Times, has petitioned the Supreme Court challenging the information
shutdown and curbs on the movement of journalists. She calls it a "grave
violation of human rights". The shutdown, she says, also means that media
cannot report on developments and residents of Kashmir don't get access to
information available to the rest of Indians https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49631186 shu
6.
Torture:
Sep.,
11, 2019: The Indian soldiers descended on Bashir Ahmed
Dar's house in southern Kashmir on August 10, a few days after the government
in New Delhi stripped the disputed Himalayan region of its autonomy and
launched a crackdown. Over the next 48 hours, the 50-year-old plumber said he
was subjected to two separate rounds of beatings by soldiers. They demanded
that he find his younger brother, who had joined rebels opposing India's
presence in the Muslim-majority region, and persuaded him to surrender or else
"face the music". In a second beating at a military camp, Dar
said he was struck with sticks by three soldiers until he was unconscious.
He woke up at home, "unable to sit on my bruised and bloodied buttocks and
aching back", he said. But it was not over. On August 14, soldiers
returned to his house in the village of Heff Shirmal and destroyed his family's
supply of rice and other foodstuffs by mixing it with fertiliser and kerosene.
In more than 50 interviews, residents in a dozen villages in Kashmir told The
Associated Press that the military had raided their homes since India's
government imposed a security crackdown in the region on August 5. They
said the soldiers inflicted beatings and electric shocks, forced them to eat
dirt or drink filthy water, poisoned their food supplies or killed livestock,
and
threatened to take away and marry their female relatives. Thousands
of young men have been arrested The
abuses in the night-time raids by troops began in early August as New Delhi
took action on Kashmir, according to interviews with at least 200 people. The
change in status nullified decades-old constitutional provisions that gave
Jammu and Kashmir state, as it is officially called, some political autonomy
and land inheritance rights. In the village of Parigam, the family of baker
Sonaullah Sofi was asleep when army troops raided his home. The soldiers took
his two sons into a street, hitting them with gun butts, iron chains and
sticks, Sofi said."Helpless, I heard my sons scream as soldiers started
beating them up mercilessly in the middle of the road," Sofi said. Soon,
soldiers brought 10 more young men to the village square, seeking names of
anti-India protesters, said Muzaffar Ahmed, Sofi's 20-year-old son, recounting
the August 7 incident."They hit our backs and legs for
three hours. They gave us electric shocks," Ahmed said,
lifting his shirt to show his burned and bruised back."As we cried and
pleaded [with] them to let us go, they became more relentless and ruthless in
their beating. They forced us to eat dust and drink water from a drain."
Since the crackdown began, at least 3,000 people, mostly young men, have been
arrested, according to police officials and records reviewed by the AP. About 120
of those have been slapped with breaches of the Public Safety Act, a law that
permits holding people for up to two years without trial, the records showed.
Thousands of others have been detained in police lockups to be screened for
their potential to join protests. Ahmed, the baker, said the soldiers finally
left at dawn, leaving them writhing in pain. He and his elder brother along
with at least eight others were then bundled into a single ambulance and taken
to a hospital in Srinagar. For years, human rights groups have accused Indian
troops of intimidating and controlling the population with physical and sexual
abuse and unjustified arrests. Indian government officials deny this, calling
the allegations separatist propaganda. Abuses alleged by rights groups since
1989 have included rape, sodomy, water boarding, electric shocks to the
genitals, burns and sleep deprivation. The UN last year called for an
independent international investigation into allegations of rights violations
like rape, torture and extrajudicial killings in Kashmir. India rejected the
report as "fallacious." Parvez Imroz, a prominent rights lawyer,
said the new reports of abuse in the security forces' ongoing campaign were
"disturbing”. Fear and anger are palpable in the villages that dot the
vast apple orchards, especially after sundown, when the soldiers
come. Abdul Ghani Dar, 60, said soldiers have raided his home in the village of
Marhang seven times since early August, adding that he sends his daughter to
another location before they arrive. They say they've come to check on my son
but I know they come looking for my daughter," Dar said, his eyes welling
with tears. Residents of three other villages said soldiers had
threatened to take girls away from their families for marriage."They're
marauding our homes and hearths like a victorious army. They are now behaving
as if they have a right over our lives, property and honour," said Nazir
Ahmed Bhat, who lives in Arihal. In early August, soldiers came to the home of
Rafiq Ahmed Lone while he was away."The soldiers asked my wife to
accompany them for searching our home. When she refused, she was beaten up with gun
butts and sticks," Lone said https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/netanyahu-announces-post-election-plan-annex-jordan-valley-190910155523634.html
7.
UNHRC: Sep., 11, 2019: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday said that the
international community "must not remain indifferent to the tragedy that
is unfolding before our eyes" in occupied Kashmir. Addressing the 42nd
session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Qureshi while
referring to India's recent actions in Kashmir said: "Today, I have
knocked on the doors of the Human Rights Council, the repository of the world’s
conscience on human rights, to seek justice and respect for the people of
Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. "We
must not allow this august body to be embarrassed on the world stage. As a
founding member of this council, Pakistan feels morally and ethically bound to
prevent this from occurring," he stressed, adding that in order to do so
the body should not remain indifferent to the tragedy that was unfolding in
Kashmir. "We must not let
political, commercial, and parochial considerations cloud and impair our
thoughts and action."We must act decisively and with conviction." Qureshi urged the UNHRC to "pay
heed to the plight of the Kashmiri people" and to address the warning
signs of a "looming human catastrophe".He asked the human rights
council to take the following steps: Urge
India to immediately stop the use of pellet guns, end the bloodshed, lift the
curfew, reverse the clampdown and communications blackout, restore fundamental
freedoms and liberties, release political prisoners, stop targeting human
rights defenders, and fulfill obligations under the United Nations Security
Council resolutions and various human rights instruments, as required by
international law, Take steps to bring to justice the perpetrators of human
rights violations of Kashmiris and in this context, constitute a Commission of
Inquiry (COI), as recommended by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Authorise the Office of the High Commissioner and the Human
Rights Council’s special procedures mandate holders to monitor and report on
India’s human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and regularly update the
council; and Call upon India to allow unhindered access to human rights
organisations and international media to occupied Kashmir. India had imposed a military
clampdown on Jammu and Kashmir in the first week of August to prevent protests
against the New Delhi move to revoke the special status of the disputed
territory, with mobile phone networks and the internet still cut off in all but
a few pockets. Occupied Kashmir has seen a decades-old movement against the
Indian occupation with tens of thousands, mostly civilians, killed. jugation that India is desperate to hide from
the world. This is the true face of the so-called largest democracy of the
world. This is the conduct of a country, which aspires to be a permanent member
of the United Nations Security Council." "At
the root of this mayhem is India’s refusal to grant the people of Indian
occupied Jammu and Kashmir their right of self-determination. "This seven-decade-old travesty of justice, has been
compounded by the present Indian government’s nefarious and twisted dream — outlined
explicitly in the ruling party’s manifesto — to turn, by force of arms, Jammu
and Kashmir’s Muslim majority community into a minority." He reiterated that India's unilateral decision to revoke
Article 370 on August 5 was illegal under international law."With these
illegal changes, India’s presence is, by its own yardstick, naked foreign
occupation.""India’s assertion that these actions are its internal
affair is patently false," Qureshi said, adding that Kashmir had been on
the agenda of the UN for over 70 years and the meeting of
the UN Security Council on August 16 attested to this fact. "The people of
Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir are apprehending the worst," the foreign
minister said, adding that with respect to the Genocide Convention, Kashmiris —
as a national, ethnic, racial and religious group of people — face "grave
threats to their lives, way of living and livelihoods from a murderous,
misogynistic and xenophobic regime". "Some
have said that Kashmir echoes with the silence of the graveyard. Others contend
that it is a lull before a storm." I shudder to mention the word genocide
here, but I must." The foreign minister
said that India's efforts to "falsely" label Kashmir's struggle for
self determination as "terrorism and cross border terrorism" are
"shameless and indefensible". He
said that Pakistan had suggested numerous bilateral and multilateral
mechanisms, including doubling the strength of the UN Observers Mission to
monitor the Line of Control (LoC), that would "disprove India's
self-serving claims". India, however,
rejected all these proposals, Qureshi said "I have every fear that India
will once again resort to false-flag operations, and use the bogey of terrorism
as a red herring, to divert international opinion, even attack Pakistan.
Additionally, the foreign minister said that India's increased ceasefire
violations along the LoC and the use of cluster ammunition and heavy artillery
should end immediately. "I have regularly
sensitised the UN Security Council, about the grave dangers to peace and
security in nuclearised South Asia and beyond, as a result of India’s reckless
posture and draconian measures. https://www.dawn.com/news/1504564/world-must-not-remain-indifferent-to-tragedy-unfolding-in-kashmir-qureshi-tells-un-rights-council
8.
Local bodies: Sep., 11, 2019: The government has
been keen to get the panchayat polls “completed”, including taking the next
step to BDCs and the zilla panchayat polls. The schedule for elections to 316
Block Development Councils (BDCs) in Jammu and Kashmir will be announced in a
day or two, with the polls to be completed before the State is formally
declared a Union Territory on October 31. Senior sources in the Union Home
Ministry confirmed this development to The Hindu. The polls will take
forward the process towards full devolution of rural and urban local bodies.
After the December 2018 panchayat polls in the State, both Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had announced their intention to hold
these polls https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jk-block-development-councils-polls-by-month-end/article29383885.ece?homepage=true
9. Kashmir and the Russians: Sep, 11, 2019: Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vladivostok on September 4-5 turned out to be
anticlimactic. . There was much hype
that Modi’s visit would witness the launch of a brave new world of Indian
economic partnership in Siberia, the Russian Far East, and the Arctic regions.
But there is no evidence of a breakthrough. The real big surprise is that the
logistics agreement that had been expected to be signed during Modi’s visit
stands deferred. “It is important that internationally recognized human rights
are fully respected. The dispute between India and Pakistan in relation to
Kashmir is for them fundamentally to resolve as recognized in UN Security
Council resolutions and the Simla agreement. “But the issue of human rights is
not just a bilateral issue for India or Pakistan or a domestic issue but an
international issue. We expect of all our partners that internationally
recognized standards of human rights are respected and complied with.“All or
any allegations of human-rights violations are deeply concerning. They must be
investigated thoroughly and promptly and transparently. The concerns and issues
raised are very serious. “As well as wanting to respect the constitutional
arrangements within India and in relation to Kashmir [abrogation of Article
370], they do also have implications internationally, particularly as they
touch on internationally respected and recognized human rights.” On the whole, the outcome of the Vladivostok
visit marks a subtle reversal of the trend discernible in the revival of
India-Russia relations pioneered by Modi during the past couple of years. New
Delhi’s calculus could be that a reboot of the US-Indian strategic partnership
has become a dire necessity at the present juncture when the Kashmir crisis has
touched criticality. By piling pressure on India – and Modi personally – by
threatening to mediate in the Kashmir issue, Washington has “softened up” New
Delhi. So long as Modi carries the albatross of Kashmir, he becomes vulnerable
to Anglo-American blackmail. Russia will sense that despite all the bravado of
nationalism, India’s ruling elite is bending over backward to appease the US to
navigate its Kashmir policies through a difficult period. Ironically, this is
also a tragic replay of history.
10.
Anchar Protest: Sep., 12,
2019:
Prayers had barely finished when the teargas was fired and a trail of smoke
arched in the sky. Security forces had launched another assault on Anchar,
the only major pocket of resistance in Kashmir. “Others have only heard the word
doomsday, we have lived a doomsday,” said Fazi, a grandmother who lives in
Anchar, a suburb of Kashmir’s main city, Srinagar, situated on the banks of a
lake of the same name. Teargas and pellets were fired into a park near to the
shrine where crowds were attending prayers, she said. Residents rushed to the
frontline on Anchar’s outskirts, barely 500 metres away, to push back against
security forces. She said the assault, on 30 August, lasted five hours. “It was
like rain. There were pellets everywhere, smoke everywhere,” she said. “We have
no weapons. We have only God’s name and God will do justice with us Subhan’s wife and four daughters were at the
shrine of Jenab Sahab when the assault began. Like many women, Saima, 22, the
eldest daughter, ran to help those defending Anchar.“It is the women who do all
the logistics work: they gather the stones, they bring us the water, they bring
us salt,” said one man. “It would be impossible to fight without their
support.” Saltwater is used to counter the effect of teargas. Saima and two of
her sisters – 14-year-old Maysara and 12-year-old Qurat – were wounded by
pellets during the assault. A metal pellet pierced Maysara’s eye. She was
smuggled to her aunt’s home elsewhere in Srinagar and underwent treatment in
hospital. Qurat was wounded in the head. Saima was hit on the neck and arms.
“First I felt like hot sand was thrown on me and then I felt my neck is
burning,” said Saima. She was treated at the shrine late in the evening by doctors
who had been smuggled into the neighbourhood. They administered painkillers and
injections to prevent infections. “I don’t know how [Maysara] is, whether she
is still admitted or she has been discharged,” said Subhan. The communications
blackout means people have no idea if their relatives are safe. Fazi’s
22-year-old grandson, Bilal, was blinded in his right eye by a pellet. “The
bleeding was not stopping, so we sent him to the hospital but doctors said they
cannot save his eye,” said Bilal’s father, Mohammad Ramzan. “The doctors
recommended that we should take him to a specialised eye hospital outside
Kashmir.” He was smuggled out of the city. Ramzan has no idea where his son is
or if he is safe. More than 100 pellets
were lodged in his body, neck and head, he said. “It was very painful. When I
was hit it was like a hundred needles had pricked me.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/11/kashmiri-suburb-indian-control-anchar-srinagar
11.
Custodial death: Sep., 12,2019: Handwara,
Indian-administered Kashmir — At dawn on September 3, the Indian
police raided the house of Zareena Begum in north Kashmir's Handwara district
and arrested her 24-year-old son Riyaz Ahmad Thickrey, a daily wage labourer.
Begum, who's partially blind, couldn't fathom the arrest, which looked
like a sudden abduction. Far away in the remote forests of Handwara, 96 km away
from Srinagar city, Begum's mud hut is perched on a low-lying hill. For the
next few hours, she roamed from terrain to terrain, calling her son's name,
hoping that he may return soon. But on September 4
at midnight, the police picked up Riyaz's uncle Shabangi from his home. Once
they reached the police station, Shabangi enquired about Riyaz. “They said he
[Riyaz] is in the toilet,” Shabangi told TRT World. The
toilet, he said, was in front of the police lock-up. As Shabangi opened the
toilet door, he was startled to see Riyaz lying face down on the floor,
completely motionless. The police told him that Riyaz had hung himself to death
in the toilet and it was a case of suicide. Terrified at the sight, he looked
for traces of blood and found none on the spot. Although the police maintain
that their "preliminary investigation" suggests that Riyaz committed
suicide, the family cries foul, and counters the claim saying he's been
murdered in police custody.The police sent Riyaz's body for post-mortem. A
court inquiry was initiated and on the morning of September 5, the body was
returned to the According to the
region's prominent human rights organization, the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of
Civil Society (JKCCS), most of the probes ordered to investigate 108 cases of
human rights abuse since 2008 — including nine custodial killings — have failed
to initiate even a single prosecution and the families still await justice. https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/fresh-death-in-custody-reveals-dark-side-of-india-s-policing-in-kashmir-29672
12.
ICJ: Sep., 12, 2019: The legal experts have
urged the Pakistani government to seek a vote at the upcoming session of UN
General Assembly on Kashmir for referring to International Court of Justice
(ICJ) in its advisory capacity. Sheikh said that only in February this year,the
International Court of Justice gave a landmark judgment in which it was held,
that the process of decolonization of Mauritius in 1965 was not properly done
and the agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius for the Chagos
Archipelago did not consider the will of people of Chagos as per the UN
Charter. The Chagos Archipelago went under UK control in 1966 under a 50-year
agreement with Mauritius, which ended in December 2016 and was extended for
another 20 years. During this period, the people of Chagos Archipelago were
forcibly evicted from their land and went into exile in other countries but
kept on fighting for their right of self-determination.USA had taken the Chagos
Archipelago from the UK under some agreement and made the famous military base
of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.The ICJ in its landmark judgment considered
all relevant UN General Assembly resolutions, support of African Union and its
resolutions, jurisdiction in a dispute when two states are involved, various
principles regarding the right of self-determination besides a host of other
legal issues. Sheikh firmly believes that Pakistan should immediately launch a
diplomatic offensive to press for Kashmiris right of self-determination and
move a Resolution in UN General Assembly seeking reference to ICJ in its
advisory jurisdiction https://tribune.com.pk/story/2054349/1-pakistan-seek-voting-un-general-assembly/
13.
Iranian support:
Sep., 12, 2019: As soon as Modi made an unlawful declaration and ordered curfew
in Jammu Kashmir, Iran was the first country to show decisiveness despite its
close relations with India The first step was taken by the spiritual leader of
Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, who urged India to protect the Muslims of
Kashmir. This followed several
demonstrations in main Iranian cities such as Tehran, Mashad and Shiraz A local
member of the National Majlis or Parliament Nasrollah Pezmanfar represented the
Iranian government. On Tuesday 13th of August Iran’s Foreign
Office Spokesman, Abbas Mousavi issued a statement expressing Iran’s grave
concern over Jammu Kashmir. This
followed a resolution presented by Dr. Ali Mathari in Iranian parliament
calling on all Muslim countries to stand up for the protection of the Muslims
of Jammu Kashmir. As reported by the Tehran times on 24th of
August, the Office for Strengthening Unity (OSU) wrote a letter to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations demanding condemnation of the Indian
behavior in Jammu Kashmir and asked to take necessary steps to protect the
Kashmiri Muslims. The Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi also issued a strong
condemnation on India’s inhumane actions in Kashmir and demanded an “immediate
halt to Indian violence.” Hojjatoleslam
Kazem Seddiqi, the interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran described Kashmir as
one of the tragedies of the Muslim world adding that the Indian government
behavior was contrary to human conscience, fairness and even domestic
laws. The Iran media has also played a
commendable role highlighting Indian atrocities and reaction against it. https://dailytimes.com.pk/463502/irans-steps-on-kashmir-protection/
14.
Missing Son: Sep., 13,
2019:
When my son Yasir went to fetch bread in the morning and didn’t return
promptly, I started pacing with worry outside the house. What if the security
forces manning every corner had roughed him up, or even worse? My fear is the
fear of every single person living in shock in Kashmir and wondering “What next?” Eventually
he returned, explaining that the delay was due to long queues at the only
bakery open in the entire area. But unlike Yasir, my son Javaid has never
returned. Nothing can make you used to the terror of nocturnal raids by
security forces. It was 18 August 1990, and we were living in Srinagar, at the height of an
uprising against the Indian occupation. In the early hours of the morning, a neighbour came to tell us
that my son Javaid, only 16 years old, had been taken away by the National Security Guard – one of many
paramilitary forces operated by the Indian government in the valley. At first I
wasn’t fearful, as I knew this was a case of mistaken identity. My son had never
quarrelled with anyone, let alone been part of any armed uprising. As the day
passed, my anxiety increased as efforts to trace him failed. I ran from one
police station to another, from one known torture centre to another detention
camp to be told, “Do not worry, he will be released”. He did not return. From
1997 until today, Javaid’s file, along with those of
all Kashmiri victims of armed forces in the India-administered region, has
remained secret. Not a single permission has been granted by the central
government to prosecute any official facing allegations of grave human rights
abuses. They threatened me, they tried to buy me, they suggested I was a bad
mother for neglecting my other children and for taking my infant daughter with
me to wait endlessly in front of police stations and the courts, they spread
rumours about my motives, they harassed me, they raised false charges against
me – they wanted me to give up. But I never stopped asking “Where is my son?”
Between 8,000 and 10,000 Kashmiris have been victims of enforced disappearance. I was never a
political person but the fire of my own suffering and the anguish of other
parents prompted me to start the Association of Parents of Disappeared
Persons
(APDP). I started visiting the families of the disappeared in every part of
Kashmir to listen, offer support and encourage action. Ours is not a
conventional organisation of activists but a community of sufferers who share
pain, support each other and live with hope that our disappeared children will
be returned. From informal gatherings to hunger strikes in public, from vigils
in parks to seminars at educational institutions in both Kashmir and India and visits to universities and the UN, we are seeking the
answer to our questions – Where have you taken our sons? Where are our
husbands. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/12/son-kashmir-disappeared-india-truth-fate-siege
15.
Asrar’s death: Sep., 13,
2019: Indian officials insisted Asrar Ahmad
Khan was killed by a stone, but medical records show he was struck by a tear
gas canister and then shot in the face with pellets. A
17-year-old boy was playing cricket in a Srinagar park when, according to
witnesses and his family, a paramilitary convoy made up of eight military
vehicles pulled up. Six of the
cars moved on but Indian security forces poured out from the two that remained
behind.“They fired a tear gas canister that hit Asrar’s head” the teenager’s
father, Firdous Ahmad Khan told TRT World. Asrar’s friends and cousins, who were at the park on August 6
evening, described the incident as “unprovoked”. “There was no protest. In fact
there never is a protest in our locality,” Adil Ahmad, the teenager’s elder
cousin, said. He added that after he was hit by the canister Asrar was further
struck by a hail of shotgun pellets fired by Indian forces. Firdous Ahmad Khan
describes his son Asrar as a well behaved and studious child.“He was very
obedient towards his elders. He never talked in a loud tone,” he said. For 29
days, Asrar remained in critical condition at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of
Medical Sciences (SKIMS), where doctors treated him for injuries caused by the
tear gas canister and shotgun pellets. On September 3, Asrar died .His
death certificate, obtained by TRT World, recorded the death as being due to
“pellet injury with shell blast injury”. decision.Because of the clampdown it
was near impossible for Asrar’s friends and family to challenge the official
narrative of his death. However, medical records clearly demonstrate that the
Indian narrative was inaccurate. Asrar’s x-rays show dozens of pellets embedded
in his skull and a picture of the teenager taken soon after receiving his wound
show his face pockmarked with fresh pellet-sized scars. https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/witnesses-and-medical-evidence-rebut-indian-account-of-kashmir-teen-s-death-29692
16.
Arrests:
Sep., 14, 2019: Authorities in Indian Kashmir have arrested nearly 4,000
people since the scrapping of its special status last month, government data
shows, the clearest evidence yet of the scale of one of the disputed region’s
biggest crackdowns. In an attempt to stifle the protests that the reform
sparked in Kashmir, India cut internet and mobile services and imposed
curfew-like restrictions in many areas. It has also arrested more than 3,800
people, according to a government report dated Sept. 6 and seen by Reuters,
though about 2,600 have since been released. More than 200 politicians, including
two former chief ministers of the state were arrested, along with more than 100
leaders and activists from an umbrella organization of pro-separatist political
groups. The bulk of those arrested - more than 3,000 - were listed as “stone
pelters and other miscreants”. On Sunday, 85 detainees were shifted to a prison
in Agra in northern India, a police source said. Rights group Amnesty
International said the crackdown was “distinct and unprecedented” in the recent
history of the region and the detentions had contributed to “widespread fear
and alienation”.
“The communication blackout, security clampdown and detention of
the political leaders in the region hasmade it worse,” said Aakar Patel, head
of Amnesty International India. In the
24 hours before the report was compiled, more than two dozen people were
arrested, mainly on suspicion of throwing stones at troops, the data showed. The
data did not include those under informal house arrest, nor people detained in
a round-up of separatists that began in February after a bomb attack by a
Pakistan-based militant group on Indian troops. Days before India’s move
to strip Kashmir of special status, one prominent separatist leader told
Reuters that more than 250 people with links to the movement were already in
detention. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-detentions/thousands-detained-in-indian-kashmir-crackdown-official-data-reveals-idUSKCN1VX142
17.
US Senators:
Sep., 14, 2019: A bipartisan group of senators is pressing President Trump to take immediate
action to help facilitate an end to the deepening humanitarian crisis in the
disputed region of Kashmir. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), wrote to Trump
on Thursday urging him “to immediately facilitate an end to the current
humanitarian crisis.”They asked him specifically
to put pressure on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift curfews imposed
on residents of Kashmir and restore telecommunications services in the disputed
territory, among other steps. “In
keeping with your offer of assistance in July, we believe that U.S. engagement
with India will be critical in providing relief for the all of the people of
Kashmir,” they wrote. The senators particularly raised concerns about the
Indian government’s revocation of Article 370 of its constitution, which
granted special status to allow the state of Jammu and Kashmir to make its own
laws. They also pointed to India’s decisions to impose a curfew on residents of
Kashmir; to deploy thousands of troops to the region in August; and to impose a
communications blackout as evidence the situation has worsened and needs
Trump’s attention. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/461081-senators-pressure-trump-to-help-end-humanitarian-crisis-in-kashmir
18.
EU Parliamentarians: Sep., 14,
2019: Co-Chair
of Friends of Kashmir group in European Parliament (EP) Richard Corbett
European parliamentarian has proposed “trade sanctions and travel restrictions
on those involved in the acts of terrorism and human rights violations in the
Muslim-majority state”. He also called
for utilizing all possible means to mount pressure on the government in New
Delhi to ease the ongoing lockdown in the disputed Himalayan region.“Trade
relations with India should be linked to human rights situation in Occupied
Kashmir,” he added. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2055733/1-eu-lawmaker-proposes-trade-travel-restrictions-india-amid-iok-lockdown/
20.
US Congress: Sep., 15, 2019: As
the communications blockade and curfew imposed in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK)
enters its second month, members of the US Congress on Saturday hit out at New
Delhi for its “unacceptable restrictions.” The letter addressed to US
ambassador in India and Charge d’ Affaires, US Embassy in Islamabad deemed the
Indian government’s strong-arm tactics as “a deeply ominous sign that is both
incompatible with both democratic and human rights.” Penned by Ilhan Omar, Raul
Grijalva, Andy Levin, James McGovern, Ted Lieu and Alan Lowenthal, the letter
calls for the centrality of Kashmiri voices in determining the future of the
Himalayan valley. The lawmakers stated that New Delhi’s actions contravened
freedom of expression, assembly and movement.The elected representatives took
note of complaints by Kashmiri-Americans of being unable to contact their loved
ones inside IOK. “The reports we are receiving are harrowing with the
allegations including forced disappearances, mass detentions, rape and sexual
assault, and the targeted detention of political, economic and social leaders,”
the communique read. The US Congresspeople cited alerts issued by prominent
international non-governmental organisations, saying that,”we are deeply
concerned that Genocide Watch issued a genocide alert.” The letter outlines
that the International Alliance to End Genocide has identified seven genocide
risk factors applying to the situation in the valley with their ten stages in
are all far advanced. The legislators also raised concern over the risk that
the Kashmir situation could further fracture relations between nuclear-armed
neighbours, Pakistan and India. “This presents tremendous danger to global
peace and a clear security risk for the US, Pakistan and India are both valued
allies, crucial to our interests the region, including the Afghan peace
process. It is of the utmost importance that we leverage our relationships with
their governments to de-escalate the situation.” They called for the Indian
government to lift the communication blockade and allow press to access the
area.“We strongly urge India to release all those arbitrarily detained,” the
letter stated, urging an impartial probe into human right violations in
IOK. Earlier, a group of US senators had pressed President Donald Trump to urge
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to end the humanitarian crisis in IOK. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2056628/1-us-congress-members-term-indian-siege-kashmir-unacceptable/
21.
1.
Medical Supplies: Sep., 2, 2019: Kashmiri doctors
say a curfew and Internet shutdown have left hospitals dangerously low on
supplies It's been nearly four weeks
since India cut phone lines and Internet in its only Muslim-majority state,
Jammu and Kashmir. It did this to prevent protests right before it revoked the
state's autonomy. But doctors and human rights groups say these measures may
now be endangering lives, as NPR's Lauren Frayer reports from New Delhi. . A
college student named Mehboob says the most harrowing part of living under
lockdown was when his grandfather suffered chest pains. Mehboob had to rush him
through army checkpoints to the hospital where they found long lines and little
help.
2.
Sanders: Sep., 2, 2019: Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Senator Bernie Sanders on Sunday raised
the plight of Kashmiris, who have been living under a lockdown for four weeks
in occupied Kashmir, while separately addressing the 56th Convention of Islamic
Society of North America (ISNA). Speaking at the event, Sanders, a
Democratic presidential hopeful for the US Elections 2020, termed India's move to
annex occupied Kashmir as "unacceptable"."I am also deeply
concerned about the situation in Kashmir where the Indian government has
revoked Kashmiri autonomy, cracked down on dissent and instituted a
communications blackout.“The crackdown in the name of security is also denying
the Kashmiri people access to medical care. Even many respected doctors in
India have acknowledged that the Indian government-imposed restrictions on
travel are threatening the life-saving care that patients need," he
said."The communications blockade must be lifted immediately and the
United States government must speak out boldly in support of international
humanitarian law and in support of a UN-backed peaceful resolution that
respects the will of the Kashmiri people," the senator stated.
3.
Journalists: Sep., 3, 2019: As the crippling lockdown
in Indian-administered Kashmir nears a
month, journalists in the region complain of harassment by authorities, with
many accusing security forces of deleting their camera footage and pressure to
report "normalcy"."This is a unique situation. None of us had
seen anything like this in the past. Even in the worst of times in Kashmir, we
were able to file our stories," said Muzaffar Raina as he waits to access
his email at a Media Facilitation Centre in the main city of Srinagar. Since
the night of August 4, the region's seven million residents have been placed
under a curfew and denied telephone and internet access. Raina says the
situation is "unprecedented". The restrictions were
imposed to prevent backlash over India's Hindu
nationalist government's decision to strip the country's only Muslim-majority
state of its limited autonomy, triggering the worst political crisis in the
region in more than 70 years. Raina said the curbs are in place "to
prevent the truth from going out". "For the first few days, I was not
able to send anything," he said, adding that a friend working for a
television channel then offered to help."I would make a video of the text.
My friend would use his OB [outdoor broadcasting] van to send the video to his
office, where someone would send it to my office in [New] Delhi, where they
would type the story," he said. Peerzada Ashiq, who reports for The Hindu
newspaper, also said he could not send his report or contact his office for the
first few days, until he mailed his story in a flash drive to New Delhi.Like
Raina, Ashiq also sought a friend's help to send the story through the OB van.
Many journalists complained of being harassed by the security forces patrolling
the streets. S Ahmad, who works as a videographer for an international TV
channel, told Al Jazeera that he was forced to delete footage from his camera
by the security officers after he recorded a protest in Srinagar. Ahmad said a paramilitary
trooper told him to film "the normalcy" and not the protests.
"They are dictating how we should work."We risk everything to tell a
story. People trust us with their stories and it is heartbreaking to let them
down in such a state." Ashiq said reporters are
being stopped despite having a "movement pass" issued by the
authorities.
4.
. London
Protest: Sep., 4, 2019: Thousands of
protesters took out a rally in London to express solidarity with the people of
Indian-occupied Kashmir, as a crippling
lockdown imposed by the Indian government in the occupied
region since revoking its special status entered its 30th day on Tuesday. More than 5,000
protesters assembled at Parliament Square in the British capital and marched to
the Indian High Commission to protest Kashmiris' oppression at the hands of
Indian security forces.
5.
UK Parliament : Sep., 4, 2019: According to The
Hindustan Times, MPs
in the House of Commons raised on Tuesday serious concerns on the situation in
occupied valley after New Delhi unilaterally revoked the special status of its
only Muslim-majority region in the rushed presidential decree on August 5
6.
British Parliament: Sep., 4, 2019:
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Tuesday said that Britain had asked
the Indian government to respect international standards of human rights,
respect rights of Kashmiris and end lockdown of occupied Kashmir, which has now
entered the second month. Speaking in the House of Commons to give policy
statement of the British government, Dominic Raab expressed alarm at the
worsening human rights situation in occupied Kashmir as a result of the
draconian clampdown on Kashmiris following the revocation of Article 370.
7. Fatalities after Aug.,5: Sep., 5,2019: Asrar
Ahmed Khan, 18, from the region’s main city Srinagar, died on Tuesday night in
hospital, succumbing to wounds he suffered a month ago Some protesters said
Khan was hit by a tear gas canister, Media have reported at least two other deaths
during protests
8.
Torture: Sep., 6, 2019: Haleema had to begin
her journey at dawn, travelling through deserted roads from her home in
southern Kashmir's Shopian district and waited at a park outside the central
jail in Srinagar, the main city in the Muslim-majority region.Two hours past
noon, Haleema was still waiting and uncertain if she would be allowed to meet
her husband, Bashir Ahmad."He was picked 20 days ago," she said,
"like they pick everyone else.""They don't need a reason and we
cannot ask questions," she said. The number of detentions and arrests made
across Indian-administered Kashmir in the past month, since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Indian
constitution that granted the region a limited autonomy, is not known as
officials have remained tight-lipped. Al
Jazeera show that, since August 5, there have been 588 incidents of stone
throwing, 458 of which were reported from the main city of Srinagar where some
of the old parts of the city are still under restrictions. Official figures
show that 3,500 people have been arrested and 350 of them have been booked
under the Public Safety Act (PSA) - a law that allows lengthy detentions
without trial. The figures say that only 135 people have been wounded in the
last month. At his home in Srinagar's
Anchar neighbourhood, 54-year-old Mohammad, who identified himself only by his
first name, said he fears for the future of his children. "Our children
will suffer," he said. "If we remain silent now, what will happen to
them," the father of four said. Anchar, a neighbourhood on the northern
edge of Srinagar, has been a major flashpoint for the past month as families
defended the neighbourhood from multiple raids by Indian police and
paramilitaries. Bano, a 30-year-old nurse, said she treated nearly 300 young
men and women from Anchar who had been wounded by pellet guns because residents
feared they would be detained if they went to hospitals for treatment. "On
Friday (August 30), more than 200 people were injured. I treated these people
with my limited equipment and took out pellets from their bodies inside the
mosque," she said. Later that evening, a doctor and a male nurse from
a nearby hospital sneaked into the neighbourhood with a box of medicines.
"We managed to help the injured, some youth had 100 and some had 200
pellets in their bodies. But when someone is hit in the eyes, it is impossible
to do anything," she said adding that many of the injured are lying at home
and have yet to receive proper treatment. Bano said she used a forceps, eyebrow
tweezers and a knife to operate on the wounded. "I also took out pellets
from the bodies of four women," she said. Youths have set up groups to
keep a night vigil on the neighbourhood's entrances. Aijaz, 25, said he is part
of the daily guard duty to defend the front lines of Anchar and participated in
protests during the past month."We are not resisting for our own
selves," he said, "but for the future of Kashmir"."We were praying
on Friday at the mosque and forces came and fired pellets on the
worshippers," he said. Aqib's cousin was also wounded as he tried to
escape a chase and fell after jumping a barricade. His arm and leg were
fractured. "Even the ambulances were not allowed to come here and help the
wounded. We do not go to hospitals because we fear they will detain us and send
us to jails outside for years. We will die here but we won't leave this
place," he said. Nusrat, a young
female resident, said she was frightened even inside her home where she lives
with her seven sisters and parents."They target everyone, man or woman,
young or old," she said."At night, we don't dare to sleep because we
fear the night raids and more fear for women and young girls."On Friday, they
had cut off water and electricity supply to punish us. We are not pelting
stones but they provoke us," she said. The water supply was later revived.
"They want to exhaust us, they want us in submission," said
45-year-old Nazir Ahmad, a resident of Rainawari. "But they are
wrong".The lockdown has also taken a toll on Kashmir's economy, which has
gone into freefall. At the park outside
the central jail, Shazia had travelled from northern Handwara town, nearly 80km
from Srinagar, to meet her brother. "My brother is an imam," she
said. "He was arrested for using a loudspeaker during his
sermon".Shazia said her brother has been booked under the PSA, a law
described as "lawless" by Amnesty International. She said her
eight-year-old niece had cried for days as she insisted on seeing her father.
"We came so she could see her father," Shazia said.
9.
Hospitals; Sep., 7, 2019: For the past two weeks,
Mohamad Shafi has been at the bedside of his 13-year-old son Rafi, who has been
admitted to the nephrology ward of a state-run hospital in Indian-administered Kashmir's main
city of Srinagar. Shafi is tired and has hardly had much sleep, but the
54-year-old is prepared to stay at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical
Science (SKIMS) hospital for as long as it takes.Rafi suffers from a chronic
kidney ailment and needs dialysis every 15 days, a medical procedure that
cannot be done at his village in Tangdar area of Kupwara, a frontier district
some 100 kilometres northwest of Srinagar."We can't go anywhere for now.
My son needs medical care which isn't available in Tangdar. So we are planning
to stay at the hospital until the situation improves," Shafi told Al
Jazeera. On the nights of August 20 and 21, Shafi took his ailing son to the
hospital. He said he was stopped at multiple security checkpoints set up by the
Indian security forces along the way. "We were supposed to get his
dialysis done on August 15 itself, but couldn't do it. Due to the restrictions,
everything was shut and we were scared to go out," said Shafi."But
when he fell sick, we pleaded with a neighbour who owns a vehicle to bring us
here." Shafi said that dialysis for his son costs 2,800 rupees ($25) each
time. While the government-run hospital treats patients at a subsidised price,
it does not provide the medicine required for this procedure. Patients are
supposed to buy the medicine needed for dialysis from outside the hospital.
Amid the lockdown, the medicine is not always available at the nearby
pharmacies.A medical staff member at SKIMS hospital, who did not want to be
identified, told Al Jazeera that many patients at the hospital have run out of
money to buy the critical medicines. At the Sri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital
in Srinagar, Surendar Prasad Goyal and his daughter, Priya, who are from
Chhattisgarh state in central India, wait anxiously outside the operation
theatre.Earlier this week, Goyal's 16-month-old grandson Lucky suffered a
serious accident at the brick kiln he and his daughter worked at in Anantnag
district of Kashmir.While doctors carried out surgery on Lucky immediately
after he was admitted, he is still not stable. Goyal
said he was able to reach Srinagar by ambulance at the district hospital in
Anantnag. While he had the money he needed for the surgery, he is not sure how
long will it last."We have been out of work for days. Whatever little we
had saved has been used to pay for the medicines and other bills," he told
Al Jazeera. Mumtaza Dar from Beeru village in Budgam district was scheduled to
undergo surgery at the SMHS hospital on August 10, but she could not make it to
the hospital due to the restrictions placed by the Indian authorities. Forced to
delay her medical needs, the chronic piles patient bled for weeks. As her
condition at home worsened, her family hired a vehicle to take her to Srinagar
last weekend. A doctor at the SMHS
hospital, who did not want to be named, said the inflow of patients had dipped
by less than half as people were delaying going to the hospital because of the
uncertainty over the lockdown. The doctor also told Al Jazeera that at least 60
victims of pellet gun attacks had been treated at his hospital in the last
month https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/chaos-crisis-kashmir-hospitals-month-long-lockdown-190905205741695.html
10.
Casualty since Aug 5: Sep., 8, 2019: Since August 5, at least 500
protests and incidents of stone throwing have occurred and some 4,000 people
have been detained, according to multiple sources. Five civilians have also died
11.
Kashmir Update 38:
Week Aug 26, 2019 to Sep.,1,2019
1.
Geelani: Aug., 26, 2019:
Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani
has issued a five-point "programme of action" for resistance
against the Indian government and called upon the residents of the occupied
region of Jammu and Kashmir, Indian police officials deployed in the territory,
and the Pakistani people to "resist" New Delhi's "campaign of
brutal repression" following the repealing of Article 370 of the constitution. In an
open letter to the people of occupied Kashmir — which is dated August 23 but
surfaced on Sunday — Geelani detailed and condemned recent events, which
includes stripping the occupied territory of its special status and a continued
communications blackout and lockdown that has been in place in the region for
the past three weeks. Following are the five points listed by Geelani in his
letter: Gillani
issued a "heartfelt appeal" to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir to
"continue to resist the naked
Indian brutality with courage". He urged the resistance to organise "peaceful protests and
demonstrations" in their areas:
Geelani called upon Indian government officials, bureaucrats as well as
police officers employed from the occupied region to "realise that even
when they are hand-in-hand in the oppression of their own people, the Indian
State does not trust them". He urged them to "stand up and
protest" against the "humiliation"
inflicted upon them by the Indian government: Geelani
urged Kashmiris living outside the
occupied territory to "participate in the resistance struggle by
acting as ambassadors of the Kashmiri people all over the
world"."They should use their knowledge of Kashmir’s history and
their own lived experiences to highlight the oppression and brutalities of the
Indian State. They should also connect with other marginalised and struggling
nationalities in other parts of the world and forge solidarities of
resistance.":
The Kashmiri leader also called upon the "people of Pakistan and their leaders in particular, and the Muslim
ummah in general [to] come forward at this crucial juncture to help the
besieged people of Kashmir"."You are an important party to the
Kashmir dispute and this is the time for unity and action," he said. "Today,
if you once again get ensconced in so-called pragmatism and fail to act
decisively, then neither history will not forgive you nor will your coming
generations. You must continue to heighten your political and diplomatic
initiatives to the highest level and respond to the deceit of the Indian occupation
with full strength and determination.":
Geelani said that the "Indians State’s occupation and its
machinations" threatens not only the people of occupied Kashmir but also
the Dogra community of Jammu, Buddhists community in Ladakh, Muslims of Pir Panjal and Kargil. "The Indian State
not only wants to occupy our land, but it also intends to destroy our
collective identity and brotherhood," he warned. "We must not allow
their heinous plot to succeed at any cost. We must all together stand with the resistance
struggle to secure our lives, property, and our demographic character."
2.
Resistance inside IOK: Aug., 27, 2019: This is not a situation
‘returning to normal’, as the Indian government would have it; this is the
outcome of a powder keg set alight — and the ramifications are only just
beginning to be felt. Earlier last week, posters appeared overnight urging,
citizens to join a march to the office of the UN Military Observer Group for
India and Pakistan after Friday prayers, the first such call to the local
populace by the Kashmiri leadership. After the weekly congregations, protests
erupted in Srinagar’s #Soura district for the third week running despite a ban
on public gatherings; hundreds of stone-pelting youth confronted Indian
paramilitary forces. Another locality in Srinagar saw a rally with
participants, some holding Pakistan flags, vociferously chanting anti-India
slogans. At
least 152 people are known to have been injured by tear gas and pellets. India,
however, has been silent on casualty figures except to say that no one has been
killed. When people are willing to defy tens of thousands of security personnel
and risk life and limb to protest against an illegal action that has placed
them at the mercy of a fascist state, the fiction of normality — to any degree
whatsoever — cannot be sustained.
Brutality has intensified, so their resolve has been further
strengthened. That is the nature of a just and indigenous struggle for freedom,
and so it will inevitably prove in the present case.
3.
British MP: Aug., 28, 2019: British
Member of Parliament Barrister Imran Hussain on Tuesday said that while the meeting held by
the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the Kashmir issue earlier this
month was a "welcome" development; the council still had a role to
play to take the dispute to its logical end. , he
added. He also expressed concern over
the "blockade" in occupied Kashmir and said that while the reports
coming from the region — which has been under lockdown for over three weeks —
were unconfirmed, the briefings that the British parliamentary delegation had
received so far indicated that the events were leading up to a "very
worrying situation". "We
demand from the international community, and will also bring this up in the
British parliament, that the injustice against Kashmiris must stop and must
stop imminently," he said.
4.
US Congress Woman: Aug.,
28, 2019: United States congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Tuesday
called for "de-escalation" and an "immediate restoration of
communication" in occupied Kashmir, where a lockdown is imposed by the Indian government has entered its fourth week. In a tweet, that comes a day
after a meeting between US President
Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took place in France, Omar
said: "We should be calling for an immediate restoration of communication;
respect for human rights, democratic norms, and religious freedom; and
de-escalation in [occupied] Kashmir." We should be calling for an immediate
restoration of communication; respect for human rights, democratic norms, and
religious freedom; and de-escalation in Kashmir. International organizations
should be allowed to fully document what is happening on the ground
5.
Indian Supreme
Court: Aug., 29, 2019: India’s top court on Wednesday took up legal challenges to the
government’s decision to revoke Indian-controlled Kashmir’s special status and
asked it to explain its stance to the court. The Supreme Court ordered the
federal government to file its replies to 14 petitions and inform the court
about media restrictions imposed in Kashmir. It said five judges will start a
regular hearing on the matter in October. the court allowed an Indian
opposition leader to visit Kashmir to meet a party colleague who he said was
under detention, but told him not use the visit for political purposes. .”The court also sought a government reply
within seven days to a petition filed by Kashmir Times Executive Editor
Anuradha Bhasin seeking restoration of all modes of communication, including
mobile internet and landline phone services, to help the media work in Kashmir.
6.
Protest: Aug., 29, 2019: At least 500 incidents of protest have broken out in Indian-occupied
Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the region of its autonomy and imposed a military clampdown more than
three protests have broken out, including in
the main city of Srinagar, with police using pellet guns and tear gas to
disperse the crowds. Nearly 100 civilians have been injured so far, with a
further 300 police and more than 100 paramilitary troopers hurt, the official
added. At least 4,000 people have been detained across the valley, security including businessmen, academics, activists
and local politicians, with a few released since then. A separate senior
government official said on Wednesday that at least 1,350 protesters —
described by police as “stone-pelters” — have been arrested since August 5.
7. Medicines: Aug., 29,
2019: Kashmir
crisis: Restrictions by government hit medicine supply. Medicine sellers say
with disruptions to the internet and reliable phone services; they have not been
able to place new orders in weeks.
8. Occupation: Aug., 29,
2019: In occupied Kashmir, the Kashmir valley remains under
severe military siege for 25th consecutive day, today, as hundreds of thousands
of Indian troops continue to enforce strict curfew and other restrictions to
prevent people from staging anti-India demonstrations. The Kashmir valley is
under strict lockdown since 5th August when Narendra Modi-led communal
government in New Delhi stripped occupied Kashmir of special status by
repealing Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The occupation authorities
have converted the Kashmir valley into a military garrison by deploying
hundreds of thousands of Indian troops and paramilitary personnel in every
street, lane and by-lane to stop people from staging demonstrations against the
abrogation of special status of the territory. However, people defying the
curfew and other restrictions have been staging protests to express their
resentment against the Indian occupation and nefarious move of Modi government.
9.
HR violations: Aug., 29, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, situation in the
territory is worsening with every passing day and people from India are also
confirming human rights violations in the territory at the hands of Indian
forces. A report by Indian journalist, Barkha
Dutt, maintained that the Kashmiris are suffering immensely due to
communication blackout as they are unable to talk to their dear ones and number
of arrested persons by the Indian forces is not known. Barkha Dutt said that
during her Srinagar visit she tried to inquire about arrested Kashmiris. She painted
a picture of the occupied territory and termed the situation like a pressure
cooker.
10.
UNSC: Aug., 30,
2019: A UN Security Council session to discuss the escalation between
India and Pakistan over the former state of Jammu and Kashmir will take place
on Friday, a UN Security Council source has told TASS. "The chairperson
resolved holding the session on Friday morning (starting from 17:00 Moscow
time), in the format of closed consultations," the source said
11.
Torture: Aug., 30, 2019:
Security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir have been accused of carrying
out beatings and torture in the wake of the government's decision to strip the
region of its autonomy. The BBC heard from several villagers who said they were beaten
with sticks and cables, and given electric shocks.. Residents in several villages showed me injuries. I visited at least half a dozen villages in
the southern districts which have emerged as a hub of anti-India militancy in
the past few years. I heard similar accounts from several people in all these
villages of night raids, beatings and torture. Doctors and health officials are
unwilling to speak to journalists about any patients regardless of ailments,
but the villagers showed me injuries alleged to have been inflicted by security
forces.. Two brothers alleged that they were woken up and taken to an outside
area where nearly a dozen other men from the village had been gathered. Like
everyone else we met, they were too afraid of reprisals to reveal their
identities."They beat us up. We were asking them: 'What have we done? You
can ask the villagers if we are lying, if we have done anything wrong.' But
they didn't want to hear anything, they didn't say anything, they just kept
beating us," one of them said. “They beat every part of my body. They
kicked us, beat us with sticks, gave us electric shocks, beat us with cables.
They hit us on the back of the legs. When we fainted they gave us electric
shocks to bring us back. When they hit us with sticks and we screamed, they
sealed our mouth with mud."We told them we are innocent. We asked why they
were doing this? But they did not listen to us. I told them don't beat us, just
shoot us. I was asking God to take me, because the torture was
unbearable."Another villager, a young man, said the security forces kept
asking him to "name the stone-throwers" - referring to the mostly
young men and teenage boys who have in the past decade become the face of
civilian protests in Kashmir Valley.He said he told the soldiers he didn't know
any, so they ordered him to remove his glasses, clothes and shoes."Once I
took off my clothes they beat me mercilessly with rods and sticks, for almost
two hours. Whenever I fell unconscious, they gave me shocks to revive
[me]."If they do it to me again, I am willing to do anything, I will pick
up the gun. I can't bear this every day," he said. In one village, I met a
man in his early 20s who said the army threatened to frame him if he didn't
become an informant against militants. When he refused, he alleged, he was
beaten so badly that two weeks later he still cannot lie on his back. “If this
continues I'll have no choice but to leave my house. They beat us as if we are
animals. They don't consider us human."Another man who showed us his
injuries said he was pushed to the ground and severely beaten with
"cables, guns, sticks and probably iron rods" by "15-16 soldiers"."I
was semi-conscious. They pulled my beard so hard that I felt like my teeth
would fall out."He said he was later told by a boy who had witnessed the
assault that one soldier tried to burn his beard, but was stopped by another
soldier.In yet another village, I met a young man who said his brother had
joined the Hizbul Mujahideen - one of the largest groups fighting Indian rule
in Kashmir- two years ago.He said he was recently questioned at an army camp,
where he alleged he was tortured and left with a leg fracture."They tied my
hands and legs and hung me upside down. They beat me very badly for more than
two hours," he said. The UN Commission on Human Rights has also called for
setting up a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to conduct a comprehensive independent
international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in
Kashmir. It has released a 49-page report on alleged excesses by security
forces in the region.
12.
Children : Aug.,
31, 2019: among some 3,000 people
detained in Kashmir since Aug. 5, It is
unclear how many of the detainees were minors, but The Washington Post has
confirmed that at least five Kashmiris under the age of 18 were taken into
detention in the weeks since the start of the crackdown.
13.
Outlaw: Aug., 31, 2019: India annexed Kashmir. This action violates the U.N.
Security Council resolutions on Kashmir and thus is illegal under international
law. It is shocking to see a democracy indulge in brute hegemony. But no
surprise here: On Kashmir and elsewhere (Goa, Junagarh, Sikkim, Hyderabad,
etc.) , India has always acted as a land-grabbing mafia, rather than a
democracy. It is disgraceful that the world’s largest democracy would not allow
the Kashmiris, whom it calls its own citizens, to vote on their own destiny.
Why would a true democracy fear the outcome of a vote or a plebiscite?
14.
OIC: Sep., 1, 2019: The General Secretariat of the Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation on Saturday
reaffirmed the internationally recognised status of the Jammu and Kashmir
dispute, contradicting the Indian government's claim that the
matter was a bilateral issue between it and Pakistan, a press release issued by
the Islamic bloc said. The OIC General Secretariat has been
"following with concern" the developments in occupied Kashmir that
have occurred since India's unilateral decision to revoke Article 370 of its constitution,
which granted special autonomy to occupied Kashmir, on August 5."The
General Secretariat reaffirms the United Nations Security Council Resolutions
on the internationally recognised status of Jammu and Kashmir dispute and its
final disposition through an UN-supervised plebiscite," it said. It called for the "immediate
lifting of the curfew, restoration of communication and the respect for the
fundamental rights of Kashmiris".
Kashmir Update 37:
Week Aug 19, 2019 to Aug ,25,2019
1. Nagaland:Aug., 19, 2019: Nagaland, previously a state
of India, has declared independence from the Indian Union as it hoisted its
flag, on Thursday, The news was tweeted by BBC anchor Zain Khan who claimed
that Nagaland had celebrated its Independence Day on Thursday from the Indian
Union and the media had kept quiet about it as India didn’t want to attract
hype. “It was not reported much by mainstream media, because
India kept hush about it,” he tweeted.
2. Curfew: Aug., 19, 2019: Indian authorities’ re imposed restrictions on movement in parts
of Kashmir’s biggest city, Srinagar, on Sunday after overnight clashes between
residents and police in which dozens were injured, two senior officials and
eyewitnesses said. The officials said security
forces had been pelted with stones on 47 occasions on Saturday night in the
Kashmir Valley, and more than 20 on Sunday. One said the protests were growing
more intense. On Saturday, about two dozen people reported to Srinagar’s two
main hospitals with injuries, mainly from pellets fired by Indian forces,
on Sunday people were being turned back at multiple roadblocks set up in
the city, and there was no sign of detainees being released or internet and
mobile phone services being restored.
3.
UNSC : Aug., 19, 2019: Afghanistan
is justifiably known as the ‘graveyard of empires’. After 19 years, the US is
still fighting its longest war there. India’s
war in occupied Jammu & Kashmir is over 70 years long. It has been fought
by an occupation force of 700,000, seven times the maximum number of troops
deployed at any time by the Soviet Union or US-Nato in Afghanistan. The Kashmir
war will end only when New Delhi realises that it cannot break the will of the
Kashmiri people and that it is doing grievous damage to the Indian state. This future is visible now. First, the illegality of India’s
occupation of Kashmir is being widely acknowledged. The Security Council and the UN secretary general have again
reaffirmed the UN resolutions requiring a plebiscite in Kashmir. India’s
position violates these resolutions. Article 370 of the Indian constitution was
supposed to encapsulate the terms under which the Maharaja of Kashmir was
supposed to have acceded to India. By removing this article, India has eliminated
the only legal argument it had itself advanced to justify its claim to Jammu
& Kashmir. By its own legal yardstick, therefore, there now is naked
occupation. Second, the Modi government has closed all doors to a
peaceful and negotiated resolution of the dispute. It has rejected a bilateral
dialogue with Pakistan as well as third-party mediation. Following its Aug 5
unilateral actions, India says there is nothing to negotiate with Pakistan
except the “return” of “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir” to India. Nor does
the Indian government contemplate a negotiated relationship with the Kashmiris.
They will be now ruled directly by Delhi’s proconsuls. India has clearly opted
for a military solution. The Kashmiri Muslims face an existential threat. They
will vigorously oppose being transformed into a minority in their homeland by
Hindu colonists. They have no choice but to intensify their freedom
struggle.The BJP’s fascist plan to impose a ‘final solution’ by changing
Kashmir’s demographic composition will result in serious violations of human
rights and humanitarian laws and could lead to a genocide in occupied Kashmir.
Third, India’s arrogance and
hostility, the Hindutva racism and the visible suffering being imposed on the
Kashmiri people have transformed Pakistan from a fearful friend into a bold
ally of the Kashmiri freedom struggle.Kashmir has been again proclaimed as a
core issue for Pakistan. The BJP’s actions have radically diminished the hope
within Pakistan that relations with India can be normalised and the Jammu &
Kashmir dispute resolved through negotiations. The principle of a plebiscite
prescribed in Security Council resolution 47 (1948) and subsequent resolutions
reflects the legal recognition of the right to self-determination of the people
of Jammu & Kashmir. The UN General Assembly, in Resolution 2649 (1970), and
several subsequent resolutions, has repeatedly affirmed the legitimacy of the
struggle of peoples under colonial and alien domination, “recognized as being
entitled to the right of self-determination”, to “restore to themselves that
right by any means at their disposal, including armed struggle”. These
resolutions, furthermore, also recognize the right of such peoples “to seek and
receive all kinds of moral and material assistance” in the “legitimate exercise
of their right to self-determination”. The world is fully aware that a Pakistan-India
conflict could turn into a disastrous war with an inherent nuclear dimension.
To avoid this, the members of the Security Council, other states and
international institutions, are likely to resort to preventive measures. The
major powers and the UN will make efforts to convince India to reverse its
course and engage in a credible peace process with Pakistan and the Kashmiri
people. But Modi is drunk with power. He and his RSS coterie (Amit Shah, Ajit
Doval et al), are convinced that oppression of the Kashmir’s and aggression
towards Pakistan is a winning strategy within India. They will probably spurn
the calls for restraint and dialogue. There is a growing sense in Islamabad
that the BJP’s heavy-handed strategy is likely to backfire, sparking a major
indigenous Kashmiri insurgency which will be difficult to defeat. If India
resorts to the threat or use of force, there is renewed confidence in Pakistan
that it can neutralize New Delhi, if necessary, by recourse to credible nuclear
deterrence. India’s prolonged occupation of Kashmir is likely to turn into an
Afghan-like quagmire. It will corrode morale in India’s armed forces, divide
its polity and erode its economy. Like the colonial powers of the past, India
will ultimately lose the debilitating war against a determined popular
insurgency.
4. LoC violations: Aug., 19, 2019: 7
years old, Noor Saddam s/o Noor Mohammad, who was injured by firing of Indian
forces across the Line of Control yesterday, died today, May God give him a
status of a martyr. Abbaspur AJ&K
5.
Israeli connection: Aug., 19, 2019: India’s oppression
of Kashmir’s cannot be seen in a vacuum.
Over the past decades, the country’s growing ties with Israel have created a
situation in which the oppression of Kashmir is linked to Israel’s treatment of
Palestinians. The Indian occupation of Kashmir and the establishment of Israel
in 1948, which resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians, began only months apart from one another. In July 1949, two years
after India and Pakistan declared independence from British rule; the two
countries signed an agreement to establish a ceasefire line, dividing the
Kashmir region between them. Indian rule in the territory has led to decades of
unrest. Although the Indian presence in Kashmir never amounted to settler
colonialism like in the Palestinian case, where a large proportion of the
existing population of the region was expelled and replaced by a settler
population, India has maintained a heavy military presence in the area and has
acted as a police state vis-Ã -vis Kashmiri civilians and politicians. The other reason is based on the convergence
of the logic that Israel and India employed in suppressing popular resistance
in the occupied territories and armed insurrection in Kashmir, respectively,
highlighting issues of security, counterterrorism and the threat of Islamic
extremism. In 1992, then Indian Defense Minister Sharad Pawar admitted to
Indian-Israeli cooperation on issues of counterterrorism, including exchanging
information on so-called terrorist groups, national doctrines, and operational
experience – in other words, strategies, methods, and tactics of occupation and
domination. This lead to a shift in India’s position on Palestine, which began
mirroring Israel’s insistence that Kashmir was primarily a matter of Indian
domestic concern. Relations between India and Israel grew even closer with the
rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 1990s. The BJP, which today is led by
Modi, adheres to the political ideology known as Hindutva, or Hindu
Nationalism. The history of Hindu nationalists’ affinity with Zionism is well
documented by professor Sumantra Bose of the London School of Economics, who
traces it back to the 1920s when Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the father of
Hindutva, supported the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The BJP and other Hindu Nationalists have
since become obsessed with replicating the Zionist project in turning a
constitutionally secular India into a Hindu ethnocratic state. Many of
the BJP’s aspirations and policy proposals for Kashmir are imitations of extant
Israeli practices in Palestine. Key among these is the desire to build
Israeli-style Hindu-only settlements in Kashmir as a way of instigating
demographic change. For example, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a
non-state volunteer Hindu paramilitary volunteer group to which the BJP are
affiliated, have long desired the repeal of the state subject laws that have maintained the demographic make-up of Kashmir. These changes are clearly inspired by the Israeli
settlement model, as expressed by BJP lawmaker Ravinder Raina, who, in 2015,
stated that the government of India will use its army to protect Hindu-only settlements in Jammu and Kashmir. This type of securitization and protection would entail an
expansion of the security apparatus that already restricts the flow of life for
most Kashmiris, using them as a pretext to justify a new level of domination
and intrusiveness. Aside from the parallels in policy objectives, the discourse
used by supporters of the current regime in India resemble old Israeli
refrains. Both Israel and India claim to be exceptional democracies, despite
their treatment of large swaths of populations under their control.
Additionally, both Zionists and Hindu Nationalists argue that the existence of
many Muslim countries in the world necessitates a Jewish and Hindu state,
respectively. This perpetuates the lie that Palestinians and Indian Muslims can
supposedly live elsewhere, yet choose to live in Palestine and India only to
antagonize Jews and Hindus. Meanwhile, the variety of tactics used by India to
control the civilian population of Kashmir strongly resembles those
used by Israel in Palestine. These include, “arbitrary arrests, extra-judicial
killings, enforced disappearances, curfews, collective punishment,
administrative detention, torture, rape and sexual abuse, the suppression of
freedom of speech and assembly, house demolitions, and so forth.” The
revocation of Articles 35A and 370 paves the way for Indian presence in Kashmir
to further mirror Zionist presence in historic Palestine, since this allows the
Indian state to rule Kashmir directly without the need for Kashmir’s state
legislature, which was also recently abolished. Furthermore, it facilitates the
execution of plans to alter the demographic make-up of Kashmir by allowing
Indians from across the country to purchase property and settle there under the
protection of the Indian military presence, just as the demographic make-up of
the West Bank continues to be altered with the construction of Jewish-only
settlements.The Kashmiri state legislature and its main politicians, Omar Abdullah
and Mehbooba Mufti, have long acted as middlemen who manage the natives on
behalf of the occupying power, facilitating the occupation in much the same way
as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does in the West Bank. Just as Edward
Said once referred to the Oslo Accords as “an instrument of Palestinian surrender,” many Kashmiris
regard the 1975 Indira-Sheikh Accord as a betrayal of past liberation
movements. The Accord allowed previously popular Kashmiri leader Sheikh
Abdullah to become the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in exchange for
forfeiting the longstanding Kashmiri demand for self-determination. With the unprecedented change of Jammu and
Kashmir’s legal status from a special status state to a union territory without
a legislative assembly, India’s colonial domination over the contested region
will only become more overtly coercive in representing Indian interests. This
is a crucial development to be observed closely by Palestinians who live in
areas where the Israeli occupation is currently facilitated by the Palestinian
Authority. As things move forward, it is increasingly clear that the colonial
processes in Kashmir and Palestine will become further interdependent on one
another. What Israel does in Palestine is likely to happen in Kashmir, and what
India does in Kashmir is likely to happen in Palestine. In aiming to dismantle
Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism, it is essential to observe its global
consequences, for it is highly likely that these interdependent processes will
require a multilateral confrontation.
6. Schools: Aug., 19, 2019: The
main government offices and some schools in Indian-administered Kashmir
have reopened after a two-week shutdown amid fear and tension over the
government's decision to revoke the region's autonomy. Government employees on
Monday resumed their duties at the Civil Secretariat, the headquarters of the
Indian administration, following directions issued last week. The directions
also included the reopening of nearly 200 primary schools in selected areas of
the disputed region. Most schools, however, were empty as wary parents refused
to send their children to school while the situation remains tense amid
low-intensity and sporadic protests. . the government was trying to "manufacture
normalcy" by risking the lives of younger children amid the worst crisis
Kashmir Valley had witnessed in decades. Nasir
Mir, an engineer in Srinagar, told Al Jazeera that the situation was not ready
for schools to open. "The
government wants children in uniforms to be video graphed for the media and
sell it as normalcy in Kashmir," he said. Markets and shops remain closed in Srinagar.
Transport services, including trains and a fleet of privately-owned buses, have
not yet returned to the roads."We are not going to open our shops. We feel
it is a dangerous time irrespective of what social class one belongs to,"
said a Srinagar resident who owns a shop in a local mall. "We will wait
for some time.
7.
US Response: Aug.,
20, 2019:
U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said that India's decision to change
the status quo in Jammu and Kashmir "must be addressed" before it
leads to a further escalation of tensions with Pakistan. "Hope the Trump administration will
provide assistance to both Pakistan and India to find a way to de-escalate the
current crisis. The last thing the region and the world needs is further
military confrontations between India and Pakistan over Kashmir," the
senator added. The U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs adds: In response to the steps
India has taken to revise the status of Jammu and Kashmir, Rep. Eliot L. Engel,
chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Bob Menendez, ranking
member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following
statement:“As the world’s largest democracy, India has an opportunity to
demonstrate for all its citizens the importance of protecting and promoting
equal rights, including freedom of assembly, access to information, and equal
protections under the law.
“Transparency and political participation are the
cornerstones of representative democracies, and we hope the Indian government
will abide by these principles in Jammu and Kashmir. And at the same time
Pakistan must refrain from any retaliatory aggression—including support for
infiltrations across the Line of Control—and take demonstrable action against
the terrorist infrastructure on Pakistan’s soil,” Engel and Menendez said.
8.
US intervention:
Aug., 21, 2019: The United States called
on India on Tuesday to quickly release detainees and restore basic liberties in
Indian-occupied Kashmir to ease tensions in the flashpoint region.“We continue
to be very concerned by reports of detentions, and continued restrictions on
the residents of the region,” a senior State Department official told
reporters.“We urge respect for individual rights, compliance with legal
procedures and an inclusive dialogue,” said the official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity after returning from a visit to the region. At least
4,000 people have been detained in Indian-occupied Kashmir since then.
9.
ICJ: Aug., 21, 2019: The government announced on Tuesday it
would take the Kashmir dispute with India to the International Court of
Justice, after New Delhi revoked special status for occupied Kashmir
earlier this month, to the fury of Islamabad. “We have decided to take Kashmir
case to the International Court of Justice,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood
Qureshi told ARY News
TV. Separately, Special Assistant to the
Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan confirmed to reporters
following a cabinet meeting that an in-principle approval had been granted by
the cabinet to take the issue to the world court. She said that the case will
be presented with a focus on the violation of human rights and genocide in occupied
Kashmir. A panel of lawyers of international repute would be engaged to pursue
the case on behalf of Pakistan at the United Nations' top court, Awan
added.
10.
Resistance: Aug., 22, 2019:
Each
of the dozen or so entrances have been blocked with makeshift barricades of
bricks, corrugated metal sheets, wooden slabs and felled tree trunks. Groups of
youths armed with stones congregate behind the biggest obstacles. Their aim: to keep Indian security forces, and
particularly the paramilitary police, out of the area #Soura, home to about 15,000 people, is
becoming the epicenter of resistance to the government's removal
on August 5 of the partial autonomy enjoyed
by Jammu and Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority state.
11.
Women:
Aug., 22, 2019: On August 10, Manohar Lal Khattar, chief
minister of Haryana, was quoted as saying: "Some people are now saying
that as Kashmir is open, brides will be brought from there. But jokes apart, if
[the gender] ratio is improved, then there will be a right balance in
society." Earlier, the BJP's Vikram
Saini, a Member of the Legislative Assembly, said: "Muslim party workers should rejoice in
the new provisions. They can now marry the white-skinned women of Kashmir . Nivedita
Menon, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, said:
"These are proclamations of conquest and plunder, and reveal the real
intention behind the abrogation of 370.".
12.
Iran: Aug, 22, 2019: “We have good relations
with the government of India, but the Indian government is expected to adopt a
fair policy towards the noble people of Kashmir, so that this region’s Muslim
people would not be oppressed,” said Khamenei during a meeting with President
Hassan Rouhani and his cabinet members on Wednesday.
13.
Media Access severely limited: Aug., 24, 2019: In the two weeks since India stripped Kashmir
of its semi-autonomous status and brought the Himalayan region under its direct
control, news reporting has become difficult and local newspapers have either
not published or struggled to deliver slim editions. That is not just due to
the communications blackout caused by disconnected landlines, mobile phones and
the internet, but because it has been tough to access troubled areas or sources
in a region being patrolled by thousands of security forces. In Srinagar Kashmir that turned into a maze of barricades
to keep a lid on protests, New Delhi-based freelance journalist Sonia Sarkar
had to constantly navigate checkpoints during her three-day trip to the city
last week. And while the administration is handing out access passes to
journalists, she said security officers often discouraged her from reaching
downtown areas known to be hotspots. “There is an attempt to create a
perception of fear, a fear psychosis to prevent you going ahead.” While Sarkar
managed to get around much of the city, she was turned back before she could
reach Soura, a densely populated neighborhood that some believe is turning into
the focal point of resistance to New Delhi’s decision to change Kashmir’s
status. The BBC and Al-Jazeera reported a mass protest in Soura on August 9.
The government first denied the demonstration happened, then said about 1,000
to 1,500 people took part. Local media
in the Kashmir valley have had a hard time printing newspapers, gathering news,
accessing sources or filing reports. Since
August 5 Kashmir Times had not printed its Srinagar edition until
now (Wednesday). Editors have struggled to connect with their staff.
"Until about two days ago there was not a single communication from our
staffers in Srinagar and from different districts in the valley. There was a
complete information vacuum," according to Anuradha Bhasin, executive
editor of the Kashmir Times, who is based in Jammu, the Hindu majority
region that lies outside the Kashmir valley.
And despite some respite in the strict security clampdown, many areas in
the Kashmir valley remain off limits. “It's only in Srinagar there is some
movement. But they are unable to go into the most affected areas.” Reporters usually gather information on
people wounded in protests because “I was nimble and without excessive camera
gear.” Taking videos on regular broadcast cameras was tricky, barring a few
areas from where most TV channels work. “The big broadcast cameras only came
out in places where there was relative calm,” said Bhonsle
14.
French UK: Aug., 23, 2019: French President
Emmanuel Macron has met with India's prime minister, discussing climate and
other concerns ahead of the G-7 summit but also pressing for dialogue with
Pakistan over the crisis in occupied Kashmir.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had also
weighed in on Kashmir on Tuesday telling Modi in a phone call that the issue
was one for India and Pakistan to resolve between themselves through dialogue.
15.
Genocide
Watch: Aug., 23, 2019:
a global organization dedicated to the prevention of genocide, has
issued two warning alerts for India — one for the occupied territory of Kashmir
and the other for Assam state. According to the website, a Genocide Watch' warning is declared
by the NGO when there are signs of the early stages of a genocide in progress. In view of these developments, Genocide
Watch has called upon the United Nations and its members to warn India not to
commit genocide in occupied Kashmir. At least 4,000 people,
mostly young men, have been detained in Indian-occupied
Kashmir
since a security lockdown and communications blackout was imposed to curb
unrest after New Delhi stripped the disputed region of statehood.
16.
UN Human Rights Experts: Aug., 23, 2019: A group of UN human rights experts on Thursday
urged India to end the communications blackout imposed on Kashmir, warning it
amounted to “collective punishment” and risked exacerbating regional tensions. They
voiced alarm over the measures imposed by India since it revoked autonomous
rule in occupied Kashmir on Aug 5, including a near-total communications
blackout. “The shutdown of the internet
and telecommunication networks, without justification from the government, are
inconsistent with the fundamental norms of necessity and proportionality,” the
five experts, who are independent and do not speak for the world body, said in
a statement.“The blackout is a form of collective punishment of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir, without even a pretext of a precipitating offence,” they
said, describing the restrictions imposed as “intrinsically disproportionate”.
The experts also voiced concern about the curfew imposed across the region,
with “massive numbers of troops (brought in) to enforce restrictions on the
freedom of movement and of peaceful assembly, particularly in the Kashmir
Valley.”The UN experts said they had received information suggesting an
increase in arrests of political figures, journalists, human rights activists,
protesters and others. And they said they were deeply concerned by reports that
security forces have been conducting night raids on private homes, rounding up
young people. They also expressed grave concern over allegations that the
whereabouts of some of those detained was unknown, warning of “the general
heightened risk of enforced disappearances, which may proliferate against the
backdrop of mass arrests and restricted access to the internet and other
communications networks”. They also noted the “excessive use of force against
protesters, including the use of live ammunition.”
17.
UN
Trust ship: Aug., 24, 2019: The situation in India-occupied Kashmir
(IOK) is ripe to be placed under the UN Trusteeship Council for administration
for at least 10 years. The situation is not only volatile and an impending
catastrophe, but a looming nuclear threat which got an impetus after Indian
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s speech the other day — reviewing his country’s
No First Use (NFU) policy of nuclear weapons in case of war. According to the
UN Charter, Trusteeship Council is a permanent organ of the United Nations
which, since its inception in October 1945, has been responsible for
administering territories towards self-determination. The last trust territory
was Palau which got independence in October 1994.
18.
ICJ
and Kashmir: Aug., 25, 2019: Article
370 was designed to protect those rights and record a “solemn compact”. Neither
India nor the State can unilaterally amend or abrogate the Article except in
accordance with its terms. , subsequent expansions of India’s central
legislative powers through acts ratified by the Indian Parliament were as
illegal as the revocation of Article 370 and 35A. The move, therefore, has
grievously aggrieved the people of India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) because it has
violated an agreement signed in 1947 between the then two sovereign entities
–the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Union. As such the people of
IoK or their representatives have the right to take their case to the
International Court of Justice for redress. However, since these people are now
in complete lockdown, it
is the responsibility of Kashmiri diaspora to go to the ICJ on behalf of IoK.
19.
Kashmir Update 36:
Week Aug 12, 2019 to Aug ,18,2019
1.
Sikh support for Kashmiris: Aug.,
12, 2019: extending their solidarity with Kashmiri
people and their cause, the Dal Khalsa and Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar (Mann)
today fired a salvo against Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) for supporting Indian
Govt’s move to strip J&K of its special status. Dal Khalsa, United Akali
Dal (UAD), Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar (Mann) has announced to mark August 15
as Black Day Pertinently, Dal Khalsa,
SAD (Amritsar), United Akali Dal and Sikh Youth of Punjab has joined hands to
stage protests on Independence Day against the atrocities, political
subjugation and denial of rights to Sikhs in the last seven decades. Their
activists will hold a two hour demonstration at 15 district headquarters.
12/08/2019 Sikh Groups Express Solidarity With Kashmiris; To Mark August 15 As
Black Day in Punjab They clarified that
their boycott of August 15 shouldn’t be construed as they were against Indian
people. They said they were against the policies and discriminative attitude of
Indian state. Referring to Narendar Modi’s address to the countrymen in which
he said article 370 and 35-A paved way to secessionism in Kashmir
2.
China,
Maoists: Aug., 12, 2019: The main points of the Chinese view are: (a)
there were only four points of dispute on the line of actual control. Regarding
area in Ladakh under dispute, China had declared in 1963 that she would vacate
the area in which India had set up 43 military posts prior-to the War of 1962. However
the border adjoining Baltistan and the Dardic States being under Pakistan’s
control, India should first settle the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan. (b) The
Aksai Chin road is vital to China, because it links Western Tibet to Sinkiang
This road, built by the Chinese from Shigatse in Tibet to Yechen in Sinkiang,
covers a distance of 2,000 miles at a height varying from 11,000 ft. to 16,000
ft. through Aksai Chin. In Akasai Chin the road passes through Shabidulla (once
the outpost of the State of Jammu and Kashmir) and ends at Kokyar where
Sinkiang begins. Even though the journey is difficult and arduous, the Chinese
use it in preference to the Keriya route which passes East of Aksai Chin and
also links Rhutog in Western Tibet to Khotan in Sinkiang. The Aksai Chin road,
together with the highway from Kashgar to the Khunjerab Pass and onwards into
Pakistan, forms part of the lines of communication in the two remote non-Han
autonomous republics, namely Tibet and Sinkiang). (c) Part of India’s border
with the Sinkiang autonomous region is under Pakistan’s control since 1947. So,
again, India should first settle the dispute with’ Pakistan first (As per
Pakistan’s and Azad Kashmir’s governments’ agreement, the Northern Areas are
under administrative control of Pakistan. (Facsimile of the agreement is given
in Yousaf Saraf’s Kashmiris Fight for Freedom). The Northern Areas include
Gilgit, Hunza, and Baltistan, except the frontier from Siachen Glacier in the
West to the Karakoram Pass and Aksai Chin. (The areas are of importance to
upper Ladakh as the two rivers, the Shyok and Mibra have their origin here in
Rumo and Siachin Glaciers respectively. The two rivers join and then fall into
the Indus River and serve the water needs of the whole area of Ladakh North of
Indus.) (d) The provisional agreement between China and Pakistan in respect of
the area west of Siachin Glacier in March 1963 gives the area of Shaksgam,
which abuts on the Siachin to China. Some areas of Tapndumbash, Pamir and
Raksam have been given by China to Pakistan. (e) The 1963 agreement between Pak
and China covers the border right up to the Karakoram Pass. These areas will
need tripartite negotiations when political conditions become favorable. An
advisor to the Chinese foreign ministry claims that India illegally occupies
90,000 sq. km of Chinese territory in the eastern sector, 33,000 sq. km of
Chinese territory in the western sector, and 2,000 sq. km of Chinese territory
in the middle sector. Let India realize that Indian Union is a loose sally, a cauldron
of centrifugal movement, at rest for the time being. Visualise what happens to
this Union if China begins supply of weapons to various insurgent groups
fighting in northeastern India. China hem India in from both, the eastern and
the western flanks. India arrested several intellectuals for links to
separatist movements (indiatvnews dated August 30, 2018). These letters
`establish links between the Naxals and Kashmiri separatists’. They `suggest
support of Congress leaders to extreme Leftists agenda, and even give proof
that the arrested accused were involved in procuring weapons and arming the
rebels through international routes’. The letters were written by, or on behalf
of P Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, and Sudha
Bharadwaj. Police story `exposes The Naxalites want to carve out an independent
zone extending from Nepal through Bihar and then to Dandakarnaya region
extending upto Tamil Nadu to give them access to the Bay of Bengal as well as
the Indian Ocean’.Several pro-Naxalite revolutionary bodies (People’s War,
Maoist Communist Centrei, and Communist Party of Nepal) merged their
differences (October 15, 2004) to achieve their sea-access aim. India may blame
Pakistan for the freedom movement (‘insurgency’ or ‘militancy’) in occupied
Kashmir. But, who shall she blame for the Naxalite insurgency in
Andhra Pradesh and other Indian states? This is a movement against economic
deprivation and brutality of the state or central government’s law-enforcing
agencies China supports Pakistan’s view on Kashmir. The portents are that
disputed Kashmir could trigger disintegration of the Indian `Union’, provided
China decides to support centrifugal movements, particularly the Naxalbari.
Insurgncies and wars are ugly but they continue to dot history pages. China
needs to re-think through emerging geo-political scenario. With obdurate India
still unwilling to talk on Kashmir, despite China dimension, solution of
India-Pak-China Kashmir tangle is nowhere in the offing.
3. Separatists come together: Aug., 12, 2019: The dilution of
Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union
Territories have made two extremist groups in the northeastern region come
together and give a call to boycott the Independence Day celebrations on August
15“The outrageous scrapping of Article 370 of the Indian constitution and the
bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir without the consent of the people of the State
show India’s arrogance and blatant disregard for democratic principles,” the
two groups said in a statement. “Shutting down of the State machinery and the
house arrest of prominent leaders portend the kind of... policies that would be
applied to the people of the northeastern region as well. Freedom from India’s
colonial yoke is the only way to save ourselves from being swallowed by
Hindustan,” the statement said.
4. COAS: Aug., 13, 2019: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has
said that India is trying to shift global attention from its illegal Kashmir
move to the Line of Control (LoC) and Pakistan, and must not be given any
chance to cover up its crimes in IOK.
5.
China on Modi’s move: Aug., 13, 2019: By revoking Jammu
and Kashmir's relative autonomy and by likewise revoking a decree which forbade
non-Kashmiris from buying property in the disputed territory, India's status in
relation to Kashmir has been inexorably changed from that of a party to a
conflict to an instigator of an unnecessary and counterproductive provocation.
There was no proximate justification for the controversial move neither based
on any event within Kashmir nor based on any global movements around the
disputed region. Due to this reality, it can be deduced that the move was not
taken with clear thinking but was instead an attempt to distract from domestic
economic issues, global economic instability and India's own trading
difficulties with the US. But unlike mere nationalist rhetoric which has become
ever more common in India, New Delhi's new move is already having very real
consequences. As things stood, India and China had been in the midst of the
second year of a reconciliation effort in the wake of the 2017 Doklam standoff. Although India's
nationalistic government has prohibited New Delhi from taking a pragmatic
win-win approach to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, trade
and related joint economic endeavor were progressing adequately between China
and India. Likewise, Pakistan and India, whose relations have always been
tense, had been in the midst of de-escalating tensions. For China, the issue is
less central than for Pakistan but when India's move in relation to Ladakh is
taken into account, this too can be classified as a counterproductive
provocation against China. Prior to August 5, Ladakh had been part of Jammu and
Kashmir but under the changed status in Indian Constitution - though not
international law - Ladakh has been separated from Jammu and Kashmir by New
Delhi and will now be classed as a new separate territory of India to be ruled
directly by New Delhi. When Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah loudly
claimed that India seeks to establish rule over Aksai Chin in Northwest China's
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region, it displayed an attitude of hostility against China that is
incompatible with a productive partnership based on realism and shared economic
goals Although the status quo in Kashmir has been poor since 1947, this month's
unilateral moves by India have discarded a fragile status quo and in so doing
have violated the letter and spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 47..The
move which amounts to an annexation of a disputed territory now makes the UN
mandated plebiscite for Kashmir all the more difficult to achieve while a
crackdown on electronic communication, media and free movement goes against the
interests of the most basic human rights for Kashmir's civilians.
6. American view: Aug., 13, 2019:
Someone (an American) commented "If Modi and India can get away with the
Atrocities they have committed against Kashmir with such censorship and
silence. Could they not do the same to Sikh population in India later on when
its more convenient!? How can they not fear being next in line? USA cannot seem
to say the word NO to India, this is very dangerous!! As their aggression will
continue more and more until the USA say the word NO! The longer we wait, the
harder it will be to say NO!"
7.
Intifada Kashmir: Aug., 13, 2019: Yet another intifada is on the cards in India-held
Kashmir (IHK), which many believe would have a far-reaching impact on the
geopolitical landscape of the region. While the international community is
still assessing the probable responses by India and Pakistan, non-state actors
are also closely monitoring the situation and exploring the spaces to exploit. The Indian revocation of the special status of occupied
Jammu & Kashmir has shut down almost all prospects for it to resolve the
issue through dialogue, either with the Kashmiri leadership or with Pakistan.
One wonders if India did not have any alternatives other than what it has already
demonstrated in the form of strict security measures, communication blackouts,
and draconian administrative measures to run the affairs of J&K. The use of
some counter-violent extremism, or CVE, terms like ‘reintegration’ and
‘mainstreaming’ by India’s policymakers and political circles suggest they
consider the entire IHK population to be radical. Apparently, India is missing
the mega blueprint to absorb the shocks of the measures it has taken to ‘fix’
the Kashmir issue once and for all. Obviously in the absence of such plans, an
intifada would be blamed on Pakistan. This would be an easy way out for India,
but would come at a cost. Not prepared to counter the Indian move to revoke the
special status of IHK, Pakistan is also confronted with a delicate challenge.
However, an even more critical question for Pakistan is how to respond to the
emerging intifada. The new intifada will have different
characteristics from earlier movements. While it will mainly comprise
nonviolent political expression, violent emotions will also be there. Emotions
are running equally high amongst pro-independent, pro-Pakistan and
ultra-radical segments of the resistance movements in occupied Kashmir. They
can resort to violent actions separately or form an alliance to increase the
impact of the intifada. Groups
within India can trigger a long-term resistance movement in IHK. Pakistan is
morally and politically bound to support the Kashmiris. However, supporting the
resistance movement will have serious consequences for Pakistan. The poor state
of Pakistan’s economy, internal political crises and struggling diplomacy are
factors which will limit active support to the resistance movement in IHK. The
IMF and FATF swords are hovering over the country’s economy. The world at large,
including friends and foes of Pakistan, are least receptive to violent
resistance movements. India knows this, and its media and opinion makers are
highlighting this point continuously. India has chosen the best time for
revoking the IHK special status when Pakistan is facing multiple challenges and
trying to regain its geopolitical importance through facilitating the peace
process in Afghanistan. Pakistan has remained a scapegoat for US failures in
Afghanistan. Similarly, India has always blamed Pakistan for its own failures
in IHK. But the situation is different now, and it could be difficult to keep
the escalation of tension at the LoC and Working Boundary to manageable levels.
Meanwhile, the dynamics of the insurgency in Kashmir will be different this time,
where Pakistan will not be in a position to influence the resistance movement.
As a result, Pakistan-India tensions could at anytime turn into conventional
warfare; Prime Minister Imran Khan has already indicated this in his
parliamentary speech. How can Pakistan avoid this situation?
8.
Eid
day: Aug., 13 ,2109: Indian
troops clamped tight restrictions on mosques across Indian-occupied Kashmir for
Monday's Eidul Azha festival, fearing anti-government protests over the stripping of the Muslim-majority region's autonomy, according
to residents. The Jama Masjid, was ordered closed
and people were only allowed to pray in smaller local mosques so that no big
crowds could gather, witnesses said . Internet and phone communications have
been cut and tens of thousands of troop reinforcements have flooded the main
city of Srinagar and other Kashmir Valley towns and villages. Authorities had
eased restrictions temporarily on Sunday to let residents buy food and supplies
for Eid, one of the most important Muslim festivals of the year. But security
was tightened again after sporadic protests involving hundreds of people during
the day, residents said. Police vans toured the streets late on Sunday telling
people to stay indoors. Several thousand
people took part in one rally after Friday prayers that was broken up with tear
gas and shotgun pellets.
9.
China on Kashmir: Aug., 13,
2019:
Beijing is opposed to New Delhi's Kashmir move, especially its decision to
carve the Ladakh region out of Jammu and Kashmir state and administer it
federally. The Chinese government spokesperson called the move
"unacceptable" and said that it would help Pakistan in defending
"its legitimate rights and interests" in the Kashmir region. Qureshi
claimed that China "offered complete" support to Pakistan, should
Islamabad take the matter to the UN Security Council. On Sunday, India's Foreign
Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Beijing on a pre-scheduled three-day visit. China, on Monday,
insisted that India needs to play a "constructive role" for regional
peace and stability. China has historically sided with Pakistan on regional
matters, but Beijing's backing is important for both Islamabad and New Delhi.
"China is always opposed to India's inclusion of the Chinese territory in
the western sector of the China-India boundary into its administrative
jurisdiction," said the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua
Chunying, following India's Kashmir move."Recently India has continued to
undermine China's territorial sovereignty by unilaterally changing its domestic
law," Hua added. "India's action is unacceptable and would not have
any legal effect." China is
investing $57 billion (€51 billion) in Pakistani infrastructure and energy projects,
more than in any other South Asian country. The economic alliance with its
powerful neighbor has helped solidify Pakistan's claims to the Himalayan
foothills. Some analysts say that New Delhi's decision to directly govern
Ladakh is a geopolitical move. Sameer Patil, a researcher at the International Security
Studies at Gateway House, an Indian foreign policy think tank, told DW that
Chinese influence in Ladakh has been increasing over time, largely due to its
economic incentives in the area. At the same time, according to Patil, the
region has suffered due to a lack of interest from the Indian government.
"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision has been guided by both
administrative and geopolitical factors. New Delhi was concerned that Ladakh
wasn't receiving attention, which allowed China to increase its clout
there," Patil said. "China expected India to resolve the territorial
dispute by implementing new border mechanisms between the two countries and not
within India's domestic framework alone," Patil said, adding that Modi's Kashmir
move will naturally irk Beijing. But Narayani Basu, a New Delhi-based
author and foreign policy expert, believes that the Kashmir crisis won't have a
huge impact on Sino-India relations. "China, at the moment, is dealing
with a number of domestic and global issues, so it cannot solely focus on
Kashmir," Basu told DW “There will be diplomatic posturing from both
sides, but any major fallout is unlikely," Basu added. "China,
although sharply critical of India, has said that the responsibility for maintaining
peace in the region lies with both India and Pakistan. Diplomatically, it has
put the onus on both Islamabad and New Delhi," Basu said.
10.
Minorities support Kashmir: Aug., 13,
2019: Extending
their solidarity with Kashmiri people and their cause, radical Sikh
organization Dal Khalsa besides SAD (Amritsar), United Akali Dal and Sikh Youth
of Punjab have decided to observe August 15 as Black Day. The militants
groups of Northeast, including United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent
(ULFA-I) have appealed to the people of the region to boycott the Independence
Day celebration
11.
Delimitation: Aug., 14, 2019: Election Commission held internal
discussions on the delimitation of constituencies ahead of elections to the new
Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, former Chief Election Commissioner and
ex-officio member of the Delimitation Commission N. Gopalaswami said the
increase in the number of seats was “an issue which is a political decision of
Parliament”. After that, he said, the Delimitation Commission would start the
process as per the law. The number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the
UT of J&K would be increased from 107 to 114. The Act also specifies that
delimitation will be based on the 2011 census till 2026.
12.
Human rights
activists: Aug., 14, 2019: 69 International human rights
activists and organizations sign letter to Prime Minister Modi on
situation in Jammu & Kashmir”Dear Prime Minister Modi, We, the undersigned
civil society activists and organizations, human rights defenders, lawyers,
journalists, and academics from around the globe, write to express our deep
concern regarding the recent actions your government has taken over the past
week in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The state’s unilateral repeal of the
special status of Jammu & Kashmir, the reconfiguration of the State of
Jammu & Kashmir, and the process through which these legislative changes
were imposed in the midst of a complete lock-down of the region, are egregious.
These actions violate the people of Jammu & Kashmir’s fundamental right to
self-determination under international law and their right to participate in
crucial decisions that affect their lives. Further, these actions have sent
shock waves of fear and uncertainty among the people of Jammu & Kashmir and
contravene both domestic and international law. Beyond the questionable
legality of your actions with regard to the Constitution, we are concerned over
reports that over 500 people have been arbitrarily arrested or placed under
house arrest in Jammu & Kashmir over the past days and such treatment
appears to be continuing. We understand that some of these may include
activists, academics, and opponents, who have been detained under the Jammu &
Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) of 1978 or the Jammu & Kashmir Preventive
Detention Act of 1964. We recall that the PSA has been widely criticized for
violating international human rights law, as it operates outside normal
judicial safeguards and oversight and thus denies due process to individuals
arrested under it. Concerns regarding abuse of the PSA, as well as the Armed
Forces (Jammu & Kashmir) Special Powers Act of 1990 and the Disturbed Areas
Act, have been raised repeatedly over the years by local and international
civil society organizations, as well as the United Nations. Regrettably, your
government has continued to abuse these laws and has taken no action to align
the above laws with India’s international human rights obligations. We are
extremely worried about the ongoing curfews and curfew-like conditions and the
shut-down of communications inside Jammu & Kashmir. The violations of
rights to freedom of expression and freedom of movement that these restrictions
entail create conditions of psychosocial trauma. These curbs constitute severe
violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
which India ratified in 1979 and under no circumstances, can be justified in
the guise of public order. We strongly believe that for India to be able to
continue to define itself as a democracy it must allow public discourse and
debate on these issues. This includes ensuring that the people of Jammu &
Kashmir are able to exercise their right to take part as primary stakeholders
in the critical decisions regarding their future. This certainly cannot be
achieved by blocking communications, detaining political leaders and civil
society activists, and restricting movements within Jammu & Kashmir. In
line with these concerns, we respectfully request that your government take the
following measures with the utmost urgency:• Immediately revoke
the curfew and its attendant conditions and reinstate communications in and out
of Jammu & Kashmir; • Immediately and unconditionally release from detention
all those who have been arbitrarily detained or arrested under the PSA or other
legislation over the past several days;
• Immediately and unconditionally restore the status of Jammu & Kashmir
under Article 370 of the Constitution of India; and• Implement in full the
recommendations made in 2018 and again in 2019 by the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights with regards to Jammu & Kashmir, including respecting the
right to self-determination, and guaranteeing fundamental freedoms. We
hope that you will heed these recommendations. Please note that this letter
will be made public. Yours sincerely,
13.
UNSC: Aug., 14, 2019: Pakistan has drawn the
attention of the United Nations Security Council presidency to the grave threat
to peace and security in South Asia after India annexed occupied Kashmir and
called for summoning an emergency meeting of the council to discuss the rapidly
aggravating situation, Foreign Minister
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he had written a letter to the UNSC president, asking
the latter to convene an emergency meeting of the council to discuss India’s
“illegal actions” that also “violate UN resolutions on Kashmir”. There are 11
UN resolutions on Kashmir, with three specifically pertaining to the status of
the occupied region. Mr Qureshi further called for circulation of the letter
among members of the Security Council. Under the rules governing the convening
of meetings, the president of the council may call for a meeting if a dispute
or situation is brought to the attention of the Security Council under Article
35 or Article 11 (3) of the Charter, or if the General Assembly makes
recommendations or refers any question to the council under Article 11 (2), or
if the Secretary-General brings to the attention of the council any matter
under Article 99. Apparently, Pakistan is asking the UNSC president to call a
meeting under Article 35 of the UN Charter which pertains to any situation that
may lead to conflict and endanger the maintenance of international peace and
security.
14.
OIC: Aug.,15,2019:
The General Secretariat of the Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday expressed concern over the curtailment
of religious freedoms of Muslims in Indian-occupied Kashmir, terming it a
"serious violation of international human rights law".It denounced the
"complete lockdown" imposed by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir even
on the occasion of Eidul Azha, when Muslims in the region were prevented from
participating in a religious congregation. "Denial
of religious rights constitutes a serious violation of international human
rights law and is an affront to Muslims across the world," a tweet by the
OIC official account said.
15.
Israel
and Kashmir: Aug., 15, 2019: Fisk points to role
of the state of Israel in the burgeoning tensions between India and Pakistan,
two nuclear powers. Indian bombing of
Pakistan after the Pulwama attack has revealed the close ties that have formed
between Modi’s India and Israel, particularly between their militaries. As Fisk
notes, following the bombing, Indian media heavily promoted the fact that
Israeli-made bombs — specifically, Rafael Spice-2000 “smart bombs” — had been
used in the attack. Fisk’s report details the very close ties that have been forged
between the Israeli and Indian militaries in recent years. For instance,
according to Fisk, India was Israel’s arms
industry’s largest client in 2017, spending nearly $700
million on Israeli air-defense systems, radars, ammunition and missiles. Many of
those weapons had been promoted as “combat
tested” after being used against
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the world’s largest open-air prison. That same
year, India represented 49 percent of Israel’s arms export market. In addition to arms purchases, many Indian soldiers have traveled
to the Negev desert to be trained by Israeli “special commando” units, and at
least 16 elite Indian “Garud” commandos were recently based at two separate
Israeli air bases. Just as
troubling as this military cooperation is that ethno nationalism and anti-Islam
rhetoric are increasingly becoming the basis for the relationship between the
two countries. For
instance, a recent Haaretz article, written by Shairee Malhotra and cited by Fisk, noted that
“the India-Israel relationship is also commonly being framed in terms of a
natural convergence of ideas between their ruling BJP and Likud parties.” Other
reports have noted that this has translated into more “aggressive” policies from Modi targeting Kashmir and Muslims elsewhere in India
and that continued Israeli goading of Modi’s anti-Islam tendencies could make
life much more difficult for the estimated 180 million Muslims living in India.
16.
Roy,
International press: Aug., 16, 2019: Mili Mitra, The Washington Post Global Opinions
editor wrote last week that “as the Modi government places political leaders
under house arrest, risks violence along the Pakistan border and reneges on a
constitution promise without debate or deliberation, Indians can no longer
afford to stay silent. The administration is making India less democratic and
stable, one authoritarian step at a time.” She writes that Kashmiri Muslims
fears regarding the saffronisation of the state are warranted based on Modi and
his party’s past practices, and that “flagrant disregard for democracy and
secularism is not new” for the BJP under Modi and Amit Shah. The New York Times marked Indian Independence Day by publishing a scathing
rebuke of the BJP’s lockdown of Kashmir, penned by award-winning Indian author Arundhati Roy.“…it looks very much as
though our government has gone rogue,” she writes, by turning “Kashmir into a
giant prison camp”.
17.
“The passing of the act was welcomed in Parliament by the
very British tradition of desk-thumping. There was a distinct whiff of
colonialism in the air. The masters were pleased that a recalcitrant colony had
finally, formally, been brought under the crown. For its own good. Of course.”
“In the 72 years since [independence], successive Indian governments have
undermined terms of the Instrument of Accession until all that was left of it
was the skeletal structure. Now even that has been shot to hell.” Roy had also
written that “Like true colonials, many in India who are so alert to
infringements of their own rights and liberties, have a completely different
standard for Kashmiris.”An editorial in The Globe and Mail – Canada’s most widely read newspaper – notes that “Modi
has parlayed democratic success into the fist of a strongman.” editorial
opens by noting that India, which calls itself the ‘world’s biggest democracy’,
“is heading down a dangerous and decidedly undemocratic road with its decision
to impose direct rule on Kashmir.”
Meanwhile, in a story titled “Did BBC, Al
Jazeera, Reuters fabricate reports of unrest in Kashmir?”, Indian fact-checking
website Alt News brilliantly rubbishes the claims of India’s government and
its ‘independent’ propaganda media that footage of unrest and violence against
protesters was fabricated with point by point provision of proof to back up the
authenticity of the footage. The story notes the Indian government’s
backtracking on its claims after being proven to be in the wrong.
18.
Protest in London: Aug., 16,
2019: Thousands
of people, many waving Pakistani and Kashmiri flags, protested outside the
Indian High Commission in London on Thursday in support of the people of
Occupied Kashmir. In London, protesters
carried banners saying “Kashmir is Burning”, “Free Kashmir” and “Modi: Make Tea
Not War”, according to a Reuters reporter.
Many of the London protesters had come to the
capital from other English cities on specially chartered buses. “We want to
show our solidarity with our Kashmiri brothers,” said Amin Tahir, a British
pensioner of Kashmiri origin who came from Birmingham on one of the
coaches.“Since 1947 Kashmir has been struggling to be free from India. Now Modi
has changed the law by force to stop Kashmir’s autonomy,” he added. Sikhs and
Turks also supported the Kashmir cause and joined the protest.
19.
UNSC: Aug., 17, 2019: Pakistan’s
permanent envoy to the United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi has said the Security
Council’s meeting is testament that Kashmir issue is not an internal matter of
India but an international issue. Briefing the media along with the Chinese
envoy to the United Nations after the UNSC meeting convened on Friday to
discuss New Delhi’s illegal move of depriving Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir
of its special status, she said there was an effort to cancel this meeting and
we are grateful to all member states for having it. Dr Lodhi said that all the
15 permanent and non-permanent member states attended the consultative session
today, adding that the meeting was briefed on the latest developments and the
dismal human rights situation in Occupied Kashmir.“This is the first but not
the last step we have taken on aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
We’ll continue our efforts to peacefully resolve this issue,” she remarked
Speaking on the occasion, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang
Jun, said the Kashmir issue has become an internationally recognized dispute,
which should be resolved according to the UN charter. He said India’s
unilateral step has aggravated the situation in the region. The Chinese
ambassador said members of the Security Council generally feel India and
Pakistan should both refrain from unilateral action over Kashmir. Zhang told
reporters that the situation in Kashmir is “already very tense and very
dangerous.
20.
Curfew: August 17 ,2019:: In
occupied Kashmir, the authorities continue to impose strict curfew and other
restrictions across the Kashmir valley on the 13th consecutive day, today, to
prevent people from holding demonstrations against India’s move of ending
special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Hundreds of people defying curfew took to
the streets in Srinagar after Juma prayers yesterday to express their
resentment against New Delhi’s move of repealing Article 370 of the Indian
Constitution that granted special status to the territory. They raised
high-pitched anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. Placards with “Thank you
Pakistan slogans” were displayed
21.
22.
23.
24.
Kindly respond with comments or news that you
wish included in next weeks update at: jarad_us@yahoo.com
Kashmir Update 35:
Week Aug 4, 2019 to Aug ,11,2019
1.
India repeals 370: Aug., 5, 2019: With an
indefinite security lockdown in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) and elected
representatives under house arrest, India's
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stripped Kashmiris of the special autonomy
they had for seven decades through a rushed presidential order on Monday. By repealing Article 370 and 35A of
the constitution, people from the rest of India will now have the right to
acquire property in occupied Kashmir and settle there permanently. Kashmiris as
well as critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government see the move as an
attempt to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu
settlers. Article 370 had also
limited the power of the Indian parliament to impose laws in the state, apart
from matters of defence, foreign affairs and communications. As India's parliament debated the
move, 8,000 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) from different parts of the
country were moved to IoK. The Indian army and air force were also placed on
high alert. Home Minister Amit
Shah also moved a bill to bifurcate the state into two union territories –
Jammu Kashmir as one and Himalayan Ladakh region as the other – directly ruled
by New Delhi. A statement issued by the home minister said that "Jammu and
Kashmir will be a union territory with legislature while Ladakh will be a union
territory without legislature Late on Sunday night, the Indian government
imposed curfew-like restrictions in the restive region while sending in tens of
thousands of additional troops. Former IoK chief ministers Omar Abdullah and
Mehbooba Mufti were placed under house arrest. Communications were cut, with
private mobile networks, internet services and telephone landlines cut “There
shall be no movement of public. All educational institutions shall also remain
closed. There will be a complete bar on holding any kind of public meetings or
rallies during the period of operation of this order. Identity cards of
essential services officials will be treated as movement passes wherever
required," read an Indian government order
2. DR. Rita Pal: Aug.,
7, 2019: “It is with a great deal of regret that we have to
admit Pakistan failed in its policy for Kashmir. India doesn't believe in
democracy and has just erased the invisible autonomy that existed. ( see https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/kashmir-erased-article-370-scrapped-indian-democracy-in-darkness_uk_5d47fbd5e4b0ca604e35128a. I have repeatedly outlined all the failures in the past and
they've never been corrected. Instead, our pleas to Pakistan fell on deaf ears.
Notably their arrogance has always been their downfall. I shall list Pakistan's
failures once more. 1. Imran Khan supported Modi to be the next elected
PM. We stated that if this was done, there would be doom for Kashmir. Yet, the
rationale by Pakistan was that Modi was self destructive to his country. That
logic doesn't assist Kashmir. 2. Pakistan has engaged in under the table deals to bring India to the mediation table. India
would always agree then double cross at the right time and that's what's
happened. So Imran's concessions to
India have gone nowhere. 3. Imran Khan allowed
the captured Indian pilot to go back without bartering an LoC peace treaty
or any terms for Kashmir. His showmanship has resulted in nothing. 4. Pakistan supported India in the Non
Permanent Seat at the UNSC. This indicates to the world that Pakistan
believes India meets all the UN criteria. 5. Pakistan supported India during Yoga Day diplomacy. Again telling
the UN that it believed India was a country of peace. Having made all these
overtures in support of India, Pakistan now believes the universe will listen
to them when they say India's a human rights violator. Pakistan has been brazen
and lacking in regret for his position on the above. It has now come to bite
them back. Pakistan cannot say we didn't warn them at each juncture. 6. My
previous updates here has repeatedly specified Pakistan's failures to: A. Report
India to the UNSC for an Emergency Review.: B. Report India to the International Court of Justice to resolve the
dispute in Kashmir. No applications were ever made. C. Trigger the Human Rights Council Resolution for full inquiry into
Kashmir: D. Definite the crimes against humanity as a war crime and request the
UNSC make such a referral to the ICC.; We saw
all the warning signs and begged many to act but they did not do so. I know India
is a great propaganda master. It's created a terror threat, inflated the
numbers of troops in each article and pushed the erasure of autonomy. In
reality there was never any autonomy. Kashmir therefore should remember that
India's psy ops on them are currently working. They should remember that the
status of Kashmir is just as it always was (with zero autonomy) One cannot
collude with India in this way and then ask for freedom. Pakistan and Kashmir
have a cultural flaw in that they both spend too much time engaging in nest
building instead of applying themselves to tactics to achieve an advantage in
the International forums. I believe the Kashmir leadership is a spectacular
failure. It will take the people of Kashmir a long time to figure out that the
key to their wishes lies in their own hands. The huge
amount of evidence they have plus their ability to be like the Chagos Islanders
and make that application to the International Court of Justice to gain their
rights according to the UNHRC Report; India is unlikely to commit
massacres with the United Nations breathing down its neck. We have achieved
that much. India will though ensure every Kashmir is forced into a state of
paranoia and fear. You can either play India's game of simply refuse to play it
and continue with your lives. I don't believe there is any point in placing
your lives at risk given your culture is still behind the times in terms of
achieving your rights in the modern world. So far too many have died with zero
result; Pakistan is scrambling around for International support on Kashmir at
the 12th Hour. Any attack by them will result in India sacrificing more
Kashmiris. Pakistan really hasn't played the game well then it's never listened
to anyone but it's own skewed logic. India's a dictatorship now, it's always
been so and this result was not unexpected. Indeed all the warning signs were there.
We all pray for Kashmir but prayers and empathy are not results. Today, elite
and educated Kashmiris have failed their people by aligning with India to
achieve society success. Pakistan has failed Kashmir by its broadly selfish
neglectful attitude towards Kashmir. In the end, it took a foreigner to
complain to the Human Rights Council because all these people sat and feathered
their nests. And while people in the West sign petitions in their millions, our
petitions have only reached 28K since 2016. Only a
desperate country takes desperate measures
3. UNHRC: Aug., 8, 2019: The
United Nations Human Rights spokesperson has expressed "great
concern" over the information blackout in occupied Kashmir which continued
after its special status was scrapped by India
earlier in the week. In
a statement shared on Wednesday via a video on Twitter, the spokesperson said
that what had already been observed to be a pattern was taken to a "new
level" with the latest restrictions placed by India which he said
"will exacerbate the human rights situation in the region". "I would refer you back to our July 8, 2019 report on the human rights situation
in Kashmir which documented how authorities have repeatedly blocked
communications networks to muzzle dissent, used arbitrary detention to punish
political dissidents and employed excessive force while dealing with protests leading
to extra judicial killings and serious injuries," said the statement.
"We are seeing again blanket telecommunications restrictions, perhaps more
blanket than we have seen before, the reported arbitrary detention of political leaders and
restrictions on peaceful assembly.”These restrictions will prevent the people
of [occupied] Kashmir and their elected representatives from participating
fully in democratic debate about the future status of Jammu and Kashmir,"
it observed. The statement further noted that under the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights — which had been ratified by India — "the
right to freedom of opinion and expression includes the freedom to seek,
receive and impart information." The Human Rights spokesperson said that
while states are allowed under Article 19 (3) of the Covenant to impose
restrictions on certain grounds, including in the interest of "public
order", the committee which monitors and interprets the covenant "has
warned that any such curbs must be necessary and proportionate and should not
jeopardize the right itself"."The fact that hardly any information at
all is currently coming out is of great concern in itself," the statement
concluded
4.
NHC: Aug., 8, 2019: The National Security Committee (NSC) on Wednesday, in light of India's recent actions in occupied Kashmir, resolved to downgrade Pakistan's diplomatic
relations with New Delhi and suspend all bilateral trade. Key decisions: Downgrading of
diplomatic relations; Suspension of bilateral trade; Review of bilateral
arrangements; Matter to be taken to United Nations; August 14 to be observed in
solidarity with Kashmiris "PM directed that all diplomatic channels
be activated to expose brutal Indian racist regime, design and human rights
violations," a statement issued after the meeting said. "Our
ambassadors will no longer be in New Delhi and their counterparts here will
also be sent back," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told ARY News.
5.
US
Senator: Aug., 9, 2019: US Republican Senator Lindsey
Graham spoke with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the "growing crisis in Kashmir" and expressed hope that the Trump Administration would help
de-escalate the current crisis. "Hope the Trump
administration will provide assistance to both Pakistan and India to find a way
to deescalate the current crisis. The last thing the region and the world needs
is further military confrontations between India and Pakistan over
Kashmir," he added.
6.
UN Chief: Aug., 9, 2019: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for India “to
refrain from taking steps that could affect the
status of Jammu and Kashmir”.“The secretary
general has been following the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with concern and
makes an appeal for maximum restraint,” his spokesperson said. "The position of the United
Nations on this region is governed by the Charter of the United Nations and
applicable Security Council resolutions," read the statement. "The secretary general also
recalls the 1972 Agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan,
also known as the Simla Agreement, which states that the final status of Jammu
and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with the Charter
of the UN." According to
the spokesperson, the secretary general was also concerned over reports of
restrictions in India-occupied Kashmir, which could "exacerbate the human
rights situation in the region”. Internet and telephone connections in Kashmir
have been cut since Monday and a curfew imposed as the authorities feared
trouble when the decision was announced.
7. US Policy on Kashmir: Aug., 9, 2019: We want to
maintain peace and stability in the region, says White House. The United States
on Friday said that there is no change in its policy on Kashmir and called on
India and Pakistan to maintain calm and restraint. The U.S. policy has been
that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and it is up to
the two countries to decide on the pace and scope of the talks on the issue.
She said the United States supports dialogue between India and Pakistan over
Kashmir. Ms. Ortagus said the U.S. was working closely with the two South Asian
countries. “The United States, whenever
it comes to any region in the world where there are tensions, asks for people
to observe the rule of law, respect for human rights, respect for international
norms. We ask people to maintain peace and security and direct dialogue,” she
said. “There are reports, as you’ve mentioned, of detentions and restrictions
of residents in Jammu and in Kashmir. And again, that’s why we continue to
monitor this very, very closely,” she said.
8. Kashmiri economy: Aug., 9, 2019: The Indian
government's decision to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir could
have disastrous consequences for Kashmir's economy. Kashmir is one of the
poorest and most volatile regions in South Asia. Geopolitical instability has
long been a big barrier to economic development in the region and its
peripheral areas, which are still predominantly dependent on agriculture. The
region is in urgent need of measures to alleviate poverty and promote economic
growth, instead of an escalation of political conflict. However, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday introduced a
measure to revoke the special status of Indian-controlled Kashmir, drastically
escalating tensions with Pakistan. India's Kashmir move may help consolidate
the BJP's ruling status by stoking patriotism, but the measure will increase
poverty and the vulnerability of the poor in Kashmir. The Modi administration
has been going down the wrong track in foreign policy, making people in Kashmir
a victim of its political game with Islamabad. Pakistan said it will downgrade
diplomatic relations and suspend bilateral trade with India. The escalation of
tensions will deliver a deadly blow to the tourist industry, which is an
important part of Kashmir's economy. In response to the turmoil created by
India's Kashmir move, tourism may take a hit as Indian people plan their
holiday travel ahead of India's Independence Day, which falls on August 15.
Kashmir has a Muslim majority population. While Pakistan's decision to suspend
all trade with India may have a limited impact on India's overall economy, it
is likely to have an influence on the Muslim community in the Indian-controlled
Kashmir. China is willing to help Kashmir develop its economy through
triangular cooperation with India and Pakistan, but India's Kashmir move has
ruled out the possibility. The move will cause the region to lose an
opportunity to develop its economy and improve living standards. Political
stability is the prerequisite for economic development in Kashmir. At the very
least, India has the responsibility of promoting poverty alleviation in
Indian-controlled Kashmir. If New Delhi's move results in economic turbulence
in Kashmir, poverty could have a far-reaching impact on efforts to fight terrorism
in the region.
9. New York Times: Aug., 9, 2019: More than 500 people were detained in nighttime
raids across Kashmir and taken to makeshift detention centers, rights activists
said. In several areas, Kashmiris pelted security officers with stones and the
officers fired back, with reports that some demonstrators had been killed.
10.
Valley update:
Aug., 9, 2019: Tens of thousands of government forces in riot
gear patrol Indian-controlled Kashmir. Streets lined with shuttered shops are
deserted, steel barricades and razor wire cutting off neighborhoods. An eerie
silence is broken by an occasional security vehicle whizzing past or the cawing
of crows. An unprecedented security lockdown amid a near-total communications
blackout entered a fourth day Thursday, forcing some news organizations to
hand-carry dispatches out of the region In central Srinagar, the region's main city,
few pedestrians ventured out of their homes to navigate barbed-wire checkpoints
guarded by helmeted soldiers in camouflage, wielding rifles and protective
shields. Shopping malls, grocery stores and even clinics were closed. In
previous security clampdowns, neighborhood bodegas had opened their doors for a
few hours a day after dark so that people could buy basic necessities like
milk, grains and baby food. It is not clear whether the stores have opened in
the current crackdown. Residents are used to stockpiling essentials, a practice
they've honed during harsh winter months when roads and communications lines
are often snapped. The communication
blackout — with landlines, cell phones and internet all down — means that
people within Kashmir can't call one another or speak to friends and relatives
outside the region, relying only on limited cable TV and local radio reports.
11.
News from the locked Kashmir:
Aug., 10, 2019: Indian police used tear gas and pellets to
fight back at least 10,000 people protesting Delhi's withdrawal of special rights for Muslim-majority Jammu and
Kashmir state in its main city of Srinagar on Friday The
demonstration soon after Friday prayers was the largest since authorities
locked down the revolt-torn region five days ago, cutting off telephone and
internet services and detaining more than 500 political and separatist leaders. A large group of people gathered in
Srinagar's Soura area The crowd was
pushed back by police at Aiwa bridge, where a witness said tear gas and pellets
were used against them. “Some women and children even jumped into the water,” a
witness said at Srinagars Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, where
pellet victims were admitted.“They (police) attacked us from two sides,”
another witness said. The police officer said 12 people had been admitted to
two hospitals in the city after receiving pellet injuries at Soura, taking the
total injured in the protests this week to at least 30. “There were around
10,000 people at the protest in Soura,” the police officer said. “This was the
biggest so far:. Political detentions in
the wake of the Modi government's decision to revoke Kashmir's special rights
were continuing.“Over 500 people are now arrested since Sunday,” he said,
including former chief ministers, ministers, lawmakers and leaders and workers
from political parties and separatist groups. Indian security forces have fired tear gas and shot live
rounds in the air to disperse mass protests in Indian-administered Kashmir's
main city as thousands rallied against New Delhi's stripping of the region's
autonomy, according to local sources.
12.
Chinese support: Aug., 10, 2019: China has announced it will "uphold justice for Pakistan on the
international arena" and that it supports Pakistan's decision to approach
the United Nations Security Council in the wake of India's decision to revoke Kashmir's
special status. A statement released by China's
foreign ministry, said that it will "continue to support Pakistan in
safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests”. According to the statement,
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that China is "seriously concerned
about the latest escalation of tensions in Kashmir". China also believes
that unilateral actions "will complicate the situation" and should
not be taken. Pakistan FM said that China will offer complete support in the
decisions taken by the Pakistan government, including that of approaching the
UN Security Council, and will continue its cooperation with Pakistan. Pakistan
is considering a proposal to approach the International Court of Justice over
India's action.
13.
Iran
on Kashmir: Aug., 11,2019: Iran’s armed forces chief of staff on
Saturday cautioned Pakistan and India to avoid any “hasty decision” in Kashmir
without considering the wishes of the region’s people, the semi-official Fars news
agency reported. “The parties are expected to refrain from any hasty decision
on the fate of the (Kashmir) region, without regards to the people’s will,”
Major General Mohammad Baqeri was quoted by Fars
as telling army chief General Qamar Bajwa, by telephone. THIS IS MUCH LESS THAN WHAT PAKISTAN
EXPECTEDFROM IRAN ON KASHMIR.
14.
UK MPs: Aug., 11, 2014: Over 45 members of
the parliament (MPs) from the United Kingdom and peers have co-signed a letter
written by MP Warrington South Faisal Rashid calling on the UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres to intervene and prevent India’s unconstitutional
attack on Kashmir’s autonomy.“We
are deeply alarmed by reports that the Indian government has revoked Article
370 of constitution, stripping Kashmir of its autonomous status,” the letter
states. The letter terms
the unilateral Indian decision a direct attack on the political status of
Kashmir and its right to self-governance. It says revocation of Article 370
would have far-reaching and dangerous consequences for the region.“We also note
that PM Modi has long been an exponent of militaristic, hostile anti-Muslim
views as the political figurehead of a far-right Hindu-nationalist movement.
His administration has overseen an aggressive erosion of the legal and
constitutional foundations on which the Indian republic stands. “Revocation of
Article 370 represents a significant escalation of this process in what is the
only Indian-occupied Muslim majority state. As secretary-general, we call on
you to urgently bring this matter to the attention of the Security Council as a
serious threat to maintenance of international peace and security.”We note with
alarm that India and Pakistan, whose longstanding differences in this region
nearly led to open warfare just months ago, possess nuclear capabilities. We
urge the United Nations to do everything in its power to de-escalate this
extremely troubling and tense situation,” it concludes. The letter was signed
by MPs Faisal Rashid, Tracy Brabin, Marsha de Cordova, Grahame Morris, Tony Lloyd,
Mark Hendrick, Gill Furniss, Tonia Antoniazzi, Lord Qurban Hussein, David
Lammy, Rupa Huq, Lord Nasir Ahmed, David Drew, Rosena Allin-Khan, Laura Smith,
Angus MacNeill, Mohammed Yasin, Khalid Mahmood, Alison Thewliss, Mike Hill,
Kelvin Hopkins, Alex Norris, Matt Western, Thelma Walker, Afzal Khan, Yasmin
Qureshi, Stephen Kinnock, Ronnie Campbell, Mary Glindon, Shabana Mahmood, Roger
Godsiff, Daniel Zeichner, Kate Osamor, Rashanara Ali, Clive Lewis, Kate Green,
Paul Farrelly, Clive Betts, Karl Turner, Nic Dakin, Chi Onwurah, Jim
Cunningham, Naz Shah, Catherine West, James Frith, Mary Creagh and lmran
Hussein.
15.
Diplomatic Effort: Aug., 11, 2019: THE recent Indian move to remove the ‘special status’ accorded to the
part of Kashmir under its control has drawn flak from Pakistan, as well as many
Indian pundits, politicians and human rights groups. But the reaction from
the rest of the world has been predictably muted. China has condemned the
absorption of Ladakh — split away from Jammu and Kashmir under the new
dispensation — into the Indian union. But it has also called on “the two sides
[India and Pakistan] to peacefully resolve relevant disputes through dialogue
and consultation and safeguard regional peace and stability”. This advice is not very helpful when
India has consistently refused to discuss Kashmir with Pakistan for years. The
US State Department has also contributed a mealy-mouthed statement. And despite
India’s unilateral move, The Times of London placed both countries on the same
level in a recent editorial So
what remains? The Muslim ummah remains unmoved at the plight of the Kashmiris,
as does most of the world. The size of the rapidly growing Indian economy
trumps morality and human rights. And by allowing the rise of militant
extremism, we have effectively cast ourselves as the regional villains. Earlier, it was Pakistan that was seen as the
aggressor. Now, as demonstrated by the air raid over Balakot, Modi seems
determined to show Pakistan who’s boss. This dangerous display of machismo has
perilous consequences for the region. And given his overwhelming parliamentary
majority and his rabid Hindutva base, there are no brakes to restrain his
ambitions.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Kindly respond with comments or news that you
wish included in next weeks update at: jarad_us@yahoo.com
Kashmir Update 34:
Week Jul 29, 2019 to Aug ,4,2019
1.
After 23 years: July, 29, 2019:
"We are innocent," wrote Ali Muhammad Bhat in his dairy in
September 2014 when he was among six men - five of them Kashmiris - awarded
life sentences by a court in western India's Rajasthan state."They had no
witnesses against us. Police also said in court that these Kashmiris are
innocent," he wrote, referring to the May 22, 1996 bomb blast in
Rajasthan's Samleti village, in which 14 people were killed. Police accused a
now-defunct rebel outfit, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, for the
blast, linking the six men to the group. After 23 years of imprisonment in the
case without any bail or parole, the Rajasthan High Court on July 23 declared
them innocent and ordered their release.
2.
Indian solider
commits suicide: July, 30, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, an Indian soldier committed suicide by
shooting himself in Bandipore district..The Indian army man of 14 Rashtriya
Rifles shot himself with his service during duty hours in Chuntimulla area of
the district. The injured soldier was rushed to a nearby medical facility,
where he was declared brought dead, a police officer told media men. The
deceased Indian soldier has been identified as Pawan Kumar, 26, of Unit 18 CA
3. LoC: July, 30,
2019:
At least one civilian was killed while seven others were injured in a
village in Azad Jammu and Kashmir in yet another "unprovoked"
ceasefire violation by Indian forces from across the Line of Control (LoC officials said on Monday. Indian
forces began shelling and firing in the Nezapir sector at about 3:45pm and in
Khurshidabad sector at around 6pm on Sunday "without any provocation".
"They used both small and big arms and targeted civilian populations,
restricting people indoors till late night," he said. Rehmat Jan, a
45-year-old woman who lived in Mandhar village, died after being hit by the
splinters of a mortar shell, Zaheer told Dawn. Another resident of
the village, Begum Jan (48) was injured due to Indian shelling, he said. Three
civilians — Zainab Jan (60), Muhammad Naeem Dar (24) and Ulfat Rashid (17) —
were injured in Kairni village while Munir Hussain (20), Kausar Parveen (26)
and Nosheen (18) were wounded in Kachar Ban.
The civilian death toll in the current year has increased to 22,
including 13 men and nine women. About 11 army personnel
have also been martyred along the LoC in the ongoing year, Qureshi added.
4. EU: July,31 , 2019: The
members of European Parliament (MEPs), who are on a visit to Pakistan, Tuesday
underlined the need for resolving the longstanding Kashmir issue between
Pakistan and India, saying the massive human rights violations being committed
in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) could no longer be ignored by the world
community.
5. July cost: Aug., 1, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian martyred 11 Kashmiris including a minor girl
and a woman during the last month of July.According to the data issued by the
Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, today, during the month, 80 people
were critically injured due to the use of brute force and firing of pallets,
bullets and teargas shells by Indian police and paramilitary personnel against
peaceful protesters in the territory. At least 46 Hurriyat leaders, activists
and youth were arrested. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference chief spokesman,
Ghulam Ahmed Gulzar, was also among the arrested people. The troops damaged 2
residential houses during the period.
6.
Trump offers again: Aug., 2,2019: United States
President Donald Trump on Thursday said it was up to India and Pakistan to
resolve the Kashmir dispute but he was ready to assist if the two South Asian
neighbors wanted him to help in resolving the decades-old issue. Mr. Trump was
referring to his last week’s meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan,
wherein he
offered to help resolve the Kashmir issue. India
has rejected the offer, while Pakistan has welcomed his statement. It’s
really up to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi (to accept the offer of
mediation),” Mr. Trump told reporters responding to a question on India not
accepting his offer of mediation on Kashmir. Mr. Trump said the Indian Prime
Minister asked for this during their bilateral meeting in Japan in June on the
sideline of the G-20 Summit. India quickly denied it and said the Kashmir issue
was never discussed between Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump.
7. LoC : Aug., 2, 2019: Pakistani officials evacuated more than 50
Chinese nationals working near the Kashmir frontier, authorities said
yesterday, after skirmishes with India killed at least three people and injured
dozens. The Chinese were working on a dam being constructed in Pakistani
Kashmir along the confluence of the Neelum and Jhelum rivers when firing pushed
authorities to move the workers late Tuesday, according to a senior local
administration official Badar Munir. Another local official Raja Shahid Mahmood
said the decision was made after Indian security forces fired a volley of
“indiscriminate fire that killed three people including a woman and a child and
wounded 31 others during the last 24 hours”.
8. Separatists imprisoned Aug., 2, 2019: More than five months after they were detained
without charge, dozens of separatist leaders from Indian-administered Kashmir
remain imprisoned as the government in New Delhi seeks to marginalize them,
according to sources and figures from a rights group. Authorities in New
Delhi see the removal of activists from communities in the Kashmir Valley as a
key aspect of the struggle against the armed militant groups and stone-pelting
youths who have been fighting Indian rule, according to interviews with 10 people
familiar with the situation. The round-up of non-violent separatists, who
support Indian-administered Kashmir either joining Pakistan or becoming an
independent state, is part of an unprecedented crackdown from India’s
government to neuter a movement it believes fuels the armed insurrection, the
sources said. That includes restrictions on the movement of the few separatist
political leaders who are out of jail, pressure on foreign diplomats not to
meet them, and the recent banning of a number of unarmed separatist
organizations.
9. Youth martyred: Aug., 3, 2019: In occupied Kashmir,
Indian troops martyred two more
Kashmiri youth in Baramulla and Shopian districts, today. The troops martyred
one youth during a cordon and search operation in Warpora area of Sopore in
north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Earlier an Indian soldier was injured in an
attack in the same area.
10.
Youth
martyred:
Aug., 4, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops
martyred three more Kashmiri youth in Baramulla and Shopian districts, today. The
troops martyred two youth during a cordon and search operation at Malmapanpora
in Sopore area of Baramulla district. Earlier, an Indian soldier was injured in
an attack in the same area. The troops martyred one more youth, Manzoor Ahmed
Butt, during an over 40-hour long cordon and search operation at Pandoshan in
Shopian district, today. The troops had martyred another youth, Zeenat-ul-Islam
Naikoo, in the same area, yesterday. Several houses were razed to the ground by
the Indian forces during the operation in Pandoshan. Thousands of people
participated in the funeral prayers of martyred Zeenat-ul-Islam Naikoo at his
native Memmander village in Shopian district. The participants of the funeral
raised high-pitched anti-India and pro-freedom slogans on the occasion.
11.
Cluster bombs: Aug., 4, 2019:
Pakistan on Saturday condemned
Indian forces for using cluster munitions on civilian population along the Line
of Control in violation of international humanitarian laws and the Geneva
Convention. “Indian army on the
night of 30th/31ist July targeted innocent citizens, including women and
children, in Neelum Valley through artillery using cluster ammunition,” read a
statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations. “Resultantly, two
civilians, including a four-year-old boy, were martyred while 11 got critically
injured.” The Pakistan military’s media wing pointed out that because of their
severe impact on non-combatants, the use of cluster munitions is prohibited
under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. “This blatant Indian aggression
against all international norms exposes true character of Indian army and their
moral standing,” it said.
12.
Cost
of Kashmir struggle
Kashmir Update 32:
Week Jul 22, 2019 to July,28,2019
1. Muslim States: July, 22, 2019: The Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan has so
far remained a localized conflict. But thanks to Iran’s growing influence and
entrenchment in Kashmir, particularly targeting its Shia population, that could
be about to change. Other Muslim-majority states, from Saudi Arabia to Turkey, are jostling for position in
Kashmir too, whether to counter Tehran or push their own political and
religious agendas. But India’s politicians, strategic experts and its mammoth
intelligence-bureaucracy aren’t ready for this internationalization of the
Kashmiri conflict - and its dangerous consequences.
2.
Trump offers to mediate: July, 23, 2019: President Donald Trump on Monday offered to mediate the
decades-long Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan, signaling a shift in
long-standing US policy that the issue must be solved bilaterally. “If I can
help, I would love to be a mediator,” Trump said at the White House, where he
was hosting Prime Minister Imran Khan. “If I can do anything to help, let me
know.” Both Modi and India deny that the request to mediate was ever made.
3.
Trump offer: July,
2, 2019: Trump
first made the claim on Monday at the White House, speaking alongside Pakistani
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who said he'd request Trump's help in bringing peace
to the region."I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and we talked
about this subject," Trump told Khan. "And he actually said, 'Would
you like to be a mediator or arbitrator?' I said, 'Where?' He said, 'Kashmir.'
Because this has been going on for many, many years.""I think they'd
like to see it resolved and I think you'd like to see it resolved," Trump
went on. "If I could help, I would love to be a mediator."
4. Governor: July, 2, 2019: In
occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali
Gilani has said that New Delhi appointed Governor, Satya Pal Malik is openly
encouraging violence and civilian killings in the territory. Syed Ali Gilani in
a statement issued in Srinagar while commenting on a recent statement of the
IOK Governor said that it was unfortunate that a country claiming to believe in
non-violence and proudly labeling itself the world’s largest democracy was
inciting Kashmiri youth to resort to killing of the people. He maintained that
by such utterances Indian Governor had unmasked the real face of the so-called
proud killers of Gandhi. Syed Ali Gilani emphasized that the oppressor in the
occupied territory had always sowed the seeds of corruption in Jammu and
Kashmir and had given rise to vandalism, political arrogance and executive
highhandedness
5. Indian courts: July, 25, 2019: An
Indian court ordered the release of four Kashmiris, who remained illegally
detained in New Delhi’s Tihar jail for the past 23 years.These Kashmiris
identified as Mirza Nasir, Ali Muhammad Killay, Latif Ahmed Waja and Assadullah
Gone, today, reached Srinagar from New Delhi. A Rajasthan court in India
ordered their release. They were arrested by Indian police after a blast in
Lajpath Nagar in New Delhi.
6. Conspiracy theory: July, 26, 2019:
Unsubstantiated reports claim that Trump has been given full authority to
resolve Kashmir Issue. Pakistan has said that we will accept whatever Trump
decides. If resolved Pakistan will role back defense expenditure by 70% and
also roll back completely the atomic weapons program. Apparently India will
also reciprocate. This is not verified news.
7.
China supports
mediation : July, 26,2019: While backing the US President Donald Trump’s mediation offer
to help resolve the Kashmir issue, China said it supported the international
community including the United States (US) in playing a constructive role in
improving Pakistan-India relations through dialogue.“We support the
international community, the US included, in playing a constructive role in
improving Pakistan-India relations through dialogue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s
Spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement issued here. “We hope the two
countries can peacefully settle the Kashmir issue and other bilateral disputes
through dialogue, and make concerted efforts to safeguard peace and stability
in South Asia,” she added.
8.
More troops: July,
27, 2019:
Indian government has decided to deploy 100
additional companies of
central armed police forces in Occupied Jammu & Kashmir the Union home
ministry issued an order to this effect on Thursday and informed the state
officials, including the chief secretary and the DGP, about it on Friday. During
the Lok Sabha election. This is widely seen as a harbinger of some terrible
news related to Kashmir perhaps article 35-A, 379.
9.
Youth martyred:
July, 28, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian
troops martyred two Kashmiri youth in
South Kashmir’s Shopian district, today. The troops martyred the youth during
a cordon and search operation in Bonabazar area of the district. The occupation
authorities suspended internet service in the district. The troops also
conducted a similar operation in Arihal area of Pulwama district.
Kashmir Update 31:
Week Jul 15, 2019 to July,21,2019
1.
Missing persons:
July, 15, 2019: "Almost ten thousand people, mostly youth, have gone
missing in Kashmir. This is one of the most horrible chapters of unrest in the
valley where (Indian) armed forces and government agencies have unlawfully
picked up male members of Kashmiri society from their families, whose
whereabouts are yet not known. Mothers are still waiting for their sons, wives
for their husbands, children for their fathers, and sisters for their brothers.
Parveena
Ahangar, who singled-handedly
spearheaded the movement against enforced disappearances, when her own son was
picked up in August of 1990. She is still waiting for her son, while also
helping other women to fight cases for similar incidents after forming the
Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in 1994. Parveena has
received many awards for her work and was even nominated for the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2005." Listen to her speak: https://youtu.be/KbQqFoqwpac
2.
Message from
Kashmir: July, 14, 2019: “No one can
move. No one is safe. Bullets are fired indiscriminately. Even hospitals are
not being spared. The injured are beaten ruthlessly and movement restricted
from distant places to the city by authorities, causing more deaths. Hospitals are over flowing with the injured and the
dead.”
3. India’s Kashmir Policy: July15, 2019: “Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has devised a step-by-step strategy
aimed at systematically tackling the problems. The tough Kashmir policy which
has seen new focus since Amit Shah took over as Union Home Minister visualizes
a clinical attack on the support bases of militancy in the valley to bring
about "irreversible change" by targeting, principally, the
separatists and foreign networks. Sources said that the first target will remain the separatists and
their funding networks, which have kept alive militancy in the Valley and
organized anti-India activities. In keeping with this will be a focus on NGOs
who have backed the stone-pelters. These are well-funded operations that have
repeatedly tried to derail central government initiatives in trying to control militancy
in the valley. It is from involvement in such activity that stone-pelters move
over to weaponised training. The third target will be the cross border
terrorists who take advantage of border porosity to enter India and join the
ranks of militants. The understanding is
that the relentless attack on militant bases and on terror funding will also
contribute to stopping border incursions into India and with the oxygen supply
cut off to local militancy, it will be brutally hit. The program has
become more intense with the realization that terrorism, as the Pulwama attack
showed, is homegrown even though backed and bankrolled by foreign sponsors. The
Al Qaeda is becoming increasingly interested in the Kashmir issue and hardcore
IS cadres have found their way into the valley. “This would mean that India will continue
4.
5.
Youth martyred: July, 17, 2019: In occupied
Kashmir, Indian troops martyred a
Kashmiri youth in Sopore town, today. The youth identified as Adnan Channa was
killed by the troops during a cordon and search operation at Gund Brath area of
the town.SSP Sopore Javed Iqbal talking to media men claimed that the youth was
killed during an encounter with the Indian forces. He further said that his
body was recovered from the site. The SSP said that search operation is still
underway.
6.
Protest: July.18, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, a sea of people thronged Baramulla town
to attend the funeral prayers of a youth, Adnan Ahmad Channa, who was martyred
by Indian troops in Sopore town. Thousands of people chanting pro-freedom,
pro-Pakistan and anti-India slogans received the martyr’s body as it reached
from Sopore to Old Baramulla, the hometown of martyr, Adnan Channa. Multiple
rounds of funeral were held to accommodate the huge rush of the people. Adnan
was killed by the troops during a cordon and search operation in Gund Brath
area of Sopore town, yesterday. Meanwhile, complete shutdown was observed in
northern Kashmir’s Baramulla town, today, to mourn the killing of the youth.
All shops and business establishments were closed while a thin movement of
traffic was witnessed on the roads. The occupation authorities closed schools
and colleges in Baramulla to prevent students’ protests. However, people,
particularly youth took to streets and clashed with forces’ personnel. Over a
dozen youth were injured when troops fired pellets and teargas shells on the
protesters in the town
7.
Policeman killed; July, 19, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, an
Indian policeman was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Bijbehara area of
South Kashmir’s Islamabad district, today. The killed policeman was appointed
as Personal Security Officer (PSO) of pro-India Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
leader, Sajad Mufti. Sajjad is a cousin of PDP President and former puppet
Chief Minister of occupied Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti.
8.
Human cost of
Kashmir struggle: July, 20, 2019: - More than 300 people
died in the Kashmir region claimed by India and Pakistan in the first half of
the year, according to previously unreported data - one of the deadliest
periods in the disputed territory’s recent history . India launched 177 cordon
and search operations - in which troops seal off an area and conduct a security
sweep - in the first half of the year, according to the Jammu & Kashmir
Coalition of Civil Society (JKCSS), the leading human rights group in the
region, up from 116 in the same period last year. One in three of those led to
gun-battles between militants and troops in which at least one person was
killed, according to previously unpublished data from JKCSS. That has made the
first half of 2019 one of the deadliest in recent memory, with 301 deaths on
both sides of the contested border, according to the Armed Conflict Location
& Event Data Project, a global database of violent incidents in conflict
zones. That would be the worst six-month period since it began publishing data
from both parts of Kashmir in 2016. The death toll in the first half of 2019 at
271, on a par with last year, which it says was the deadliest in a decade. One
of those killed during the period was Rizwan Pandit, the school principal who
died in police custody.
The attitude of security
forces to those believed to be sympathetic to militants is hardening, an Indian
security official said, a process that began two years ago after the killing of
a prominent militant leader, but has grown stronger since the February attack.
“Troops have been given a free hand,” he said, referencing the speech given by
Modi a day after the February bombing, claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist
militant group.
9.
"Don't let
despair
distract you from the path
Don't forget to write,
not just with stones
But on pieces of paper,
on the leaves of the trees,
and those bloodied roads
the beloved word
Azadi
Remember
...I write from a bleeding heart."
— Inshah Malik
10.
LoC firing: July, 21, 2019:
A Pakistan Army officer was martyred and three civilians got injured on
Saturday as "the Indian Army resorted to unprovoked firing" and
shelling along the Line of Control (LoC), the Army's media wing reported. According to a press release issued
by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Indian Army used rockets and
mortars to target the civilian population and the Army posts in Battal, Satwal,
Khanjar, Nikyal and Jandrot sectors. "During the exchange of fire,
Havaldar Manzoor Abbasi embraced martyrdom while four citizens, including two
young girls and a woman, got injured," read the statement.
11.
Kashmir Update 30:
Week Jul 8, 2019 to July,14,2019
1.
UNHRC: July, 8, 2019: The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner's Office has
released a update to the 2018 report. Please download and share Update on Kashmir The United Nations Human Rights
Commissioner's Office has released an updated report on Kashmir. Please
download it and circulate this link in Kashmir and in other parts of the world. https://t.co/2bFWIZNjwM?amp=1
2.
Burhan Wani: July,9,2019: A complete shutdown, marked by curfew imposed by
Indian forces, was observed across occupied Kashmir on Monday to commemorate
the third martyrdom anniversary of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, an iconic young
mujahid commander
3.
CWC19 semi final: July, 11, 2019: Soon
after India’s Cricket World Cup lost to
New Zealand in the tournament’s semi-final round, residents of Srinagar
in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) could not hide their joy and took to streets
to celebrate the defeat Wednesday night. The Indian team who were widely seen
as one of the favorites to lift the trophy was bundled out for 221 at Old
Trafford with Matt Henry’s bowling spell wreaking havoc on their batting top
order. Videos and images soon vent viral of the people of Srinagar setting off
firecrackers and chanting slogans against the Indian regime in the war-torn
valley. Twitterati also went into overdrive
following the Men in Blue loss with users trolling Indian team’s captain Virat
Kohli saying: “Kohli tujhse nahin hota chase.”
4.
Martyrs day: July, 12, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, complete
shutdown will be observed, tomorrow, to mark the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, the 13th
July. Call for the shutdown has been given by the Joint Resistance Leadership
to reiterate the urgent need for a peaceful and just resolution of the Kashmir
dispute and to put an end to repression against the Kashmiri people and
Hurriyat leaders. The JRL has appealed to the people to conduct a march towards
the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Naqashband Sahib in Srinagar and offer prayers for
the martyrs collectively. It was on the 13th of July 1931 when
the troops of Dogra Maharaja had killed 22 Kashmiris, one after the other,
outside Central Jail in Srinagar during the court proceedings against one Abdul
Qadeer who had asked Kashmiri people to defy the Dogra rule.Meanwhile,
the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani, and other
Hurriyat leaders including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai in
their statement paid glorious tributes to the martyrs of 13th July.
5.
Hindu settlement; July, 13, 2019: A leader of the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that his Hindu nationalist party is committed
to helping bring back some of the estimated 200,000-300,000 Hindus who fled
Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) in the aftermath of an armed revolt that began in
1989.
6. Rape: July, 13, 2019: In first 6 months of 2019, at least 24000 cases of rape of children have
been registered in India, out of which 50 (11126 women raped in last 20 years)
cases have taken place in Jammu & Kashmir.
7.
Indian media and Kashmir: July, 14, 2019: DEMOCRACY and laws stop at the
Pir Panjal Range. They cover Jammu but the Kashmir Valley, which is
predominantly Muslim, is left out. Outrages in the Vale do not move the Indian
public or India’s institutions. India’s intellectuals ignore the ones New Delhi
commits in Kashmir. But it provides no comfort to journalists in Kashmir. The editor
of the Daily Afaq, Ghulam Jeelani Qadri, is 62 years old and a known
hypertensive who has spent more than 35 years in public life. On the night of
June 24, his house was raided by the police in connection with a case filed in
the 1990s. He was arrested. Cases were filed also against eight journalists
including two veterans, Sofi Ghulam Mohammad of Srinagar Times and Ghulam
Mohammad Arif of Daily Hamdard, who have already passed away. Ghulam Jeelani
Qadri was granted bail the next day. He was not given any cause for the arrest
or the raid. He had been issued a passport twice in the previous 30 years,
which testified to the fact that the police had nothing against him. The
Kashmir Editors’ Guild (KEG) immediately denounced the action. “How can a
person be a proclaimed offender if he is available in his office in the heart
of Srinagar for more than 15 hours daily?” Obviously, the action was
designed to intimidate the media. The press in India took no notice of this
outrageous behaviour. One exception stands out. The fearless Kolkata
daily The Telegraph reported that the National Investigation Agency
had been questioning Fayaz Ahmad Kaloo, KEG president and editor of Greater
Kashmir, the largest circulated English newspaper in Kashmir. Also
questioned was the daily’s highly respected and popular general manager, Rashid
Makhdoomi. Both were interrogated for a week. The Telegraph reported “In
February, governor Satya Pal Malik’s administration stopped sending government
advertisements to Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Reader, apparently for providing
coverage to pro-independence groups as well as allegations of rights abuses by
security forces.” Newspapers that report excesses committed by the army,
the central or the local police are intimidated if they perform their
professional duty. Journalists are part of civil society, and naturally share
its outlook. For the National Investigation Agency to summon Fayaz Ahmad Kaloo
and Rashid Makhdoomi, all the way from Srinagar to Delhi, is itself wrong. The
agency has its men all over the place. Obviously, the object was to intimidate
and silence an independent newspaper. The Press Council of India has a
disgraceful record on Kashmir. It set up a committee to look into charges of
rape and much else at the instance of the Indian army. No written complaint was
filed. It said that there was no rape by army personnel in the Kunan Poshpora
incident of February 1991. This was proved false. Now comes the report
of the press council’s subcommittee “examining the Report of Interlocutors on
Media and Media Scenario of Jammu & Kashmir”. The three interlocutors
constituted a bogus body. Its ‘report’ was also a bogus document. So is the
council’s endorsement of the subcommittee’s findings: “The media
industry, thus, has become a huge job provider to young journalists. But since
private business has been shrinking, there is little scope for private
advertising and this is making the media heavily dependent on government
advertisements. The union and state governments reportedly at times use this
situation to their advantage by arm-twisting the media without any legitimate
reasons.” Did the press council ever censure that? It continued: “During
the committee’s interaction with various newspaper editors, owners and
journalists, they all spoke about the discrimination they, particularly medium
and small newspapers/periodicals, faced in the issue of government
advertisements and the rates….” The conclusion? “The gap between Jammu and Kashmir and the
rest of the national media should be bridged. Inter-regional media exchange
will promote a better understanding among Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh
journalists. Similarly, J&K journalists should be encouraged to visit other
parts of the nation and interact with their counterparts there. Journalist
teams from other parts of the nation should similarly visit [J&K] to
interact with [local] journalists to understand J&K. The government should
encourage professional journalist organisations/ associations to hold sessions
and seminars in [J&K].” But not a word about the repressions. This
is the reality — the deep disconnect between the people of Kashmir and India.
Hence the repression. Why bar foreign correspondents from visiting Kashmir?
Kashmir Update 30:
Week Jul 8, 2019 to July,14,2019
1.
UNHRC: July, 8, 2019: The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner's Office has
released a update to the 2018 report. Please download and share Update on Kashmir The United Nations Human Rights
Commissioner's Office has released an updated report on Kashmir. Please
download it and circulate this link in Kashmir and in other parts of the world. https://t.co/2bFWIZNjwM?amp=1
2.
Burhan Wani: July,9,2019: A complete shutdown, marked by curfew imposed by
Indian forces, was observed across occupied Kashmir on Monday to commemorate
the third martyrdom anniversary of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, an iconic young
mujahid commander
3.
CWC19 semi final: July, 11, 2019: Soon
after India’s Cricket World Cup lost to
New Zealand in the tournament’s semi-final round, residents of Srinagar
in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) could not hide their joy and took to streets
to celebrate the defeat Wednesday night. The Indian team who were widely seen
as one of the favorites to lift the trophy was bundled out for 221 at Old
Trafford with Matt Henry’s bowling spell wreaking havoc on their batting top
order. Videos and images soon vent viral of the people of Srinagar setting off
firecrackers and chanting slogans against the Indian regime in the war-torn
valley. Twitterati also went into overdrive
following the Men in Blue loss with users trolling Indian team’s captain Virat
Kohli saying: “Kohli tujhse nahin hota chase.”
4.
Martyrs day: July, 12, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, complete
shutdown will be observed, tomorrow, to mark the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day, the 13th
July. Call for the shutdown has been given by the Joint Resistance Leadership
to reiterate the urgent need for a peaceful and just resolution of the Kashmir
dispute and to put an end to repression against the Kashmiri people and
Hurriyat leaders. The JRL has appealed to the people to conduct a march towards
the Martyrs’ Graveyard at Naqashband Sahib in Srinagar and offer prayers for
the martyrs collectively. It was on the 13th of July 1931 when
the troops of Dogra Maharaja had killed 22 Kashmiris, one after the other,
outside Central Jail in Srinagar during the court proceedings against one Abdul
Qadeer who had asked Kashmiri people to defy the Dogra rule.Meanwhile,
the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani, and other
Hurriyat leaders including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai in
their statement paid glorious tributes to the martyrs of 13th July.
5.
Hindu settlement; July, 13, 2019: A leader of the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that his Hindu nationalist party is committed
to helping bring back some of the estimated 200,000-300,000 Hindus who fled
Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) in the aftermath of an armed revolt that began in
1989.
6.
Rape: July, 13, 2019: In first 6 months of 2019, at least 24000 cases of rape of children have
been registered in India, out of which 50 (11126 women raped in last 20 years)
cases have taken place in Jammu & Kashmir.
7.
Youth martyred: July, 17, 2019: In occupied
Kashmir, Indian troops martyred a
Kashmiri youth in Sopore town, today. The youth identified as Adnan Channa was
killed by the troops during a cordon and search operation at Gund Brath area of
the town.SSP Sopore Javed Iqbal talking to media men claimed that the youth was
killed during an encounter with the Indian forces. He further said that his
body was recovered from the site. The SSP said that search operation is still
underway.
8.
Protest: July.18, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, a sea of people thronged Baramulla town
to attend the funeral prayers of a youth, Adnan Ahmad Channa, who was martyred
by Indian troops in Sopore town. Thousands of people chanting pro-freedom,
pro-Pakistan and anti-India slogans received the martyr’s body as it reached
from Sopore to Old Baramulla, the hometown of martyr, Adnan Channa. Multiple
rounds of funeral were held to accommodate the huge rush of the people. Adnan
was killed by the troops during a cordon and search operation in Gund Brath
area of Sopore town, yesterday. Meanwhile, complete shutdown was observed in
northern Kashmir’s Baramulla town, today, to mourn the killing of the youth.
All shops and business establishments were closed while a thin movement of
traffic was witnessed on the roads. The occupation authorities closed schools
and colleges in Baramulla to prevent students’ protests. However, people,
particularly youth took to streets and clashed with forces’ personnel. Over a
dozen youth were injured when troops fired pellets and teargas shells on the
protesters in the town
9.
Policeman killed; July, 19, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, an
Indian policeman was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Bijbehara area of
South Kashmir’s Islamabad district, today. The killed policeman was appointed
as Personal Security Officer (PSO) of pro-India Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
leader, Sajad Mufti. Sajjad is a cousin of PDP President and former puppet
Chief Minister of occupied Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti.
10.
Human cost of
Kashmir struggle: July, 20, 2019: - More than 300 people
died in the Kashmir region claimed by India and Pakistan in the first half of
the year, according to previously unreported data - one of the deadliest
periods in the disputed territory’s recent history . India launched 177 cordon
and search operations - in which troops seal off an area and conduct a security
sweep - in the first half of the year, according to the Jammu & Kashmir
Coalition of Civil Society (JKCSS), the leading human rights group in the
region, up from 116 in the same period last year. One in three of those led to
gun-battles between militants and troops in which at least one person was
killed, according to previously unpublished data from JKCSS. That has made the
first half of 2019 one of the deadliest in recent memory, with 301 deaths on
both sides of the contested border, according to the Armed Conflict Location
& Event Data Project, a global database of violent incidents in conflict
zones. That would be the worst six-month period since it began publishing data
from both parts of Kashmir in 2016. The death toll in the first half of 2019 at
271, on a par with last year, which it says was the deadliest in a decade. One
of those killed during the period was Rizwan Pandit, the school principal who
died in police custody.
The attitude of security
forces to those believed to be sympathetic to militants is hardening, an Indian
security official said, a process that began two years ago after the killing of
a prominent militant leader, but has grown stronger since the February attack.
“Troops have been given a free hand,” he said, referencing the speech given by
Modi a day after the February bombing, claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammed Islamist
militant group.
11.
"Don't let
despair
distract you from the path
Don't forget to write,
not just with stones
But on pieces of paper,
on the leaves of the trees,
and those bloodied roads
the beloved word
Azadi
Remember
...I write from a bleeding heart."
— Inshah Malik
12.
LoC firing: July, 21, 2019:
A Pakistan Army officer was martyred and three civilians got injured on
Saturday as "the Indian Army resorted to unprovoked firing" and
shelling along the Line of Control (LoC), the Army's media wing reported. According to a press release issued
by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Indian Army used rockets and
mortars to target the civilian population and the Army posts in Battal, Satwal,
Khanjar, Nikyal and Jandrot sectors. "During the exchange of fire,
Havaldar Manzoor Abbasi embraced martyrdom while four citizens, including two
young girls and a woman, got injured," read the statement.
Kashmir Update 28:
Week Jul 1, 2019 to July,7,2019
1.
Pakistani soldiers killed; July, 4, 2019: Five Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred and one other sustained
injuries in an explosion that took place a few metres from the Line of Control
in Chamb sector of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Inter-Services Public
Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Wednesday. Those killed include : Subedar Muhammad Sadiq, aged 44, resident of
village Bandi P/O Jura, tehsil Athmuqam and district Neelam; Sepoy Muhammad
Tayyab, aged 26, r/o village Surakhi, tehsil and district Khushab; Naik Sher Zaman, aged 36, r/o village
Shamashaki, district Karak; Sepoy Zohaib, aged 20, r/o village Nandi Nar Ghamir
Manhdala, tehsil Hajira and district Poonch; Sepoy Ghulam Qasim, aged 22, r/o
village Sahiwal, tehsil Sahiwal and district Sargodha.
2. 2019 killings: July, 4, 2019: The
first six months of 2019 recorded 271 killings in Jammu and Kashmir in various
incidents of violence, which include 43 civilians, 120 militants and 108 Indian
armed forces personnel, a human rights group Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil
Society said on Wednesday. JKCCS said that among the 43 civilians killed in the
first half of 2019, 14 were killed by Indian armed forces and police, 12 were
killed by unidentified gunmen, 8 civilians died after falling victim of cross
LOC shelling in the border areas of J&K, 5 civilians were killed by
suspected militants, 3 died due to an explosion while the agency responsible
for the killing of 2 civilians remains unknown – as both police and militants
blamed each other for these two killings.“Among the 43 civilians killed, 9 were
minors,” the statement by JKCCS read. JKCCS said that among the 108 Indian
armed forces and Jammu Kashmir police personnel killed in Jammu., the highest
(80) forces personnel were killed in counter-insurgency related incidents,
including in a suicide militant attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama on 14
February 2019, which resulted in the killing of at least 48 CRPF personnel,
while 8 Indian armed personnel were killed at the volatile Line of Control
(LOC). “15 armed forces committed suicide, 3 CRPF troopers were killed in a
fratricidal incident by a CRPF trooper in Udhampur district of Jammu and 2
Special Police Officers (SPO) of Jammu Kashmir Police were killed by suspected
militants,”
3. Youth martyred:
July, 5,, 2019:
In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh
act of state terrorism martyred one Kashmiri youth in Shopian district, today. The
troops martyred the youth during a violent cordon and search operation in
Narwani area of the district. The operation continued till last reports came in.
An Indian police official talking to media men claimed that the youth was
militant and was killed in an encounter with the troops
4.
Security for Yatra: July, 6, 2019: Whilst the Muslims in
occupied Kashmir and India are not being allowed to perform their religious
obligations, the Indian state leaves no stone unturned to facilitate the Hindu
pilgrims during the annual Amarnath yatra that continues for several weeks. The
occupation authorities have deployed around 60,000 Indian troops on the routes
of the ongoing Amarnath yatra, which commenced on July 01, an official
statement said. it said that this year, no stone has been left unturned by the
Indian Army’s 1-Rashtriya Rifles battalion and police to ensure clear and
secure passage for yatris, especially through the sensitive Islamabad
town.“Stringent security arrangements have been put in place for smooth conduct
of the annual pilgrimage. A robust security cover has been put in place, which
includes satellite and chip-based tracking of vehicles and deployment of forces
in various layers,” it said. Occupation forces have also banned Kashmiri
traffic on raids whilst the Yatra is continuing. The
JKLF Acting Chairman, Abdul Hameed Butt, in a statement issued in Srinagar said
banning civilian traffic on highway and halting train services for a lame
excuse of providing security to Amarnath pilgrims actually shows the religious
fanatic face of Indian rulers who are hell bent upon inflicting miseries and
hardships on common citizens of occupied Kashmir
5.
Youth Thrashed; July, 6,
2019: A group of Hindu extremists abused and thrashed three Muslim
youth and forced them to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan after asking their names
in Ranchi city of Indian state of Jharkhand. A group of Hindu extremists
attacked the youth and forced them to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. The youth, who
sustained injuries, were immediately admitted to hospital. Aamir Wasim, who had
lodged a complaint at the Doranda police station in Ranchi, said he and his
friends, Altaf Ali and Ali Ahmed, had gone to the airport area to take
photographs. “We were riding our two-wheelers and were in kurta pajama when some
people besieged us. Without any provocation, they beat us up and told us to
chant “Jai Shri Ram”. As the crowd got bigger, we fled from the spot,” he said.
Tabrez Ansari, a 24-year-old youth, was beaten to death by a mob in
Saraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand last month. On Friday, Muslims took
out a rally to protest against attacks on the community in Ranchi.
6. Banners: July,
7, 2019: Banners reading “#Justice for Kashmir”
and “India stop genocide & free Kashmir” were flown over Headingley during
India's World Cup clash with Sri Lanka on Saturday. An
insurgency in Indian-occupied Kashmir over the past three decades has left more
than 70,000 dead, mainly civilians.
Kashmir Update 27:
Week June, 24,2019 to June ,30,2019
1.
AFSPA: June, 25,
2019: As many as 334 soldiers were killed
from 2016 to 2018 in areas where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is
in force, Indian Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh told Parliament.113 soldiers
were killed in 2016, 125 in 2017 and 96 in 2018 in areas where the AFSPA is in
force
3.
Youth martyred: June,
26, 2019:
In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of
state terrorism martyred one Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district, today., the
troops martyred the youth, Shabbir Ahmad Malik, during a violent cordon and
search operation at Branpathri Kahlil in Tral area of the district., people
took to the streets near bus stand and in Nagbal area of Tral town and staged demonstrations
against the killing of the youth. Indian police and troops fired pellets and
teargas shells to disperse the protesters, injuring several of them.
4.
Youth martyred: June,
27, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in
their fresh act of state terrorism martyred one more Kashmiri youth in
Islamabad district. The troops martyred the youth, Aadil Rehman Das, in a fake
encounter during a cordon and search operation at Sirhama in Bijbehara area of
the district, last evening. The dead body of Aadil Rehman Das was found on a
hilltop at Boomteng near Sirhama area of the district
5. Torture: June, 27, 2019: The
Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and Jammu Kashmir
Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) on Wednesday observed the International Day
in Support of Victims of Torture and renewed its determination to fight against
the phenomenon of torture in Jammu and Kashmir. The most brutal techniques of
torture listed in the Istanbul Protocol of UN-OHCHR have been used by the
Indian armed forces against the people. The report highlights this based on a
study of 432 testimonies, APDP and JKCCS call for the ratification of the UNCAT
and unconditional access be provided to the UN-OHCHR, all UN Special
Rapporteurs and other Special Procedures to assess the human rights situation
in Jammu and Kashmir
6. Youth martyred: June, 28, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops martyred one more Kashmiri youth in Badgam
district, today..The troops martyred the youth during a violent cordon and
search operation at Gund Chekpora in Nowgam area of the district. The troops
also destroyed a residential house in the area. Meanwhile, the killing of the
youth triggered forceful demonstrations in the area. Indian police and troops
fired bullets, pellets and teargas shells to disperse the protesters, injuring
several of them critically. A youth, Shabbir Ahmed, who sustained bullet
injury, was shifted to SMHS hospital in Srinagar. As per the doctors, Shabbir
sustained bullet wound in his lower abdomen and is being operated upon. They
said that his condition was not well.
7.
Kashmir Update 26:
Week June, 17,2019 to June ,23,2019
1.
Indian Army Officers killed:
June, 19, 2019: fierce gunfight raged on in Achabal area of South Kashmir's
Anantnag on Monday. An Army officer was killed while another officer and two
troopers were injured in the encounter. As per the details, the encounter took
place when the security forces had launched a cordon and search operation. An
Army Special Forces convoy, on its way at Arihal village of South Kashmir's
Pulwama district, was also attacked by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED),
locals and officials said. The convoy was targeted by the terrorists near
Eidgah Arihal on the Arihal-Lassipora road, a police official said. Five jawans
were injured in the attack. The site of the blast is 27 km from the area where
a convoy carrying security personnel was attacked by a suicide bomber on
February 14 in which 40 CRPF troopers were killed.
2.
Youth martyred: June, 23, 2019: The troops martyred the youth during a cordon and search
operation at Bujtalan in Boniyar area of Uri. The troops also launched a
similar operation in Drabgam and Monghar villages of Pulwama district and
continued searches in Kishtwar area of Jammu region on the second consecutive
day, today. A driver was injured after Indian troops fired at him near Romeshi
rivulet in Pulwama district, last night
3.
Leaders arrested: June, 23, 2019: occupation authorities placed the
Chairman of Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under house arrest in
Srinagar, today. Indian police arrested Hurriyat leader, Mukhtar Ahmed Waza, in
Islamabad town and lodged him at Sherbagh Police Station in the town.
4.
Muslim
countries: June, 23, 2019: Chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir,
Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, has said that the Muslim countries should play their
active role to bring an end to the human rights violations being perpetrated by
Indian troops in the territory.. Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai in a statement issued
in Srinagar hailed the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organization
(MCCIO) for supporting Kashmiris and setting up a Parliamentary Kashmir Group.
He appreciated the efforts of MCCIO chief, Muhammad Azmi Abdul Hamid, to
highlight the Kashmiris’ sufferings.
Kashmir Update 25:
Week June, 10,2019 to June ,16,2019
1.
Assessment:
June, 11, 2019:
Mounting rights abuses and political disengagement could push more young people
towards militancy in Indian-administered Kashmir, residents warn, following
some of the deadliest violence the troubled region has seen in a decade. Last year
was Kashmir’s deadliest since 2008 and the bloodshed has worsened since. The Jammu Kashmir Coalition
of Civil Society (JKCCS), a local rights group, says more
than 586 people were killed in 2018, including militants, Indian security
forces, and 160 civilians. The Indian government puts the civilian death toll
at 37. This
year is already threatening to surpass the last year,the rights group recorded 162 total
deaths from January until March.
Local rights advocates fear a growing humanitarian crisis fed by years
of conflict and unchecked human rights abuses. For Mohammad Ashraf Wani, there
is no doubt that India’s controversial policing policy is counterproductive and
instilling a fearlessness in Kashmir’s youth. In 2016, he was hit by a hail of
pellets from an officer’s pump-action shotgun and collapsed in a pool of blood.
Despite multiple surgeries, Wani lost all sight in his right eye and has
partial vision in his left. Shotgun
pellets have been used as a crowd control method in Kashmir since 2010 – the
only Indian state in which they are deployed. More than 6,221
people received pellet gun injuries in the seven months following the July
2016 unrest, according to the Jammu and Kashmir government.“Anyone here who
sees their brother, sister, father, or mother in some ways abused by the state
machinery creates a situation where the youth are so fed up that they will take
to the streets and won’t care whether it’s a pellet that hits them or a
bullet,” said Mohammad, who now leads a lobby group for pellet gun victims.
“Preliminary data shows that Jammu and Kashmir recorded a turnout of only 29 percent compared to a nationwide
average of 67 percent. Hundreds of polling stations recorded no
voters at all. .Parvez, who has received death threats for his work and was
detained for two and half months in 2016 after attempting to travel to the UN
Human Rights Council in Geneva, said the actions of the suicide bomber in the
February Pulwama attack – Kashmir’s first
suicide car bombing in nearly two decades – should be a warning sign.
Parvez blames Indian authorities for ignoring the will of ordinary Kashmiris
for self-determination, and the international community for what he sees as a
conspicuous silence.Under Modi’s first term in office, the ruling Hindu
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has been accused of
stoking anti-Muslim sentiment across the country, which has seen a spike in
hate crimes. In March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned
India of increasing reports of harassment and targeting of Muslims.The
constant tension between the army and the civilian population appears to be
leaving a lasting humanitarian impact. A May 2016 survey by
Médecins Sans Frontières found that 45 percent of the population in the Kashmir
valley were under “significant mental distress” and nearly one in five
Kashmiris showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Strikes, protests,
and resulting curfews have also shut down schools for long
stretches, while clashes have interrupted jobs and livelihoods. A JKCCS report, released last
month, documented decades of allegations against Indian forces in Kashmir
including “water-boarding, sleep deprivation and sexualised torture”, which the
rights groups said are used as an “instrument of control” to quash dissent. Despite the potency of the
conflict, it took until 2018 for the first
UN report into the human rights situation in Kashmir to be published. As well as
decrying violence committed by authorities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and
armed groups on both sides, Indian forces came in for the most scrutiny.
Detailing hundreds of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and
sexual violence, the report highlighted the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act, which gives Indian forces operating in Kashmir
immunity from the gravest of crimes.
“In the nearly 28 years that the law has been in force in Jammu and
Kashmir, there has not been
2. Geeelani Sahib blasts Modis
statement on Kashmir: June, 11, 2109: In a
strong reaction to the statement of Prime Minister Modi, in Maldives,
pertaining to Kashmir issue, Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani
termed it “blatant negation” of the hard facts of history of Indian division of
1947. Terming Kashmir as an “outcome of non-compliance of Indian Independence
act of 1947, the basic formula for the partition of India, the Hurriyat leader
laid stress on the early resolution of Kashmir issue by granting right to
self-determination in a peaceful atmosphere, which has been guaranteed by the
United Nations and India is the signatory to it.” Urging the United Nations and
other world powers including USA, Britain, France, Russia and China to expedite
their moral, diplomatic and political efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute
and deter Indian barbarism, ruthless killings of innocent people, incarceration
of political activists and gross violation of human rights in Kashmir
3. ISIS claim attack: June, 12, 2019: The
Islamic State (ISIS) announced this afternoon that their terrorists have
carried out a deadly attack against the Indian Army in the Kashmir region near.
According to an official statement from the Islamic State’s media wing, their
terrorists attacked an Indian Army post in the town of Zein Bora.The terrorist
group’s statement said they opened fire on the Indian Army post with their
machine guns; this allegedly resulted in the death of a number of Indian
soldiers. The Indian Ministry of Defense has not yet issued a statement about
this alleged attack by the Islamic State terrorist organization.
5. Attack: June, 13, 2019: Five CRPF jawans of 116
Battalion were killed and one police officer was among four
injured in an attack on security forces in south Kashmir’s Anantnag on
Wednesday afternoon. An unidentified militant was also killed. A senior police
official said two militants attacked a joint deployment of the CRPF and the
police. The militants, who came on a motorbike, fired at the security forces
and lobbed grenades on a busy stretch near Oxford School on K.P. Road around
4.55 p.m. “Five CRPF jawans were killed and the body of one freedom fighter was
recovered from the spot.
6. Governors Rule:
June, 13,2019: Indian
Cabinet has extended the President’s rule in occupied Kashmir for six more
months.A meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave
its approval for the extension of the President’s rule which has been
continuing in occupied Kashmir since December 20, 2018.Indian Minister for
Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, talking to reporters in New
Delhi said that President’s rule in occupied Kashmir would be extended for six
more months beginning July 03 and the Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod in this
effect.
7.
Amnesty International: June, 13, 2019: The
President of London-based Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights (JKCHR),
Dr Syed Nazir Gilani, has said that stopping Amnesty International from voicing
opposition to atrocities committed by Indian forces and putting in place a ‘strong
state doctrine’ by Modi Government to use brute force and kill as many
Kashmir’s as possible, has no merit. Dr Nazir Gilani in a statement issued in
London said that such measures would not succeed to suppress the voices of
dissent and elements of resistance in occupied Kashmir. The Indian government is widely
misusing a law allowing for detention without trial in the Indian-occupied
Kashmir region, and fuelling animosity with it, the human rights group Amnesty
International said on Wednesday.The Public
Safety Act (PSA) was a “lawless law” under which the authorities hold children,
old people and the disabled, and it should be scrapped, the group said. “This act is contributing to
inflaming tensions between the state authorities and local populace and must be
immediately repealed,” said Aakar Patel, head of Amnesty International India. India has long defended the
41-year-old PSA as essential to maintain law and order in the Muslim-majority
region where Kashmir’s have been battling the security forces since the late
1980s. https://www.facebook.com/ViralKashmirNews/videos/444673796317961/UzpfSTE4MzcwMzY1MzMyODMwODc6MjMyMzk3MzYxNzkyMjcwNw/
8. Two martyred: June, 14, 2019: Two freedom fighters were killed in an encounter with
security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Friday .According to a police official, security forces had
launched a cordon and search operation in Braw Bandina area of Awantipora in
the district in south Kashmir after receiving intelligence input about presence
of militants in the area. As the forces were conducting searches in the area,
the militants fired upon them. The security forces retaliated
9.
10.
Kashmir Update 24:
Week June, 3,2019 to June ,9,2019
1.
OIC: June, 3, 2019: The Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has appointed Saudi Arabia’s Yousef Aldobeay as its
special envoy on Jammu and Kashmir, reiterating its support for the legitimate
right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people in accordance with UN
resolutions, the Foreign Office said on Saturday. The Foreign Office said the summit communiqué
called for expediting establishment of a UN commission of inquiry to
investigate grave human rights violations and urged India to allow the
commission and other international organizations access to Indian Occupied
Kashmir (IOK). The conference also commended the report of OIC’s Human Rights
Commission, highlighting rights abuses in IOK. It welcomed Pakistan’s offer to
host 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad in 2021.
2.
Suicides: June, 3, 2019:
Within one weak three members, of Indian Armed Forces, including a
Colonel, committed suicide in Indian Occupied Kashmir. The Indian army man Yogesh Singh (27) was found hanging with a
tree near an abandoned building at 16 Corps unit in Nagrota area of the
district. The Indian army soldier was presently posted at 16 Corps, Nagrota,
area of city outskirts in Jammu,” a police official said. He said the after
postmortem conducted at Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu, the
body was handed over to the Indian Army authorities.»
3.
Three martyred: June, 3, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, India troops in their
fresh act of state terrorism martyred three civilian youth in Shopian district,
today. The youth were killed in firing by Indian troops in Moolu Chitragam area
of the district. The killing triggered anti-India protests in the area. Several
people were injured after Indian police and paramilitary forces fired pellets
and shells on protesters in different areas of the Shopian and Islamabad
districts.»
4.
Rita Pal on PTM:
June. 3, 2019: “Since Junaid Quereshi, self
styled guru of counter-terrorism at EFSAS started to feature PTM, we looked
narrowly at him. As time went on, we discovered that PTM was part of India's
hybrid warfare against Pakistan and probably Kashmir. This week, as most Kashmiris
have witnessed, the human rights groups - Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have
happily featured the armed group PTM. They have not featured the 100+ injuries
due to pellet guns etc in Kashmir. To raise awareness on PTM, we decided it was
important to write a petition on why we believe PTM should be declared a
terrorist outfit. Please sign and share this link https://secure.avaaz.org/en/community_petitions/Government_of_Pakistan_and_PM_Imran_Khan_Declare_PTM_as_a_Terrorist_Organisation_and_ban_them/details/”
5.
Youth martyred: June, 7, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their
fresh act of state terrorism martyred three more Kashmiri youth in south
Kashmir’s Pulwama district, today, taking the number of the slain youth to four
since yesterday. The troops launched a violent cordon and search operation at
Panjran in Lassipora area of the district, last evening, and martyred one
youth. Three more youth were martyred by the troops in the same area, today.
The bodies of the youth were recovered from the debris of two residential
houses destroyed by the troops in the area.
6.
Youth martyred: June, 8, 2019: In occupied
Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred another
Kashmiri youth in Islamabad district, today, raising the number of the martyred
youth to five since Thursday evening. The troops martyred the youth during a
cordon and search operation at Nowgam in Verinag area of the district. The
operation was going on till last reports came in. The occupation authorities
have suspended mobile internet service in Islamabad district.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Kashmir Update 23:
Week May,27,2019,April ,2,2019
1.
Indian Election Results: May, 27,
2019: There seems to some surprise and
dismay at the victory of Modi and his BJP. Congress lost due to poor
leadership. I have long maintained that Rahul Gandhi is not talented enough to
lead Congress. His sister may be better than him or perhaps Congress should
think of leaders other than from Nehru’s family. . Congress carries the same
message that BJP does. It is only watered down and stated more softly. Their
actions may not be as blatant and brazen as BJPs
but they have the same results nevertheless. Congress is dubbed as a “B” team
to BJP .Besides elite Hindus resent the inclusion of minorities into Congress
.The electorate chose to go for the real deal rather than vote in the watered
down version. .There has been a debate in India on the essence of India and
Hinduism. One narrative is that India should nominally be a multi cultured
democracy could be dubbed Nehru’s version. The other sponsored by BJP and RSS
and Co. is to make India blatantly Hindu.Hinduism is difficult to define.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and others wrote whole books to just define Hinduism.
Hinduism at any point in time is what people say it is, there are no central
scriptures. There is lot of diversity and duality in Hindu religious thought
and some of it is contradictory. Wendy Doniger presented some of this duality
and contradictions.There is attempt to create an artificial structured
Hinduism. This effort is now supported by the majority of Indian citizens. The
TV dramas or series aired related to the Mahabharata, Ramayana and other
classics found a very sympatric cord in a majority of Indian s. Gita is pushed
to be declared as the central scriptures. This should explain the recent results
which saw Modi and Co. achieve an even greater majority in the elections. The
expectations that the Indian electorate will punish Modi and Co. were based on
false premise.
2.
Article 370: May, 27, 2019: “Article 370, a
temporary transitional provision, is the biggest injustice with the people of
Jammu and Kashmir, while the Article 35A is a constitutional blunder which was
included through back door without the consent of Parliament and the
President…. We wish the early abrogation of both these constitutional
provisions,” Raina was quoted in the report as saying. .
3. People hurt: May, 30, 2019: At least 90 people were injured in clashes
in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday as protesters helped rebels escape a siege by
government forces, police and hospital authorities said. While protests in
support of the surrounded rebels have increased on the Indian side of the
divided territory in recent years, it is rare for insurgents to escape.
Thousands of villagers poured onto roads Wednesday as two suspected rebels fought
a gunbattle with soldiers from inside a house in the Kulgam area in southern
Kashmir. Protesters pelted government forces with stones to give the fighters
cover to escape, they said. Fifty people were taken to a local hospital after
government forces fired shotgun pellets and live bullets to push the protesters
back, witnesses and hospital officials said. “The house was blown up but the
militants escaped in the confusion. No dead bodies were found in the debris,” a
top police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity. .
4. Youth martyred: May, 30, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, a civilian was martyred
and several others were injured when Indian troops opened fire on protesters in
south Kashmir’s Shopian district, today. According to Kashmir Media Service,
reports said that youth took to streets and clashed with the troops who had
launched a cordon and search operation in Pinjura area of the district. The
martyred was identified as Sajjad Ahmad Parray of Badrahama, Shopian.Besides
martyrdom of Parray, a youth identified as Muhammad Shafi Malik also received a
bullet injury while a girl was hit by pellets on her face.
5.
BJP
election Victory: May, 31, 2019: After the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) won a thumping victory in the general elections last week, one
question loomed large on everyone's minds: what does this mean for Kashmir and
its people? Many in Kashmir are of the opinion that it makes no difference
whether India is ruled by a secular Congress or a communal BJP. For them, the
two are no different. The gradual erosion of Kashmir’s special status began
during the Congress rule: at one point in time, Kashmir had its own prime
minister but the Congress changed that into chief minister, bringing the state
at par with others. Democratically-elected governments in Kashmir were
dismissed by the Congress: the Farooq Abdullah-led government was removed in
1984. Draconian laws like the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts were extended
to Kashmir by the Congress. The past five years saw a second full-time National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in India, and during this period, Modi
only tried to perfect these practices in Kashmir for which Congress laid the
base. In the NDA’s first tenure from 1998 to 2004 under the Atal Bihari
Vajpayee leadership, various measures were undertaken to address the conflict
in and over Kashmir. General Musharraf and the Indian prime minister formulated
a framework for a composite dialogue that led to a number of confidence-building
measures. Under Modi, the BJP tows the historical Sangh Parivar line that calls
for a complete integration of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian
Union. It means no separate Kashmiri constitution and flag. In
these general elections, abrogation of Article 370 — which gives Jammu and
Kashmir a special status in the Indian Constitution and was one of the BJP's main promises in its manifesto. In
its new term, the BJP might push to dissolute and weaken the NC and the PDP
further by facilitating groups like the People's Conference and try to cause
defection in their ranks by offering their leaders more power. After all,
nothing corrupts like power. The BJP leadership is confident that the new chief
minister in Kashmir is going to be from their party. They hope to win more than
50 of the 87 assembly seats in the Jammu and Kashmir elections that are a few
months away. That number is not possible without the support of Kashmir-based
parties. The NC and the PDP are unlikely to offer their backing to Modi, but
the People's Conference is likely to be roped in by the BJP to take their share
of seats a little higher than last time. This is equally challenging for the
Indian state, too. The more it tries to choke resistance politics in Kashmir
into submission through violence, the greater the possibility for the emergence
of more radical forms of response.
6.
Youth martyred: May, 31, 2019: In occupied
Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred three
more Kashmiri youth in Shopian district, today. The troops martyred the youth
during a cordon and search operation in Dragad Sugan area of the district. The
operation was going on when last reports came in. Forceful anti-India
demonstrations erupted in the area as people took to the streets against the
killing of the youth. Indian police and troops fired pellets and teargas shells
to disperse the protesters, triggering clashes between the demonstrators and
the forces’ personnel. »
7. Turkey: May, 31, 2019:
Turkey
is "deeply" concerned with the security and humanitarian situation in
the disputed Jammu and Kashmir,
Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said on May 29. "Turkey
sincerely desires that Kashmir
issue is resolved through peaceful means between India
and Pakistan based on relevant UN resolutions in
line with aspirations of the people of Kashmir,"
Çavuşoğlu tweeted. His remarks came
after a Jeddah meeting of Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir
in Saudi Arabia, where he will hand over Turkey's
presidency of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to Saudi Arabia
8.
Five
martyred: June,2 ,2019: Police said a
cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) was launched jointly by police and army’s 44
Rashtriya Rifles in Draggad-Sugan village of Shopian during the search
operation five lost their lives . The police identified the martyred freedom
fighters as Abid Manzoor Magray alias
Saju Tiger, Bilal Ahmed Bhat and Jasim Rashid Shah, all locals
9.
May killings: June, 2, 2019: In occupied
Kashmir, Indian troops in their unabated acts of state terrorism martyred 34
Kashmiris including 3 in custody during the last month of May. the killings rendered 4 women widowed and 10
children orphaned. During the month, 601 people were critically injured due to
the firing of pellets, bullets and teargas shells by Indian army, paramilitary
and police personnel on peaceful protesters in the occupied territory while 156
civilians including a woman were arrested. Most of the arrested persons were
Hurriyat leaders, activists and youth. Seven of the arrestees were booked under
black law Public Safety Act. The troops also molested 5 women and damaged and
ransacked 39 houses during the period.
Kashmir Update 22:
Week May,20,2019, May ,26,2019
1.
Youth
martyred: May, 20, 2019: Four freedom fighters, were killed in twin operations in
Kashmir on Saturday. The police said Showkat Dar from Pulwama’s Panzgam, Irfan
War from Baramulla’s Sopore and Muzaffar Sheikh from Pulwama’s Tahab, were
encircled in a midnight operation at Pulwama’s Panzgam. They were killed in the
gunfight that lasted for several hours. A house was damaged in the operation
2.
India arming Hindu extremists: May, 20, 2019:
In order to harass and keep the local Muslims under constant threat,
Indian Army has started providing armed training and weapons to the notorious
anti-Muslim elements, mostly associated with Hindu extremist outfits, organized
in the name of Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in Jammu region. Lieutenant
Colonel Abhinav Navneet, defence spokesman for Indian army’s Udhampur based
Northern Command while confirming the training and weapon supply to the VDC
members said, “Army regularly meets VDC members in most remote areas of Jammu
3.
HRC Report on IHK: May. 21, 2019: A prominent rights group in occupied Kashmir is advocating for the United
Nations to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate what it calls the
endemic use of torture by Indian forces that have faced a decades-long
anti-India uprising in the disputed region. The Jammu-Kashmir Coalition
of Civil Society (JKCCS) on Monday released a detailed
report saying that
the Indian government is using torture as a "matter of policy" and
"instrument of control" in Kashmir, where locals have struggled
against Indian rule since 1989."Torture is the most under-reported human
rights violation perpetrated by the state," the report noted. "Due to
legal, political and moral impunity extended to the armed forces, not a single
prosecution has taken place in any case of human rights violations" in the
region, the report said. The 560-page report, researched for a decade, recommends
an investigation be led by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights. It also urges India to ratify the UN Convention against torture and
also allow global rights groups "unhindered access" to occupied
Kashmir.Last year, the UN in its first report on Kashmir called
for an independent international investigation into reports of rights
violations like rape, torture and extrajudicial killings in the region.The
report, which JKCCS helped with field research, particularly criticised Indian
troops for firing shotgun pellets against protesters, blinding and maiming
hundreds of people, including children. India rejected the UN report as
"fallacious". The new report includes 432 case studies involving
torture and maps trends and patterns, targets, perpetrators, locations and
other details. The cases include 293 civilians and 119 militants, among others,
and 27 were minors when they were tortured.
Monday's report said the institutions of the state like legislature,
executive, judiciary and armed forces use torture "in a systematic and
institutional manner".Indian-occupied Kashmir is patrolled by military,
paramilitary and armed police and remains one of the most militarised regions
in the world. Reacting angrily to a submission from the Geneva-based Human
Rights Council (HRC) on the alleged violations in Jammu and
Kashmir, India has informed the United Nations body
that it will no longer entertain any communication with the HRC’s Special
Rapporteurs on its report. The report
from the UN body came at the same time a report from two NGOs in the State on
the alleged cases of torture was released in Srinagar, which was endorsed by a
former UN Special Rapporteur. The
current Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial Executions, Torture, and Right to
Health — Agnes Callamard, Dainius Puras and Nils Melzer — had referred to a
June 2018 report of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR)
and written to the government in March 2019, asking about steps taken by New
Delhi to address the alleged human rights violations listed in the report. In
addition, the Special Rapporteurs had listed “13 cases of concern” from 2018
alone, in which “four children were among eight civilians killed by members of
the security forces.” Read full report at http://jkccs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/TORTURE-Indian-State%E2%80%99s-Instrument-of-Control-in-Indian-administered-Jammu-and-Kashmir.pdf
Made to stare at high voltage lamp
|
3
|
|
|
Threatened
|
10
|
|
Made to face harsh
weather conditions directly
|
11
|
|
Solitary confinement
|
11
|
|
Slits/incisions/cuts made
with sharp objects
|
12
|
|
Animals (dogs, rats, piglets,snakes) rubbed with body
|
15
|
|
Chilli/salt/petrol rubbed
on wounds/eyes/genitals/
|
15
|
|
Kept in dark/underground/poorly ventilated rooms
|
17
|
|
Sleep deprivation
|
21
|
|
House ransacked/looted/blown up/burnt
|
23
|
|
Foreign objects inserted into
rectum
|
23
|
|
Water-boarding
|
24
|
|
Forced Starvation/adulterated food/scarce food
|
29
|
|
Verbally abused
|
31
|
|
Forced to drink or eat (unacceptable) things
|
33
|
|
Flesh cut/skinned/Nails plucked out/beard (hair)
|
35
|
|
Trampled over
|
37
|
|
Forced to overdrink (chilli) water
|
37
|
|
Forced labour in detention
|
43
|
|
Blindfolded
|
48
|
|
Legs stretched
|
56
|
|
Body (parts) burnt
|
70
|
|
Dragged/slapped/kicked/punched/glass bottles broken
|
|
93
|
Head dunked in (chilli) water
|
|
101
|
|
|
|
Stress position/hands tied/feet tied/restrained to
|
|
105
|
|
|
|
Hanged upside down/aeroplane
|
|
121
|
|
|
|
Electrocuted in genitals
|
|
127
|
|
|
|
Roller
|
|
|
169
|
|
|
Stripped naked
|
|
|
190
|
|
|
Electrocuted
|
|
|
|
231
|
|
Beaten
|
|
|
|
|
326
|
4.
UN Hailed: May, 22, 2019: In occupied
Kashmir, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir Chairman, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai
has appreciated the UN’s effort to seek from India details of cases, related to
torture and killings of civilians in Kashmir. Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai strongly condemned India’s refusal to provide
any clarifications on such cases. He also hailed Association of Parents of
Disappeared Persons (APDP) and J&K Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) for
doing an amazing job to highlight human rights abuses and releasing a
comprehensive report on torture and brazen human rights violations in Kashmir. The
Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, Shabbir Ahmed Dar, in a
statement also welcomed the clarifications sought by the United Nations Human
Rights Council of 76 cases of killings and torture of civilians by Indian
forces. The Special Rapporteurs Agnes Callamard, Danius Puras and Nils Melzer
wrote a letter to India asking it for clarifications in the scheduled time of
sixty days, but India failed to comply with.
5.
Musa Martyred: May, 25, 2019: In occupied
Kashmir, prominent mujahid commander, Zakir Musa, who was martyred by Indian
forces in a gunfight that lasted for most of the night intervening Thursday and
Friday in Dadsara area of Tral in Pulwama district, gave a tough fight to the
forces. While Zakir Musa is believed to have been killed after engaging the
forces for several hours, his body was recovered in the morning from the debris
of the house, which was blown up by the forces to eliminate him. Zakir Musa, an engineering student, was on
Thursday evening trapped and later gunned down in the same house in which his
makeshift studio was busted by the Indian forces in December 2016. On the other hand, braving curfew and heavy
rains, tens of thousands of people thronged Musa’s native Noorpora village on
Friday amid pro-freedom and pro-Islam slogans to participate in the funeral and
to have his last glimpse. Funeral prayers were offered to the deceased 12
times. “I came from Palhalan Pattan to have last glimpse of Zakir Musa,” said
Muhammad Wajid. Several mujahideen showed up at the funeral and one of them
offered gun salute to Musa. People kissed his face, and those who couldn’t kiss
him touched his body before bidding him final adieu.
6.
7.
Kashmir Update 21:
Week May,13,2019, May ,19,2019
1.
Youth
martyred; May, 16, 2019:
Indian troops in
their fresh acts of state terrorism martyred five Kashmiri youth in Pulwama and
Baramulla districts. The troops martyred three youth, Naseer Pandit, Umar Mir
and Khalid Ahmed, and destroyed a residential house during a cordon and search
operation (CASO) in Dalipora area of Pulwama district in wee hours, today.
Another youth identified as Rayees Ahmed Dar was martyred and his brother,
Younis Ahmed Dar, was injured in the firing of the troops in the area. They are
believed to be the sons of the house owner. Earlier, one Indian soldier was
killed and two others were critically injured in the same area. The operation
was going on till last report came in. Following the killing of the youth,
massive clashes between protesters and Indian forces’ personnel were reported
from the area.
2.
Shutdown: May, 17, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, complete shutdown is
being observed, today, to protest against the ongoing killing spree by Indian
troops in the territory. Call for the shutdown has been given by the Joint
Resistance Leadership. All shops and
business establishments are closed in Srinagar and all other major cities and
towns of the occupied territory while traffic is off the road.
3.
Continued terror
activities of IAF: May, 18, 2019: Five freedom fighters, two army soldiers and two civilians
were killed Thursday during two gun battles in disputed Kashmir that triggered
anti-India protests and clashes, officials and residents said. The first gun
battle broke out in a neighborhood in southern Pulwama town as police and
soldiers scoured the area looking for militants, said Col. Rajesh Kalia, an
Indian army spokesman. He said as troops began conducting searches, they came
under heavy gunfire, leading to a clash that killed three militants and a
soldier. A civilian was also killed and his brother was wounded during the
fighting, police said. Two soldiers were also injured. Local residents said
troops damaged one civilian home with explosives.
4.
Indian army martyred two youth: May, 19, 2019: In the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), security forces
martyred at least two Kashmiri youth on Saturday during their newest act of
state ter. Indian troops martyred the young Kashmiris during an early morning
cordon and search operation in Bunpora Panzgam area of Pulwama district.
Meanwhile, Indian troops also destroyed a house in the area using explosive
material and conducted a cordon and search operation in Dehruna area of
Islamabad district.
5.
Muslim man killed: May, 19, 2019: A Muslim man was fatally shot and another was injured by Hindu
vigilantes in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday over allegations of cow
smuggling. A group of Hindu men intercepted the two Muslims in the outskirts of
southeastern Bhaderwah town before dawn and shot at them after an altercation,
police said. A 50-year-old man died and another man was injured. Residents say
the attack was carried out by so-called cow vigilantes. The injured man, Yasin
Hussain, told reporters the two were taking three horses, not cows, with them.
He said at least eight men intercepted them, hurled abuses and without checking
the animals fired shots at them. Nayeem Ahmed Shah was hit in the head and died
on the spot, Hussain said, adding that the attackers fled. After the incident,
the victims’ families and their neighbors took to the streets demanding the
arrest of the attackers. As more people assembled, the protesters attacked a
police station with stones and damaged vehicles. Police fired tear gas and
bullets in the air to quell the protests. Police officer Shabir Ahmed Malik
said police registered a murder case and detained at least seven people for
questioning. In Kashmir, where anti-India sentiment runs deep among the mostly
Muslim residents, dozens of shops selling beef openly operate in the main city
of Srinagar and other Muslim-majority areas despite a ban on cow slaughter.
6.
Kashmir Update 20:
Week May,6,2019, May ,12,2019
1.
Indian
Elections: May, 5, 2019: Suspected
separatist shot dead a local leader
from Narendra Modi's ruling party in
Indian Occupied Kashmir
ahead of the latest round of India’s marathon elections, The killing in
Anantnag district of India's only Muslim-majority state is the latest in a
string of attacks that have marred India's staggered elections which began last month. The gunmen
opened fire on Gul Mohammad Mir, 65, who headed a local unit of the Hindu
nationalist BJP,
at his house in south Kashmir on Saturday night.
2. LoC Firing: May, 6,2019: A
young boy and a woman were 1(illed and another woman was injured in Azad Jammu
and Kashmir (AJK) on Sunday amid `unprovoked` shelling by Indian troops from
across the restive Line of Control (LoC), the casualties occurred in Maal
Gujran and Sehra villages in Khuiratta and Hajira subdivisions of Kotli and
Poonch districts, respectively, where Indian troops resorted to shelling from
10am onwards Pooch District Disaster Management Officer (DDMO) Rubia Kanwal
identified the victims as 45-year-old Nasreen Begum, wife of Chaudhry Wazir
Hussain, and 24-year-old Sonia Nadeem. Shariq Talat, the DDMO of the
neighbouring Kotli district, told Dawn that a 12-year old boy, Mohammad Shahid,
son of Mohammad Shabbir, lost his life in Maal Gujran village, two kilometres
off the LoC in Anderla Kotehra sector. According
to AJK officials, the
latest casualties have pushed the death toll in ceasefire violations by Indian
Army this year to 16, including six women, while the number of injured
civilians has gone up to 82, including 33 women.
3.
Elections: May, 7, 2019: the
political spectrum in Kashmir is likely to change in the coming months. IAS-turned-politician Shah Faesal’s Peoples’’
Movement would be keenly watched. Faesal is attracting a massive crowd in his
native district of Kupwara after he started door-to-door campaigning last
month. At the same time, Sajad Gani Lone’s People’s Conference (PC) would
complete a decade in the mainstream politics this year. In 2009, Lone shifted
to the mainstream politics and unsuccessfully contested from north Kashmir’s
Baramulla parliamentary constituency. Since then, Lone has made his party a
competitor to regional parties. The NC and the PDP claim that the new parties
are created to fragment the political spectrum of Kashmir. Faesal, who recently floated the J&K
Peoples’’ Movement, says he along with Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief Engineer
Rasheed is bringing respect to the mainstream electoral politics which has been
snatched because of the misdeeds of the existing political parties. “The
democratic institutions can be utilised to enforce and protect the rights of
people. Electoral politics is not all about taking dictations from Delhi. It is
about representing Kashmir in Delhi, not Delhi in Kashmir,” he says. Both Lone and Faesal are trying to lure the youth towards
the electoral politics and have thrown new and young faces into Kashmir
politics. Lone says the political landscape has remained unchanged for a very
long time and has remained dominated by two dynasties — the Abdullahs of the NC
and the Muftis of the PDP. “There are clear signs that people are fed up with
and tired of the dynasties. I believe people see in us a vehicle that will
transcend the state of changelessness into a state of change,” The PC
fielded candidates for all three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir. It is likely to
put a good show in the Baramulla and Srinagar parliamentary constituencies. He
has also decided to contest from all 87 seats of the Jammu and Kashmir State
Legislature. How far Lone’s development slogan will gain resonance in Kashmir
will depend much upon the Lok Sabha results. Rasheed says people have accepted
his brand of pro-Kashmir mainstream politics and it is on display in the Lok
Sabha election campaigning in north Kashmir, where people came out to listen to
him during night hours also. .All new entrants are gaining space because the PDP, which
emerged as the largest political party in J&K in the 2014 Assembly
elections, is going through a crisis, resulting into a political vacuum in
Kashmir. Who will gain that lost
political space among the new entrants will be seen in the next few months.
4.
Youth martyred: May, 11, 2019: On Friday (May 10, 2019), in occupied
Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred one
Kashmiri youth in Shopian district, today. The troops martyred the youth,
Ishfaq Ahmed Sofi, during a cordon and search operation in Amishpora area of
the district. Youth took to the streets soon
after the culmination of Juma prayers, today, at historic Jamia Masjid in
Nowhatta area of Srinagar and staged anti-India demonstrations. Indian police
and troops fired pellets and teargas shells to disperse the protesters,
injuring several of them. Six youth were hit by pellets.
5.
Cross border shelling: May, 12, 2019: Islamabad has approached New Delhi suggesting
that both stop using artillery in the contested Kashmir region. Pakistan has
also vowed to remove Special Forces from the area. The Pakistani army had made
the peace offer using existing military-to-military channels An Indian defense
official said there were over 100 instances when shelling was recorded in the
troubled state of Kashmir, but now the use of artillery “has considerably
reduced.” Moratorium aside, Pakistan’s military ordered its Special Service
Group (SSG) – an analogue of the American Green Berets – to withdraw from the
Indian border. Islamabad seems to be willing to defuse tensions around Kashmir,
Indian officials believe. “These are clear on-ground signals from Pakistan
for de-escalation,”
6.
ISIS in Indian occupied Kashmir: May, 12, 2019: ISIS claimed for the first time that it has established a
“province” in India, after a clash between militants and security forces in the
contested Kashmir region killed a militant with alleged ties to the group.
ISIS’s Amaq News Agency late on Friday announced the new province, that it
called “Wilayah of Hind”, in a statement that also claimed ISIS inflicted
casualties on Indian army soldiers in the town of Amshipora in the Shopian
district of Kashmir. The ISIS statement corresponds with an Indian police
statement on Friday that a militant called Ishfaq Ahmad Sofi was killed in an
encounter in Shopian. ISIS’s statement establishing the new province appears to
be designed to bolster its standing after the group was driven from its
self-styled “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in April, where at one point it
controlled thousands of miles of territory. ISIS has stepped up hit-and-run
raids and suicide attacks, including taking responsibility for the Easter Sunday bombing in Sri
Lanka that killed at least 253 people
Kashmir Update 19:
Week April,29,2019, May ,5,2019
1.
Rizwan Assad Pandit: May. , 2, 2019: 28-year-old
Rizwan Assad Pandit died while in police custody, sometime between 17 and 18
March. ‘The police barged into our home just before the midnight of [the] 17th
and detained Rizwan, while the rest of us remained huddled inside one of the
rooms,’ Zulqarnain Assad, Rizwan’s younger brother says, as he serves me tea
and biscuits in the family’s modestly-built home. In late 1980, after a
heavily-rigged regional
election thousands of Kashmiris, embraced armed struggle to bring about an end
to the Indian rule. New Delhi responded with heavy counterinsurgency tactics,
sending hundreds of thousands of military and police personnel into the region,
in addition to creating and sponsoring informal paramilitary groups. Known as
the world’s most densely militarized zone, more than 70,000 people have been killed in
Kashmir during the past three decades, thousands tortured and around 10,000 disappeared.
Rizwan, a teacher at a local private school, who
also used to deliver guest lectures at the nearby Islamic University of Science
and Technology, is one of the latest victims of state violence. According to his brothers,
he was also a committed social activist and ran a campaign for eradication of
drug abuse in the neighbourhood. ‘He also helped many poor students, from
different villages, by providing them with the school fees and buying them
textbooks,’ Zulqarnain says.
The family, however, vehemently
rejects that Rizwan was involved. Even the National Investigation Agency (NIA),
India’s prime counter-terrorist agency, that is probing the suicide attack, in
a statement, also
firmly denied that Rizwan was a suspect in its investigation. ‘When the NIA has
cleared him of any involvement, how could my son be a prime suspect in the
attack?’ Assadullah, Rizwan’s father, tells me. ‘Even if he were a dreaded
terrorist, custodial torture and killing is still not justified. The
suicide-attack label is now being used as a strategic ploy, to undermine any
calls for justice’ Assadullah adds. The preliminary medical reports suggest that
‘profuse bleeding from vessels caused due to multiple injuries’ and
‘extravasation of blood’ that may ‘result in Kidney [sic] failure’ could have
been the cause of Rizwan’s death.
Other reports also revealed that ‘a
“roller” may have been applied over his legs, causing the veins and arteries to
rupture,’ pointing to a widespread torture technique among Indian forces
deployed in Kashmir, involving the use of a round, metal object which is placed
over the body parts of a detainee, and on which the perpetrator then sits. ‘His
legs were swollen, and his body was full of cuts and bruises,’ Zulqarnain
revealed. ‘They returned his body without any clothes, wrapped in only a
police-issue blanket. Absurdly, the police, however, maintain that Rizwan died
after escaping from their custody and have, posthumously, filed criminal
charges against him.
2. Human Rights in
Indian Occupied Kashmir: May,
2, 2019: The Indian army, paramilitary forces and police have long been accused
of carrying out systematic torture in the region. A WikiLeaks cable in 2010 revealed that the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had repeatedly briefed US
diplomats in India about the use of electrocution, beatings and sexual
humiliation against hundreds of detainees in Kashmir. The cable also discloses
that the ICRC had even told the diplomats that Indian authorities ‘condone
torture’ in the region and that the ‘torture victims, civilians as well as
militants, were routinely killed’. While some estimates suggest that one out of every six
Kashmiris have been tortured, a 2014 report put the
number of torture centres that still remain functional across Kashmir at 471.A
detainee, one of the lucky few who emerged alive from a torture centre at the
peak of armed insurgency in the 1990s, described his two-month ordeal as ‘a
lived experience of hell’.‘They try to break you, physically as well as
mentally. And, believe me, they actually succeed,’ he says. ‘Our days were
marked by bone-breaking beatings. They also regularly stripped me and tied a
wire around my penis to give electric shocks. At the first shock, you lose all
sense of place and time.
3.
Pulwama Attack : May ,
2019 : Around 15:15 local time (09:45 GMT) on 14
February, Adil Ahmad Dar drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a convoy
of 78 buses carrying Indian paramilitary police in Pulwama, on the heavily
guarded Srinagar-Jammu highway. It was a devastating attack - the worst carried
out against Indian forces in decades. It shocked the country, as newspapers and
TV screens were filled with stories of soldiers and their shattered families. Some
had just returned from a visit home; others had called a family member hours
before the attack; a few were speaking to them on the phone when the explosives
went off. Adil Ahmad Dar was identified hours later, when the Pakistan-based
militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, released a video online saying it had carried
out the attack. In the video, Dar appears to show no remorse for what he is
going to do. He said he joined the group in 2018 and was eventually
"assigned" the task of carrying out the attack in Pulwama. Dar was a high school dropout and had been
doing odd jobs as a mason when his parents reported him missing in March last
year. He was 22, and, by all accounts, shy and quiet. His family say his anger
against the Indian state grew after he was injured while participating in a
protest against the killing of a popular militant in 2016 There has been an
armed rebellion against Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir since 1989.
Since 1989, Kashmir has been convulsed by regular episodes of violence that
have killed more than 70,000 people, including many Kashmiri Hindus targeted by
militants in the early 1990s. Critics say India's heavy-handed tactics have
alienated local youths. A UN report on violence in the region between June 2016
and April 2018
pointed to excessive force used
by Indian security personnel, including the firing of pellet guns that
have blinded hundreds "Kashmiris
who were born after the 1990s have never seen peace," says Abdul Ahad
Bhat, 68, a resident of Pulwama. "They were born amid curfews and died
before they ended." Militancy in the valley had declined by the 2000s but
grew again after the killing of young militant leader, Burhan Wani, in 2016.
And it
has been on the rise since - 2016 saw the deaths of 150 suspected
militants and more than 230 died in 2018, according to official figures. Wani was
extremely active on social media. India considered him a terrorist but for many
locals he represented a new Kashmiri generation. When he was killed in a gun
battle with Indian security forces, protests engulfed the valley. Dozens were
killed and hundreds injured as security forces fired live rounds and tear gas
at protesters. Many were also blinded by pellets. Adil Ahmad Dar, who took part
in the protests, was shot in the leg and bedridden for 11 months. "That
day changed him," says his father, Ghulam Hassan Dar, 62. "A shy boy
transformed into a volcano of anger but he rarely expressed it." He, like
other locals, believes many of the boys and men who protested at Wani's killing
joined the insurgency. Adil Ahmad Dar spent more time praying and reading on the
internet while recovering than mingling with his friends. He ran away from home
to join the militants in March 2018 Others speak of his frustration with the
political situation in Kashmir. "He was saddened by militants 'dying like
chickens', without putting up a fight or inflicting casualties on the other
side," said Altaf, another relative, who arrived with hundreds of
villagers to attend Dar's funeral the day after the attack. Jibran Ahmad, a
Pulwama resident, says: "You become a militant in a police station or an
army camp, not inside the four corners of your house."Many
of those arrested by police in 2016 joined the militancy. Perhaps they thought
it was better than being humiliated every day."Some of the men joining the
militants recently have been highly educated and come from financially stable
families. A federal minister told India's parliament in December that at least
26 of these new militants in 2018 were graduates and he referred to them as
"misguided youth".
One policeman based in
Kashmir who wished to remain anonymous says India's approach has not worked. He
said he did not want to be identified because he feared being rebuked by his
superiors for speaking publicly about such a sensitive issue."When you
kill one militant, two more are ready to join. Political outreach is important
but in recent years we have focused on killing militants," he says. Author
and counter-terrorism expert Ajai Sahni says India's ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party has demonised the valley and "created an enemy for the entire
country" which may be a "successful election strategy but is
disastrous for national security".
4.
Pesh Imam tortured: May, 4, 2019: Jammu, May 04 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, Indian army personnel
tortured a pesh imam (prayer leader) of a Jamia Masjid in Loran area of Poonch
district in Jammu region without any reason. The Indian troops targeted the
pesh imam, Maulana Abdul Hameed Naeemi, when he was returning from Srinagar to
Poonch. The troops asked him to get down from vehicle in Kulgam and subjected
him to torture for more than an hour. The people of the area took to streets
against the brutal action of the Indian troops and held protest demonstrations
at several places. The speakers addressing on the occasion demanded of the
occupation authorities to take strict action against the men in uniform
involved in the heinous crime.
5. Masud Azher : May.,2, 2019: Designation of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief
Masood Azhar as 'global terrorist ..Is Pakistan helping BJP to come to power?
The timing of this decision is intriguing, in the mid of Indian elections, this
coupled by Pakistani PMs remarks that Modi’s victory could assist in progress
in India Pakistan affairs and in resolution of the Kashmir dispute .
6.
Freedom fighters martyred: May., 3,
2019: Three freedom
fighters including a top Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Lateef Ahmad Dar, who was
the last member of Burhan Wani’s group, were killed and an army man was injured
in an encounter in Shopian The encounter
took place on Monday morning in Adkhara village of Imam Sahib locality of
Shopian, when a team of 34 RR of Army, CRPF and Special Operations Group of
J&K police launched a joint crackdown following a tip off regarding
presence of militants
Kashmir Update 18:
Week April,22,2019 April ,28,2019
1.
Dr. Fai: Apr.,23,2109: Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness
Forum, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai has said that Kashmir has been internationally
recognized as a disputed territory since the adoption of the United Nations
resolutions in 1948 & 1949.Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai during the 44th Annual
Convention of Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) said the most tragic
aspect of the present situation is the inflexible position taken by the
Government of India – its refusal to recognize the internationally mandated
status of Kashmir and its stubbornness of parroting that Kashmir is its
integral part. India’s obduracy has become an impediment to the creation of an
atmosphere of peace and stability in the region of South Asia, he said
2.
Yasin Malik: Apr.,23,2109: In occupied
Kashmir, complete shutdown is being observed across the valley, today, against
the ill-treatment meted out to the ailing and incarcerated Chairman of Jammu
and Kashmir Liberation Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik by India’s infamous National
Investigation Agency in New Delhi. Call for the protest strike was given by the
Joint Resistance Leadership. The strike is also being observed against India’s
ongoing aggression against Kashmiri resistance leaders, activists, senior
businessmen, trade union leaders and relatives of resistance leaders by NIA and
Enforcement Directorate. All shops are closed while traffic is off the roads in
all major cities and towns of the valley.
3. Youth martyred: Apr., 26, 2019: In occupied Kashmir,
Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred two Kashmiri youth
including a scholar of Physiotherapy, Burhan-ud-Din Ganai, in Bijbehara area of
Islamabad district, today. Burhan-ud-Din Ganai and another youth, Safdar Amin,
were martyred by the troops during a cordon and search operation at Bagender
Mohalla in Bijbehara. Meanwhile, flouting restrictions thousands of people
including women and children participated in the funerals of the martyrs,
Burhan and Safdar Amin in S K Colony and Bijbehara areas of Islamabad district,
today. Following multiple funerals, the martyrs were laid to rest amid
high-pitched pro-freedom, pro-Pakistan and anti-India slogans
4.
Kashmir Update 15:
Week April,15,2019 April ,21,2019
1.
Young man martyred: Apr., 15, 2019: Owais Ahmad Mir, a seventh-grade student was shot by
security forces in Kupwara district. Last week. Security forces killed Owais Ahmad Mir, a 13-year-old
boy, during protests. Hailing from Mandigam village of Kupwara district, Owais
was a seventh-grade student. He was hit by multiple pellets on his head, neck
and chest. According to doctors
who operated on him in the district hospital, the boy had was “brought dead,”
with serious injuries to the chest.
2.
Young boy killed by
Army vehicle: Apr., 17, 2019: A 13 year old boy was crushed to death by an army vehicle at
Gulpore area of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday afternoon, the
minor boy namely Sajad Ahmad son of Mohd Taj of Gulpore was injured critically
after being hit by an army vehicle in the area, he was pounced dead by the
hospital
3. UN Rapporteur for human rights: Apr., 17, 2019: Amid India’s ongoing
elections and the recent controversial decision to partially ban civilian
movement on the highway in Jammu and Kashmir, Michael Forst, UN Rapporteur for
human rights has called the region an ‘information black hole’ for the global agency.
Citing various examples, Forst said numerous communications conveyed to both
India and Pakistan regarding human rights violations in Kashmir went
unanswered. “We send communications to India and Pakistan and don’t receive
replies. So, it’s complicated because it’s sort of a black hole in which there
is no real possibility to operate as we do in other countries,” Forst told Free
Press Kashmir on the sidelines of International Civil Society Week (ICSW) in
Serbia. On being asked about erstwhile UN military observers’ office in
Srinagar, in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Forst expressed a desire
to engage with the government of India to resolve human rights abuses in the
region. “I am trying for an academic visit to India but it is difficult as I have
been prevented from traveling to the region,” Forst added. Forst also spoke
about how Kashmiri groups, individuals who provide inputs on the ground
situation and seeking protection feel abandoned by the international community
at large owing to numerous restrictions from the Indian government.
Indian-administered Kashmir is the ‘most heavily militarised zone in the world’
with the presence of one soldier for every ten native Kashmiris. With instances
of enforced disappearances, pellet gun violence, and sexual abuse, the region
is mired with reports of human rights abuses. On the arrest of Kashmiri
activists, Forst condemned the government for harassing activists and
confiscating their passports after they return from UN meetings. “Activists are
now prevented to travel or have their passport confiscated or blocked from
leaving the country. That’s a signal on what’s wrong in this part of the
world,” Forst said. As India’s elections are underway in phases and the ruling
right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party has used Kashmir as a flashpoint in the
backdrop of the Pulwama attack to garner votes, Forst said the trend is
simil”ar globally. When elections are approaching in any part of the world, we
see a lot of pressure put on those who promote free and fair elections, against
oppression, or advocating free assembly from public officials.” Forst also
added that despite UN’s negligible presence in Kashmir owing to restrictions,
its desk offices in Geneva follow the situation and try engaging with both the
countries seeking for a solution. Highlighting attacks on journalists in the
region including photojournalist Kamran Yousuf’s arrest, Forst said the
Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved if the civil society in the
region is repressed. “Solidarity is the best protection for human rights
defenders” he concludes.
4. Elections in IOK: Apr., 19, 2019: In
Srinagar PC elections, Zadibal, a predominantly Shia area witnessed 8.3% voter
turnout. Budgam, another Shia dominated area had 18.8% votes. Char-e-Shareef
has highest voter turnout at 32.1%, followed by 24.3% Khansahib, Beerwah 23.6%
and Kangan 23.5%. There are some people making speculative arguments that Shias, Gujjars
& Paharis have voted en masse, which is an old propaganda aimed at
fragmenting Kashmiris
5.
LoC Trade: Apr., 19, 2019: The Indian government on Thursday suspended the
cross-LoC (Line of Control) trade between the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and
the part of Kashmir it occupies, in a move that evoked strong reactions from
traders who feared the decision could force them into destitution. According to a notification issued
by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the trade was suspended from both
Chakothi-Uri and Tetrinote-Chakan da Bagh crossing points of the LoC because of
the alleged "misuse of these routes by unnamed elements in Pakistan". The unilateral decision spread fear among
traders who have invested billions of rupees in the barter trade launched
pompously in October 2008 as the second Kashmir-specific confidence building
measure (CBM) between India and Pakistan after cross-LoC travel. “The LoC travel and trade were initiated by
India and Pakistan on the persuasion of the international community. Now when
India has suspended this activity on flimsy grounds, the international
community should step in once again,” At least 1,200 traders and hundreds of
other workers were associated with the activity on both sides of the LoC “who
will now be economically devastated if the decision is not reversed”.
6.
Freedom fighter
martyred : Apr.,21,2019: A freedom was killed in an encounter with security
forces in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir .The encounter took place at
Watergam town in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Some weapons and war-like
stores were recovered from the site of the operation, the freedom fighter was yet to be identified
Kashmir Update 16:
Week April,8,2019 April ,14,2019
1.
Solider killed:
Apr.,8,2019: Unidentified militants on Saturday shot and killed a soldier at
point blank rage close to his house in north Kashmir’s Warpora village. The
soldier, who was on leave, was identified as Mohammad Rafiq Yatoo. The police
said he was shot around 5:30 pm when unidentified gunmen opened fire on him
near his house. Yatoo was taken to a hospital, but he died of the injuries he
suffered in the shooting. Soon after the killing, the army and police launched
a search operation in the area. A fortnight ago two militants were killed in
the same village in an encounter with security forces that lasted two days.
2. Student
Martyred: Apr., 8, 2019: Engineering Student
Who Joined Terror Group Among 2 Killed In Jammu and Kashmir Gunfight. The gunfight took place in Parguchi village when personnel
of the army's counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles and special operations group
(SOG) of state police were carrying out a search operation in an orchard area
in Imam Sahib.
3. Article 370: Apr., 8, 2019: The
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said that the party was committed
to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A of the Indian constitution, which grant
special status to Jammu and Kashmir.The Hindu extremist BJP, which released its
election manifesto at its New Delhi headquarters, said that the party
reiterated its position since the time of Jan Sangh to abrogate both the
Articles.
4. Human rights: Apr., 9, 2019: Dr. Shireen
Mazari, during her visit to the Belgian capital, Brussels, has expressed her
serious concern over the state terrorism being perpetrated by Indian forces in
Occupied Kashmir and has highlighted the need for a peaceful resolution of the
Kashmir dispute, adding that Indian atrocities in Occupied Kashmir were
increasing with each passing day and that the international community must take
immediate notice of the human rights violations. She made the comments at a
dinner hosted by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the European Union Naghmana Hashmi on
Wednesday. Mazari also condemned the ruthless torture of women, children and
youth in the occupied territory and thanked European parliamentarians for
raising their voices in support of Kashmiris. She also stressed the need to
take effective measures to ensure Kashmiris’ right to self-determination and
called on the European parliament to take further steps to highlight the issue.
All parliamentarians present on the occasion expressed their support for the minister’s
comments.
5.
Election casualties:
Apr., 10, 2019: unknown gunmen burst into a hospital in the
northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and killed Chandrakant Sharma, a regional
leader of a Hindu group linked to the BJP, along with his bodyguard. Authorities imposed an indefinite curfew in
the town of Kishtwar, bordering the contested Muslim-majority region of Kashmir
and sent troops to the area.
6. BJP Manifesto: Apr., 13, 2019: With the aim to fully integrate
Indian-administered Kashmir into the Union of India, the manifesto promises to
revoke Article 370 and Article 35A
of the Indian Constitution, both of which define permanent residents of restive
Jammu and Kashmir and grant them special status, right to employment and
scholarship.
The BJP’s reference to Article 370 and Article 35A has caused deep
anxieties in India-controlled Kashmir. And these anxieties are not unfounded.
Permanent
residents of Muslim-majority Kashmir feel they are facing a demographic threat
and existential crisis with a right-wing Hindu government at the helm in New
Delhi since May 2014 – and there are chances of it returning to power in the
2019 elections. Article 35A allows the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define
permanent residents of the region.
7.
Youth killed: Apr., 13, 2019: Indian troops martyred two Kashmiri youth in the Shopian
district of occupied Kashmir. Saturday the individuals were killed during a
‘cordon and search’ operation in the Gahand area of the district. On April 12, a 12-year-old boy was martyred as Indian
forces continued their state-sanctioned brutality in the occupied valley.
8.
9.
10.
1. Youth
martyred: Apr., 2, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in
their fresh act of state terrorism, martyred four youth in Pulwama district,
today. The youth were killed by the troops during a cordon and search
operation in Lassipora area of the district. The martyrs were identified as
Tawseef Ahmad Ittoo, Zafar Ahmad Paul, Aqib Ahmad Kumar and Mohammad Shafi
Butt. Tawseef belonged to Pulwama while other three martyrs were residents of
Shopian district. Meanwhile, three Indian troops and a policeman were
critically injured in an attack in the same area. The authorities suspended
Internet service in Pulwama and Shopian districts. The troops also launched
violent cordon and search operations in Qazigund and Veernag areas of the
Islamabad district. The killings sparked complete shutdown in the entire South
Kashmir.The High Court Bar Association of occupied Kashmir in a statement
issued in Srinagar criticised Principal District and Sessions Judge, Srinagar,
for disallowing a seminar saying the judge had made the decision under pressure
from the Indian authorities. The seminar was meant to memorize the renowned
human rights lawyer, Advocate Jaleel Andrabi, who was killed in custody of the
Indian army in March 1996.»
2. Solders martyred: Apr.,
4, 2019: Three Pakistan Army soldiers have been martyred due
to unprovoked firing by the Indian army across the restive Line of Control
(LoC) at Rakhchikri Sector in Rawalkot .Subedar Mohammad Riaz from Jhang, Lance Havaldar Aziz Ullah from
Noshero Feroz, and Sepoy Shahid Mansib from Abbottabad embraced martyrdom while
one soldier got injured, said the military's media wing. Later in the day, the ISPR said that Indian forces also opened
fire in Khuiratta sector of Kotli district, and deliberately targeted civilian
population. It said that an 18-year-old boy got killed while three women got
injured as a result.
3.
Highways
closed: Apr., 2019: Authorities have announced that an arterial highway in
Indian-administered Kashmir will be closed to civilian movement twice a week to
facilitate the movement of army convoys in the region. The 300km-long
Baramulla-Jammu national highway connects the disputed Kashmir region
to the outside world. It also links the southern and northern parts of the
region to the capital city, Srinagar.The decision comes after a suicide bomber
rammed his car into a military convoy on the same highway - a lifeline for a
large number of civilians - in Kashmir's Pulwama town, killing at least 40 army
personnel in February. The civilian population, as well as regional mainstream
leaders, have said that India was
"importing Israeli policies to turn Kashmir into Gaza", referring to
the Israeli policy of barring Palestinians from using many roads, citing
security reasons. For Muhammad Afaq, 50, a resident of Baramulla, the closure
of the highway means his children will be unable to reach their
school."This means my children will not be able to go their school as they
travel 15km on the highway every day in their school bus. There are scores of
schools, colleges, and hospitals on the highway that does not only connect
Kashmir to India but also the other districts with the main city. It will be
catastrophic," he said. Shah Faesal, a
bureaucrat-turned-politician, told Al Jazeera that the policy "seems to be
inspired by Israel's lockdown of Gaza strip".
4.
Srinagar restrictions: Apr., 5, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, the authorities imposed curfew in Nowhatta
area of Srinagar and stringent restrictions in other parts of the city, today,
to prevent people from staging demonstrations against the injuring of detainees
at Srinagar Central Jail by Indian forces’ personnel. Protests erupted in the
Central Jail last evening after the word about shifting of some inmates to the
prisons outside the Kashmir valley spread. Indian police and troops fired
pellets and teargas shells on the protesting detainees, injuring several of
them. Three barracks and a building suffered damages amid a number of blasts
inside the jail. The occupation authorities sealed historic Jamia Masjid at
Nowhatta in Srinagar, today, and prevented people from offering Juma prayers. The
authorities placed under house arrest the Chairman of Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq, who delivers weekly Friday sermon at the historic mosque
5. Fatalities in Kashmir: Apr., 7,
2019: At least 162 people have been killed in various
incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir in the first three months of 2019, a
human rights report said, the fatalities include 83 Indian forces personnel, 58
militants, and 21 civilians. The numbers are significantly higher than those in
the first three months of 2018, during which 119 people had been killed. This
is the first time in 29 years of armed conflict in the region that more Indian
armed forces personnel have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir than militants in
a three month period, the report added. The report placed the number of paramilitary
personnel killed in the February 14 suicide bombing on a convoy in south
Kashmir at 48. Seven Indian personnel committed suicide and three were killed
in fratricidal killings. Among the civilian deaths, seven people were killed by
unidentified gunmen; six were killed in cross-border spellings and four in
grenade and IED explosions.
Kashmir Update 14:
Week March,25,2019 March ,31,2019
1.
Three youth martyred: Mar., 28:2019: In
occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred
three youth in Shopian district, today.The youth were killed by the troops
during a cordon and search operation at Yarwan area of the district. The
martyrs were identified as Sajad Khanday, Aqib Ahmad Dar and Basharat Ahmad
Mir, all residents of Pulwama. A police official talking to media men said that
the soldiers of 23 PARA cordoned off Yarwan, Keller, a forest area on the tail
end of the district and started a search operation at around 2:30am. An Indian
official claimed to have killed three militants in Shopian district on
Thursday. The operation was going on till filing of the report
2.
Shut Down: Mar., 28:2019: In occupied
Kashmir, intense clashes between local youth and Indian forces erupted at Muran
Chowk in Pulwama amid a spontaneous shutdown in Shopian and Pulwama districts
against the latest killings by Indian troops in Shopian and Kupwara districts,
today. Three of the martyred youth identified as Sajjad Khanday, Aaqib Ahmad
Dar and Basharat Ahmad Mir were residents of Pulwama district. Another youth
was martyred in Langate area of Kupwara distri
3. Indian troops martyr two more youth in IOK: Mar., 29,
2019: Indian troops in their fresh act of state
terrorism martyred two more Kashmiri youth in Badgam district, today.The troops
martyred the youth during a cordon and search operation in Sutsoo Kalan Nowgam
area of the district. Earlier, five Indian troops were injured in an attack in
the same area. The operation is ongoing at this point of time. ..A police spokesman claimed that the youth
were militants and were killed in a clash with the troops. He said the identity
of the youth is being ascertained. Three soldiers were also injured.
4. EU Demand Pellet guns not be used in IOK: Mar., 30.2019: European parliament members write
to PM Modi, seek ban on pellet guns in Kashmir."The
members said they were particularly concerned about the usage of pellet
shotguns, responsible for blinding, killing and traumatizing hundreds of people
in Kashmir" Over 50 members of the European parliament have written to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought a ban on the use of pellet guns in
Kashmir.“We, the undersigned, in our capacity as elected Members of the
European Parliament, are writing to you to express our grave concern about the
past and ongoing human rights violations against people in Kashmir, as reported
in a recent OHCHR1 report,” said the members in the letter, dated March 25,
2019.The members said they were particularly concerned about the usage of
pellet shotguns, responsible for blinding, killing and traumatizing hundreds of
people in Kashmir.“We particularly note the tragic case of 19-month old child
who was gravely injured by a pellet gun (BBC report). We are concerned that The
Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA) and the Jammu
and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978 (PSA) give security forces virtual immunity
against prosecution for any human rights violation,” read the letter
further.“Therefore, we, the undersigned MEPs, urge the Indian government to
immediately end the use of pellet-firing shotguns in Jammu and Kashmir and bring
all relevant Indian laws into compliance with international human rights
standards,” added the letter.The MPs also sought repealing of the Armed Forces
(Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 and amending of the Jammu and
Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978. “…provide full and effective reparation and
rehabilitation to those who have been injured by pellet-firing shotguns, and to
the families of those killed.”The members asked the Indian government to
establish independent and impartial investigations into all “accidents where
the use of pellet-firing shotguns led to deaths or serious injuries.”The
signatories include Wajid Khan MEP, Julie Girling MEP, Alex Mayer MEP, Tunne
Kelam MEP, Amjad Bashir MEP, Jose Inacio Faria MEP, Sajjad Karim MEP, Lucy
Anderson MEP, Julie Ward MEP, Richard Corbett MEP, Jonathan Arnott MEP, Jude
Kirton-Darling MEP, Theresa Griffin MEP, Maria Gabriela Zoană MEP, Helga
Stevens MEP, Barbara Lochbihler MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Mary Honeyball MEP, John
Howarth MEP, Csaba Sógor MEP, Derek Vaughan MEP, Momchil Nekov MEP, David
Martin MEP, Linda McAvan MEP, Margrete Auken MEP, Jakop Dalunde MEP, Baroness
Nosheena Mobarik MEP, Klaus Buchner MEP, Liliana Rodrigues MEP, Edouard Martin
MEP, Rory Palmer MEP, Josef Weidenholzer MEP, Anthea McIntyre MEP, Eva Kaili
MEP, Maria Arena MEP, Eugen Freund MEP, Arndt Kohn MEP, Brando Benifei MEP, Ana
Gomes MEP, Paul Brannen MEP, Siôn Simon MEP, Fabio Massimo Castaldo MEP, Bart
Staes MEP, Jordi Solé MEP, Soraya Post MEP, Andrejs Mamikins MEP, Ilhan Kyuchyuk
MEP, Claude Moraes MEP, Elena Valenciano MEP, Caroline Nagtegaal ME.
5. Indian solider commits suicide: Mar.,
31, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, another Indian soldier committed
suicide by shooting himself dead in Srinagar on Sunday morning. He is the
second Indian soldier who committed suicide in less than twenty-four hours. The
deceased soldier was identified as Ramphul Meena and he was associated with
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). A police officer said that the soldier Meena
shot himself with his service rifle inside his camp at Sericulture Office in
Solina area of Srinagar while he was on duty.
6.
Kashmir Update 13:
Week March,18,2019 March ,24,2019
1.
Kashmiri leadership: Mar.,
18, 2019: In a bid to intimidate and harass the
Kashmiri leadership, the Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday
summoned them once again to appear before its New Delhi headquarters for
questioning in fake cases. Chairman of Hurriyat forum Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,
Naseem Gilani, the son of All Parties Hurriyat Coference (APHC) chairman Syed
Ali Gilani and Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement (JKSM) chairman Zaffar
Akbar Bhat were among those who received the summon. Meanwhile, hate crimes
against Kashmiris continued unabated throughout India, according to Kashmir
Media Service. In one such incident, a Kashmiri shawl seller was attacked
with a sword and deprived of almost Rs200,000 by a gang of Hindu extremists in
Kolkata. The victim, Shakoor Ahmad Shah who was taken to a hospital in critical
condition, belonged to Budgam district of occupied Kashmir.
2. US HR Report: Mar., 18,
2019: The US State Department, in its annual
report released in Washington on Saturday, cited widespread human rights
violations by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir and called for an international
probe into the rights abuses in the territory. The report noted that the
draconian Indian Public Safety Act, which applies only in occupied Jammu and
Kashmir, permits the authorities to detain persons without charge or judicial
review for up to two years.
4.
Extra Judicial killing: Mar., 19, 2019: Rizwan Assad, a young
teacher from Awantipora has been killed inside the Air Cargo camp, controlled
by notorious Special Operations Group of Jammu & Kashmir police. Police has
ordered investigation, but apparently not filed FIR for murder under section 302.He
was recently arrested and taken to SOG Air Cargo camp, the concerned Police
Station asked the family to not communicate to anyone about the arrest In the
past, he was arrested and despite obtaining bail, he was kept in illegal
detention for 20 days.
5. Kashmiri Parties, Elections : Mar.,19,2019 : Omar
and Mehbooba Mufti, whose parties National Conference (NC) and People’s
Democratic Party (PDP), respectively, dominate Kashmir’s unionist camp, were
“fairly assured" the elections would be timely and simultaneously. Early
elections, they hoped would help devote time on improving the state’s economy,
which has been in a perpetual slump since the 2014 floods. Unlike other Indian
states, the desperation for elections in Kashmir’s political class is not about
seizing power alone. The entire unionist camp is facing a “disempowering
phase". All of a sudden, they have started not mattering at all.
Informally, the leaders of all the mainstream parties say their suggestions are
being taken with a pinch of salt and they are increasingly being dubbed as
“part of the problem". After the fall of the BJP-PDP alliance, Kashmir’s
unionists see their narrative evaporating. “We are under BJP’s direct rule. For
the first time, Jammu and Kashmir has a governor who even thinks he is the
chief minister," PDP ideologue and former minister Naeem Akhtar said. “The
governor has blurred the lines between party interest and constitutional
position," he added, regretting that “overt and covert muscular
policy" is the only response to whatever happens in Kashmir. In wake of
the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, one of Kashmir’s oldest socio-religious party, the
NC and the PDP were publicly rebuked by the governor. He even said his
government will treat them at par with anti-nationals. This was quickly
followed by finance minister Arun Jaitley who said the two parties have a
“dangerous" agenda.The frustrated leadership of the NC and the PDP was
keen to get into polls to halt the entire process that, they believe, has
undone a lot in past nine months after President’s rule. They say they are
facing a peculiar situation, which is an outcome of Delhi’s direct rule. “We
expected people would vote not because they love elections but because they are
scared of the situation they stand forced into," Parra said. The chief
insecurity is the feeling that the BJP is enforcing its agenda on Kashmir and
rediscovering the Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan (one Constitution, one prime minister)
mantra of the 1960s era. While doing away with Article 370 is impossible, the
political parties believe that the BJP can tinker with Article 35(A), which
protects the demographic identity of Jammu and Kashmir. They made one such bid,
effortlessly. In the penultimate cabinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
recommended to the President—obviously on the suggestion of governor Satya Pal
Malik-led State Administrative Council (SAC)—an amendment in the Presidential
Ordinance of 1954. This presidential proclamation is considered the soul of the
Jammu and Kashmir Constitution and Article 370. Article 35(A) is also part of
this presidential order.The amendment brought certain changes to the
reservations of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and brought them up to
date with the central government norms, apparently an innocuous intervention.
Legally, any constitutional amendment can take place if the government—an
elected government—makes a recommendation. In this case, governor Malik, like
Jagmohan of 1990, has made the move.“The centre was experimenting with the idea
of triggering an intervention," one former BJP-PDP minister said. “It was
just the discovery of the route, so the next level is (used) next time."
Kashmir’s political landscape is hugely fractured. The ideological base has
split the space between separatists and unionists. Once it was the NC alone,
then the Congress started getting in. Finally, the PDP emerged as an
alternative to the NC. Now Sajad Lone is attempting taking his Peoples’
Conference (PC) to a new level. Shah Faesal, Kashmir’s first IAS topper who
recently resigned and joined politics, launched his political party Jammu and
Kashmir People’s Movement on Sunday. That is in addition to various small
stakeholders already retaining their political fiefs. The newest in the
political grapevine is the BJP is planning to create a new political party for
Gujjars and Pahadi (Muslim) population. “Why are new political parties emerging
more in Kashmir than in Jammu," Omar Abdullah recently asked at a meeting
in Srinagar.In fact, the feeling is that this Lok Sabha may exhibit the “changed
politics". Three political parties could end up controlling the three
belts that marked Kashmir’s medieval administrative division—Kamraz (North
Kashmir), Maraz (South Kashmir) and Yamraz (Central Kashmir). Political parties
do see changing fortunes in delayed assembly elections. “State BJP was against
the simultaneous polls because it did not want two electronic voting machines
in a booth where the voter would decide the fate of a member of Parliament on
basis of the performance of the local member of legislative assembly," one
senior NC leader said. “The party also wanted the disinterest towards Lok Sabha
to play in its favour as only committed cadre will vote." But state
assembly elections under a BJP-led central government can have, as one political
leader said, “an element of manufactured consent". Kashmiri separatist
created a boycott of polls as a tool of protest. An election later, the
unionists literally used it to their advantage. Normally done at micro-levels,
they would somehow contribute to the boycott in pockets of opponent’s
influence. In 2018 fall, the BJP used this tack to its advantage in municipal
body polls (it swept peripheral municipal bodies, including nine in restive
South Kashmir where migrant Kashmiri Pandits filed papers and were declared
winners unopposed).
9.
Indian Elections:
Mar., 20, 2019: The rhetoric espoused by Modi and the B.J.P. has also
intensified tensions in Kashmir. India, under Prime Minister Modi, views
Kashmir as a purely military problem that needs to be dealt with through harsh
and repressive action. BJP leaders, including Modi, claim that ‘Jammu and
Kashmir’s special status [under Indian law] has only served to encourage
Kashmiri separatist elements, and Hindu nationalists have long sought its
removal from the Constitution.’ The relentless crackdown in the region by
security forces has not only intensified the movement, but it has also provoked
a rising wave of militancy. The recent attack in Pulwama in which over 40 CRPF
personnel were killed was the inevitable outcome of such short-sighted policies
by the Delhi government. Following the attacks, Indian security forces have
been carrying out uninhibited persecution of the Kashmiris while Kashmiri
students around the country have been subjected to shameful treatment. The
government’s strategy of subjugation through brute military force has
radicalized the movement. The Modi government has clearly failed to comprehend
the rationale behind the resurgence of the uprising and therefore, has been
unable to devise an effective policy response. According to one analyst, the
Kashmir movement as it stands today ‘is probably driven less by geopolitics
than by internal Indian politics, which have increasingly taken an anti-Muslim
direction.’ Pulwama is a powerful warning that unless India finds a peaceful
resolution to the Kashmir imbroglio, stability in the region will continue to
unravel.
10.
JKLF banned: Mar., 22, 2019: India's government has
for the second time this month banned a top pro-independence organization in
IndianOccupued Kashmir, accusing it of
"supporting extremism and militancy". Indian Ministry of Home Affairs
said the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (
JKLF)
was involved in "anti-national and subversive activities intended to
disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
India".
"JKLF is supporting and inciting claims for the secession of a part of the
Indian territory from the Indian union and supporting terrorists and separatist
groups fighting for this purpose," the statement said Its
leader, Yasin Malik, was arrested last month and
charged
on March 8 under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which stipulated that a person can
be jailed for up to two years without bail.
13.
14.
Kashmir Update 12:
Week March,11,2019 March ,17,2019
1.
Army Jawan; Mar., 10, 2019: An army jawan was
reported missing from central Kashmir's Budgam district on Friday evening with
police suspecting he could have been abducted by a terror group, officials
said. The family of Mohammad Yaseen, posted with Jammu and Kashmir Light
Infantry Regiment, informed police that some people came to their house at Qazipora
Chadura and took him away.
2. Freedom fighters : Mar., 12, 2019: Three freedoms were
killed in an encounter with security 4.
5.
6.
Kashmir Update 11:
Week March,4,2019 March ,10,2019
1.
2.
ICJ on
right of self determination (Chagos): Mar, 4, 2019: The
International Court of Justice has given a near-unanimous opinion that the separation in 1965 of the
Chagos
archipelago from the then British colony of Mauritius was contrary to the right
of self determination, and that accordingly the de-colonization of Mauritius by
the United Kingdom had not been in accordance with international law. The ICJ
held that Britain’s continued administration of the archipelago was an
internationally wrongful act, which should cease as soon as possible. The
Chagos Archipelago consists of a number of islands and atolls in the Indian
Ocean. The largest island is Diego Garcia, which accounts for more than half of
the archipelago’s total land area. Mauritius is located about 2,200 km
south-west of the Chagos archipelago. Between 1814 and 1965, the Chagos
archipelago was administered by the United Kingdom as a dependency of the
colony of Mauritius. In 1964, there were discussions between America and
Britain regarding the use by the United States of certain British-owned islands
in the Indian Ocean, in particular in establishing an American base on Diego
Garcia. It was agreed that the United Kingdom would be responsible for
acquiring land, resettling the population and providing compensation at its
expense; and that Britain would assess the feasibility of the transfer of the
administration of Diego Garcia and the other islands of the Chagos Archipelago
from Mauritius. The ICJ reviewed the
various UK and ECHR cases brought by Chagossians seeking the right to return to
the archipelago, and noted that::
To date, the Chagossians remain dispersed
in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Mauritius and Seychelles.
By virtue of United Kingdom law and judicial decisions of that country, they
are not allowed to return to the Chagos Archipelago. The first substantive
issue was to what extent was there a customary right in international law to
self-determination in 1965-8. The ICJ noted the obligation (under Chapter XI of
the UN Charter) for UN Member States administering territories with peoples
without full self-government to develop the self-government of those peoples.
The ICJ held that it followed that:
the legal régime of non-self-governing
territories, as set out in Chapter XI of the Charter, was based on the
progressive development of their institutions so as to lead the populations concerned
to exercise their right to self-determination. The adoption of UN
resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, which affirmed that “[a]ll peoples
have the right to self-determination” represented “a defining moment in the
consolidation of State practice on decolonization “the General Assembly has a
long and consistent record in seeking to bring colonialism to an end” rather
than being about a resolution of a territorial dispute between two states. This
evaded the inevitable consequence of its finding that decolonization process
concerned was illegal, meaning that either the UK has no sovereignty over the
archipelago, or it does have sovereignty but is obliged to hand over
sovereignty to Mauritius. General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) clarifies the content
and scope of the right to self-determination. The Court notes that the
decolonization process accelerated in 1960, with 18 countries, including 17 in
Africa, gaining independence. During the 1960s, the peoples of an additional 28
non-self-governing-territories exercised their right to self-determination and
achieved independence. There was a “clear relationship between resolution 1514
(XV) and the process of decolonization following its adoption.” Accordingly,
resolution 1514 (XV) indicated that self determination was a customary norm in
international law.The ICJ went on to hold that both State practice and
opinio
juris at the relevant time confirm the customary law character of
the right to territorial integrity of a non-self-governing territory as a corollary
of the right to self-determination. It therefore followed that
any
detachment by the administering Power of part of a non-self-governing
territory, unless based on the freely expressed and genuine will of the people
of the territory concerned, is contrary to the right to self-determination.The
second issue was whether the detachment of the Chagos archipelago had been done
in accordance with international law. The ICJ held that at the time of its
detachment from Mauritius in 1965, the Chagos Archipelago was clearly an
integral part of that non-self-governing territory. The ICJ considered the
background to the agreement of the Mauritius Council of Ministers in 1965 to
that detachment and held that it is not possible to talk of an international
agreement, when one of the parties to it, Mauritius, which is said to have
ceded the territory to the United Kingdom, was under the authority of the
latter. So heightened scrutiny should be given to the issue of consent in a
situation where a part of a non-self-governing territory is separated to create
a new colony. The Court considered that this detachment was not based on the
free and genuine expression of the will of the people concerned.Hence, the
United Kingdom was obliged under international law as at 1965 to respect the
territorial integrity of its colonies, and accordingly,
as a result of the
Chagos Archipelago’s unlawful detachment and its incorporation into a new
colony, known as the BIOT, the process of decolonization of Mauritius was not
lawfully completed when Mauritius acceded to independence in 1968. With
respect to the third substantive issue, the ICJ in short order held that
The
Court having found that the decolonization of Mauritius was not conducted in a
manner consistent with the right of peoples to self-determination, it follows
that the United Kingdom’s continued administration of the Chagos Archipelago
constitutes a wrongful act entailing the international responsibility of that
State… Accordingly, the United Kingdom is under an obligation to bring an end
to its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible, thereby
enabling Mauritius to complete the decolonization of its territory in a manner
consistent with the right of peoples to self-determination. This has implications for Indian
Occupied Kashmir .Wonder if Pakistan will take up this issue
3.
Security personal killed: Srinagar, May 4: In occupied Kashmir,
bodies of two people, including a constable of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), were
recovered in Ramban district in Jammu region. SSB constable Dinesh Kumar
Thakur, a resident of Chhattisgarh India, was found dead with head injuries
near TCP Banihal along the Jammu-Srinagar Highway, SHO of the Banihal Police
Station Ajaz Wani said. According to preliminary investigation, the soldier had
left Srinagar for his home on February 25. Another deceased was identified as
Surinder Paul, an employee of the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) whose
body was recovered from a stream in nearby Digdole area of Ramban, police said.
Meanwhile, an Indian solider identified as Naik Kuldeep Singh was killed when
an avalanche hit an Indian Army patrolling party in Batalik area of Ladakh.
4.
Pulwama :
March 05 : In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh
act of state terrorism martyred two Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district, today.
The troops martyred the youth during a cordon and search operation at Mir
Mohalla in Tral area of the district. The troops also blasted a house with
explosive material and razed it to the ground. The operation, which was
launched last night, was going on till last reports came in. A senior officer
of Indian police talking to media men claimed that the youth were militants and
were killed in a clash with the troops.
5.
Barter trade resumes;
Mar.,6,2019:
India and Pakistan resumed barter trade at a border crossing in Kashmir on
Tuesday Trade across the border, known as the
Line of Control (LoC), was part-suspended after repeated mortar and small arms
fire at Uri, a border town where the exchange of goods takes place. But on
Tuesday the route re-opened after firing in the region eased Thirty-five trucks
left for Chakothi on the Pakistani side of the border with a similar number
moving in the opposite direction. Trade across the LoC operates on a barter system,
where no money is exchanged. .“I send
cumin and chilli seeds to Pakistan and in return order prayer mats and cloth,”
he said. “If there is any difference, it is adjusted in the next consignment.
It is all trust-based trade but it is working.”Indian traders export cumin,
chilli pepper, cloth, cardamom, bananas, pomegranate, grapes and almonds.
Prayer mats, carpets, cloth, oranges, mangoes and herbs return from the
Pakistani side.
6. Signs of a Thaw: Mar., 6, 2019:
In a first sign of de-escalation in tensions, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to
India Sohail Mahmood, is returning to New Delhi while the talks on Kartarpur
Corridor would also go ahead as planned. Pakistani delegation would visit New
Delhi on March 14 as planned for talks to finalise the modalities for the
Kartarpur Corridor. Indian team would then pay a return visit to Islamabad on
March 28. Another significant move taken by Pakistan was to inform the Indian
side of its commitment of “continued weekly contact at the military operations
directorates’ level.” The Pakistan and Indian militaries have a hotline through
which the military operations directorates of the two neighbours interact with
each other on a weekly basis.Pakistan told reporters that 44 suspects were
taken into custody. Among those who were detained include Hammad Azhar, the son
of Maulana Masood Azhar and Mufti Abdur Rauf, the brother of head of banned
Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM).These two individuals were also named in the dossier
India had recently shared with Pakistan regarding the Pulwama attack.
7.
Banned
organizations: Mar., 6, 2019: Pakistan's
Interior Ministry says authorities have arrested dozens of suspects, including
the brother of the leader of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad group that India has
blamed for the Feb. 14 suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir that killed 40
troops. 44 suspects were arrested,
including prominent members of the outlawed militant group. Among those
arrested was Mufti Abdul Rauf, the brother of the group's leader, Masood Azhar.
The brother was among suspects listed in a file on the February bombing that
India gave to Pakistan over the weekend. Kashmir is split between Pakistan and
India and is claimed by both in its entirety.
8.
Women’s
day: Mar., 9, 2019: As the world is observing the International
Women’s Day, today, the miseries and victimization of Kashmiri women by Indian
troops and police personnel continue unabated in occupied Kashmir. According to
a report released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service on the
occasion of the International Women’s Day, today, thousands of women were among
95,316 Kashmiris martyred by Indian military, paramilitary and police personnel
since January 1989 till date. At least 667 women have been martyred by Indian
troops since January 2001 till date. The report pointed out that since January
1989; the unabated Indian state terrorism rendered 22,899 women widowed. The
Indian forces’ personnel molested 11,113 women that included victims of
Kununposhpora mass rape and Shopian double rape and murder. An eight-year girl,
Aasifa Bano, of Kathua, was abducted, gang-raped and subsequently murdered by
Indian police personnel, last year. The report said that thousands of women lost their sons,
husbands, fathers and brothers in the occupied territory who were subjected to
custodial disappearance by Indian Army, police and paramilitary personnel. As
per the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, more than 8,000
Kashmiris went missing in custody during the past 30 years, it added. The
report said, during the ongoing mass uprising triggered by the extrajudicial
killing of prominent youth leader, Burhan Wani, on 8th July in 2016, hundreds
of unarmed Kashmiri youth, school boys and girls have been injured due to the
firing of bullets and pellets by the Indian forces’ personnel on peaceful
protesters. Of these injured at least 70 young boys and girls including Insha
Mushtaq and Ifra Shakour lost eyesight while 18-month baby Hiba Nisar and
32-year-old Nusrat Jan suffered partial damage to their eyesight, it said. The
report said that several women including Hurriyat leaders, Aasiya Andrabi,
Fehmeeda Sofi and Naheeda Nasreen were facing illegal detention. They are being
victimized only for the reason that they represent the Kashmiri people’s
aspirations. The report further pointed out that majority of the Kashmiris
suffering from multiple psychic problems was of womenfolk. Many mothers are
waiting for their disappeared sons while widows and half-widows are in pain.
9.
10.
11.
12
Kashmir Update 10:
Week Feburary,24,2019 March ,3,2019
1.
Kulgam : Feb.,25,2019:
A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)-rank police officer, a soldier and
three freedom fighters ( including Rakib Ahmed
Sheikh and Gulzar Ahmed Butt) were killed and six persons, including three
civilians, were injured in an encounter in Kulgam on Sunday. The Kashmir Valley
remained tense for the second straight day and observed a shutdown over fears
of an escalation of India-Pakistan tensions and scrapping of Article 35A ( for
more details related to article 35A refer to : https://javedrashid.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-article-370.html). Three security personnel, including a Major-rank
officer, were injured in the encounter. Three civilians were injured, two of
whom sustained bullet wounds, in the clashes near the encounter site
2. OIC invitation to India: Feb., 2, 2019: Senate on Tuesday unanimously demanded of
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to withdraw invitation to India for
attending its 50th session starting from March 1 in Abu Dhabi. India, for the
first time, has received an invite as the “guest of honor” to the upcoming
foreign ministers’ conclave of OIC. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is
set to attend the Abu Dhabi summit.
3.
Indian
air strikes: Feb., 27, 2019: Indian military
planes violated the LoC early on Tuesday,
intruding from the Muzaffarabad sector, following which "Pakistan Air
Force immediately scrambled" and Indian aircraft went back challenged them, they had crossed the
LoC."Their approaching of the border, the challenge and their return took
four minutes," said the ISPR DG."If they had struck any military
position, then an engagement would have happened. But they did not do that
because if they had done so, our soldiers were ready," he added. They
entered from Kashmir's Tangdhar — they were timely and effectively challenged,
and repulsed by the Air Force. On their way back, they jettisoned their
payload. Four of their bombs fell in [Balakot's] Jabba and they went back.
Referring to Indian media's claims that "350 terrorists have been killed
and a hideout has been destroyed", Maj Gen Ghafoor said: "I called
you [journalists] so I could take you there [to the site] and show you on the
ground reality but unfortunately, I cannot take you by air due to rough weather."But
the local media is there and have shown that there was not even a single brick
there. They are claiming that they killed 350 terrorists; I say even if they
had killed 10, what about their bodies, their funerals, their blood [...] the
spot is open for anybody and everybody: for ambassadors, defence attaches, UN
military observer group in Pakistan.
4.
Two
Indian Migs downed: Feb., 28,2019: On Wednesday, the IAF jets
entered Pakistani airspace after the PAF strikes on the other side of the Line
of Control (LoC) from Pakistani airspace
PAF undertook strikes across LoC from Pakistani airspace. Sole
purpose of this action was to demonstrate our right, will and capability for
self defence. IAF crossed LoC` after the
PAF strikes in India-occupied Kashmir (IOK). PAF shot down two Indian
aircraft inside Pakistani airspace. One of the aircraft fell
inside AJK while other fell inside IOK. One Indian pilot arrested by troops on ground.
The detained IAF pilot was identified as Wing Commander Abhi
Nandan. The downing of the Indian plane resulted in expression of happiness by
the Kashmiris .
5.
Pulwama Dossier: Feb., 28, 2019: Pakistan received a dossier on the Pulwama
attack, the Foreign Office confirmed on Thursday. It was handed over to
Pakistan’s acting high commissioner in New Delhi by the Indian government on
Wednesday. The dossier will be reviewed by the FO following which any and all
legal evidence will be probed. Pakistani PM made this offer to India during a
televised speech to which India has responded Islamabad will take action
against credible evidence provided by India
6.
Indian pilot: Feb., 28, 2019: Prime Minister of Pakistan announced on
Thursday that his country would be releasing a captured pilot (Wing
Commander Abhi Nandan )on Friday, from India after days of military conflict,
offering a way out of the crisis and seeking to position Pakistan as the cooler
head in a confrontation that has put the world on edge.
7.
Pilot returned: Mar, 2, 2108: Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan after his MiG 21 Bison aircraft was shot down by a Pakistan
Air Force (PAF) jet, was handed over in a gesture of peace to India at the
Wagah border late Friday. Abhinandan was arrested on Feb 27 after his aircraft was
shot down by the PAF upon violating Pakistani airspace. A new videotaped
statement of Wg Cdr Abhinandan was broadcast on national television shortly
before his release."My name is Wing Commander Abhinandan," he stated
for the record in the statement."I am a fighter pilot in the Indian Air
Force. I was in search of the target when your [Pakistan] Air Force shot me
down. I had to eject the plane which had sustained damage. As soon as I ejected
and when my parachute opened and when I fell down, I had a pistol with
me.""There were many people. I had only one way to save myself: I
dropped my pistol and tried to run," he was heard saying in the
video."People chased me, their emotions were running high. Just then, two
Pakistani Army officials came and saved me. Pakistani army captains saved from
the people and did not let any harm come to me. They took me to their unit
where I was administered first aid and then I was taken to the hospital where I
further underwent a medical exam and received more aid," he said."The
Pakistan Army is a very professional service. I see peace in it. I have spent
time with the Pakistan Army [and] I am very impressed." "Indian media
always stretches the truth," he regretted. "The smallest of things
are presented in a very incendiary manner and people get misled
8.
LoC
Violations: Mar.,3,2019: Two Pakistan Army soldiers embraced martyrdom
at Nakiyal Sector in exchange of fire while targeting Indian posts undertaking
firing on civilian population," the ISPR statement read. "Martyrs
include Havaldar Abdur Rub and Naik Khuram. Reports of casualties of Indian
troops and damage to post due to effective response by Pakistan Army," it
concluded. Earlier, ISPR had reported Indian firing across the LoC, as a result
of which two citizens were martyred while two others, including a woman, were
injured. Separately, our correspondent reported that a 19-year-old youth,
identified as Abdul Ghaffar, was injured in Darra Sher Khan when he was shot at
by an Indian sniper from across the LoC.
9. Kupwara : Mar., 3, 2019: Four security personnel, including an officer,
have died during an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara
district today. Sources say a freedom fighter, who was presumed dead, emerged
from the rubble of a destroyed house and started firing which took the security
personnel by surprise. Officials sources say an Inspector of the Central
Reserve Police Force or CRPF, a jawan and two policemen of the J&K Police
died after firing resumed during an anti-terrorism operation in Kralgund
village of Langate area of the district.
10.
11.
Kashmir Update 9:
Week Feburary,18,2019 February ,24,2019
1.
Fear grips Kashmir
Valley: Feb., 17, 2019: Since Thursday, dozens of Kashmiris living outside the
disputed Himalayan region have been threatened, assaulted or forced to vacate
their residences. Nisar Ahmad (name changed), 23, who is studying physics at an
institute in Dehradun, capital of the northern Uttarakhand state, told Al Jazeera
that Kashmiri students were beaten by a mob on Friday. "Following the
suicide attack, two Kashmiri students were ruthlessly beaten by a mob in
Sudhowala area. We have not even ventured out of our rooms since the
attack." Ahmad said a group of around 70 people took out a rally in the
area on Saturday, "chanting slogans like 'shoot the traitor Kashmiris',
'drive them out'"."The situation here is very tense. We feel very
insecure here," he said. "We want to go back to our home but
don't understand how. We are scared of even moving out of our rooms. Our
supplies are finished," he said. Asma Ashraf, 24, a student of science in
Dehradun, told Al Jazeera that she fears for her life after her hostel was
"surrounded by a mob". "They asked the college authorities to
throw the Kashmiris out," she said. In the Indian capital, New Delhi,
25-year-old Sara Khursheed told Al Jazeera the Kashmiris are being looked at
with "suspicion after the attack"."Yesterday, I was returning
home from work. A passer-by shouted at me and said these Kashmiris are happy over the killings. We
fear we might be thrown out by our landlords," she said. Bashir, 24, who
is pursuing engineering in Haryana state's Ambala city, said "violent mobs
threatened" Kashmiri students to leave their rented places
"immediately through announcements on loudspeakers". On Friday,
Muslim residents in Jammu accused right-wing groups of setting their vehicles
on fire and raising slogans against the Kashmiris residing in the city."In
the Hindu majority areas of Jammu, wherever they found a car with a Kashmiri
number plate, they set it ablaze. Muslims fear to go out. I have not been to
work for the past two days," Suhail Ahmad, a resident of Jammu, said. While the governments in both Kashmir and at
the centre have taken stock of the situation, it has not been enough to allay
the fears of Kashmiris living in India.
2.
Pulwara Attack: Feb., 17,2019: https://www.facebook.com/ViralKashmirNews/videos/375588329905138/UzpfSTE4MzcwMzY1MzMyODMwODc6MjI0NDA4NzY5NTkxMTMwMA/
3.
Fresh Pulwama killings: Feb., 19, 2019: At least nine people,
including three armed rebels, four Indian army soldiers and a police constable,
have been killed in a gun battle in India-administered Kashmir. The gun battle on Monday in
Pinglan village of Pulwama district comes days after 42 Indian security
personnel were killed in a suicide blast a police official told Al Jazeera that a
deputy inspector general of police, Amit Kumar, was hit by a bullet in his leg.
"An army brigadier was also wounded in the fighting," the official
added. Local residents in Pinglan village said that three houses and a cowshed
were blown up by the armed forces and one of the house owners, Mushtaq Ahmad,
30, who ran a poultry shop in the village, was also killed."His house was
among the one which was blown up, he is survived by two children, aged four and
three. He was dragged out of his house early in the morning by the army and
killed. Another boy was also hit by a bullet in his leg," Ghulam Nabi, a
resident, told Al Jazeera.
4.
Muslims targeted: Feb., 19, 2019: At least 6,000 Kashmiri Muslims have taken refuge in
several mosques of Indian occupied Jammu district fearing attacks by Hindu mobs
in the wake of suicide attack in Pulwama
.Around 2,500 to 3,000 people are putting up here. These include
stranded Kashmir-bound passengers as well as people living in sensitive zones
of Jammu district.” Meanwhile, in Khatika Talab’s Jamia Masjid around
1,000-1,500 people have taken refuge. In
Gujjar Nagar, around 1,000-1,500 people have taken refuge. Inside India, after
various reports of Kashmiris including students, traders and employees were
threatened to leave the place. A 42-year-old cardiologist from Srinagar, who
has spent the last 22 years working in Kolkata, has been asked by a group of
people to leave the city.
5.
Prisoner’s death: Feb., 21, 2019: Indian prisoners have stoned to
death a Pakistani inmate (Shakir
Ullah) at Jaipur central jail
amid mounting tensions over a suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi has blamed on its
neighbor, an official said. The Pakistani prisoner had been eight years into a
life term when he was attacked on Wednesday at the Jaipur central jail in the
western Indian state of Rajasthan. The attack apparently in retaliation for
Pulwama attack.
6.
Kashmir bus service
suspended: Feb., 21, 2019: India has
halted a key bus service with the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir,
severing the only land route linking the divided Himalayan region.
7. UNSC, on Pulwama Attack: Feb., 22, 2019:
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned the Pulwama attack in
occupied Kashmir and named Jaish-e-Muhammad as the perpetrators behind the
attack The statement further “underlined the need to hold perpetrators,
organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism
accountable and bring them to justice”. There was no mention of Pakistan in the
statement.
8. JeM:
Feb., 23, 2019: The interior ministry on Friday
announced that the Punjab government has taken administrative control of a
mosque-and-seminary complex (Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah)
in Bahawalpur that is believed to have
been the headquarters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).The campus
has a 70-strong faculty and more than 650 students enrolled. A subsequent statement issued by the interior
ministry's spokesperson explained that although Indian media outlets are
linking the Bahawalpur complex to a JeM training centre, the facility is
"purely a madressah and Jamia Masjid (central mosque) where scores of
orphans and students from underprivileged families are receiving religious and
worldly education". According to the statement, the complex provides
worldly education until grade 6, and following their secondary and intermediate
schooling, students are provided bachelors- and masters-level education leading
to Dars-e-Nizami (madressah degree).A large number of Bahawalpur residents bear
the expenses of the madressah through alms and charity, and provide its pupils
with rice and grain at no cost."The Special Branch [of police],
Counter-Terrorism Department and other departments carry out a formal scrutiny
of this and other madressahs on a monthly basis," the ministry's handout
stated.
9.
DG ISPR: Feb., 23, 2019: DG ISPR also noted
certain technical details regarding the Pulwama attack and the claim of
responsibility made in a video by a Kashmiri youth that made it appear doubtful
that Pakistan had any role in the attack. "India began showering Pakistan
with accusations immediately after the attack without sparing a moment to think,
and without any evidence in hand," Ghafoor said."From the Line of
Control onwards, Indian security forces have layered defences," he said,
explaining that there were layered lines of defence, one after
another."How is it possible for anyone from Pakistan to cross the LoC and
go to some area where the population of security forces is greater than that of
locals?""You should question your security forces, that 'You've been
sitting here for decades, you spend so much on defence, how was this infiltration
possible?'," he stated. "The Pulwama attack happened miles away from
the LoC. The explosives that were employed were being used by the
administration and security forces in occupied Kashmir, it didn't go there from
Pakistan," Maj Gen Ghafoor said. "The car that was used was also
local [to Kashmir]. It did not go there from Pakistan." The DG ISPR also pointed out that Adil Dar, the youth
who had claimed responsibility for the attack in a video, was a local [to
Kashmir] who, like so many other Kashmiri youths, had suffered at the hands of
Indian security forces in the past. "In 2017, he
had remained under arrest and security forces maltreated him [...] The way he
was pushed to the path where he gave this violent response," he said. The
army's spokesman said that an expert technical analysis of the claim video ─
looking at quality, the distance from which it was shot, how it was dubbed,
what weapons were visible ─ could provide a lot of clues to observers.
"Look at the class composition of the soldiers who were killed in the
attack," he suggested.
10.
AI: Feb., 23, 2109: Amnesty India said it came to their
knowledge through media reports that Kashmiri university students and traders
in northern states, primarily Uttarakhand, Haryana and Bihar, have been beaten,
threatened, and intimidated by some Hindu nationalist groups. Many students are
reported to have fled their universities in fear. Two colleges in Dehradun and
one in Moradabad have stated that they will not admit new Kashmiri students,”
says the press statement.
11.
Leadership
arrested: Feb., 24, 2019: Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik has been
arrested in a crackdown on leaders in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), Hurriyat
leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said on Saturday.
12.
Kashmir Update 8:
Week Feburary,11,2019 February ,17,2019
1.
Youth
martyred: Feb., 10, 2019:
In occupied Kashmir, Indian
martyred five Kashmiri youth and injured dozens in firing on protesters
in Kulgam district, today. The troops killed the youth during a cordon and
search operation in Kellam area of the district. . The troops also destroyed,
at least, two houses during the operation. The martyred youth have been
identified as Waseem Bashir Rather, Zahid Parray, Idrees Butt, Aaqib Nazir and
Pervez Butt.
2.
Maqbool Butt: Feb., 10, 2019: complete shutdown will be observed and a
protest rally will be held at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, tomorrow, to mark the
martyrdom anniversary of prominent Kashmiri liberation leader, Muhammad Maqbool
Butt India had hanged Muhammad Maqbool
Butt in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on 11th February in 1984. A memorandum will also
be sent to UN Secretary General, seeking the intervention of the World Body for
settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
3. Srinagar, February 12, 2019: In occupied Kashmir,
Indian troops martyred one Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district, today. The
troops martyred the youth during a violent cordon and search operation in
Ratnipora area of the district. Earlier, two Indian soldiers including a
commando were killed and another was injured in an attack in the same
area.
4. Srinagar, February 13, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state
terrorism martyred two more Kashmiri youth in Budgam district, today. The
troops martyred the youth during a cordon and search operation at Wathroora in
Chadoora area of the district
5. Indian
Soldiers killed: Feb., 14, 2019:
At least 18 Indian paramilitary personnel have been killed and several others
wounded (https://www.indiatoday.in/programme/5ive-live/video/jem-claims-responsibility-for-attack-on-crpf-convoy-in-kashmir-1456234-2019-02-14)a
car filled with explosives rammed into a military convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir. In one of the worst attacks to hit
India's armed forces in nearly three years, the car rammed into one of the
buses carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel Feb., 15,2019: Over 40
personnel of India`s paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were
killed in a fedayeen-style strike in India-held Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday
Reuters said 44 men (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/pulwama-attack-death-toll-of-crpf-personnel-rises-above-42/videoshow/67998148.cms) were killed as a jeep
with 350kg of explosives rammed a bus in a large security convoy at Pulwama in
the disputed Himalayan region. Indian reports claimed that Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM) group had claimed responsibility for the attack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRA7di7ofo4), the worst in decades.
Indian reports said that JeM put out a video and photos of an armed man it
claimed was the suicide attacker Adil Ahmad Dar or Waqas Commando from Kakapora
in Pulwama. Bullet marks on the bus
indicated that more men might have been hiding and might have fired at the
convoy, NDTV said. February 15, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Hindu fanatics
torched dozens of vehicles of Muslims in Jammu city, today. Amid shutdown, the
Hindu mobs set afire at least fifty
vehicles of Muslims in Gujjar Nagar and Prem Nagar areas of the city. Earlier,
hundreds of members of Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other
extremist Hindu organizations poured into the streets of Jammu city and
protested against the killing of Indian troops in an explosion at Lethpora in
Pulwama yesterday..Eyewitnesses said that the protesters raised anti-Kashmir
and anti-Pakistan and other provocative slogans. (http://dunyanews.tv/en/World/478685-Hindu-fanatics-torch-dozens-vehicles-Muslims-Occupied-Kashmir)
6.
Suicide Bomber: Feb., 16, 2019: A suicide bomber who killed 44
paramilitary policemen in Indian-occupied Kashmir joined a militant group after
having been beaten by troops three years ago, his parents told Reuters
on Friday. His mother, Fahmeeda, corroborated her husband’s account. “He was
beaten by Indian troops a few years back when he was returning from school,”
she said. “This led to anger in him
against Indian troops.”
7.
Cost of Kashmir struggle
Kashmir Update 7:
Week Feburary,4,2019 February ,10,2019
1. UK Parliament on Kashmir: Feb., 3, 2109: After the Indian government lodged a protest with the United Kingdom over
a Kashmir solidarity event to be held in the British parliament on Feb 4, the UK
government said it would not interfere in the matter.
2. APC: Feb., 3.2019:
Major political parties on Saturday demanded an autonomous commission in light
of recommendations made by international bodies to investigate into the Indian
atrocities in occupied Kashmir. A joint declaration issued at the end of All
Parties Kashmir Conference said peace in the region was not possible without
resolving the Kashmir issue. The conference called for revealing human rights
violations being committed by the so-called secular state (India) for more than
six decades.
3.
APC: Feb., 4, 2019: Leaders of religio-political and
Kashmiri organizations have called for the OIC to devise a strategy on the
Kashmir issue. Addressing an all parties Kashmir
conference here, they said that Kashmiris have changed the situation entirely
by offering sacrifices against Indian atrocities. But here in Pakistan, they
said, some political parties removed Jammu-Kashmir from their manifesto at a
time when the Kashmir struggle entered its final phase. Calling the Kashmir issue a guarantee for integrity of Pakistan,
they said, Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir.AThe Tehreek Azadi
Jammu-Kashmir (TAJK) organised the conference, which was attended by leaders
from Milli Muslim League, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ahle Hadith and others.
4.
British Parlaiamnt: Feb., 6, 2019: All parties parliamentary group on
Pakistan held international conference on Kashmir in the British parliament on
the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day. The Kashmir conference was attended by all
parties from Pakistan and UK. More than three dozen were MPs in attendance
including AJK President and opposition leaders. Dozens of Kashmiris
representative groups also attended one of the biggest conference on Kashmir
ever in UK parliament. Sayeeda Warsi said successive UK governments have
sidestepped the issue of Kashmir. “Sexual violence in Kashmir as a tool of war
is most horrific. India is failing to fulfill its responsibility. Labour MP and
shadow foreign minister Debbie Abrahams said we need to wake up international
community to take interest in the issue of Kashmir and their right of self
determination. India is a member of the commonwealth and by its rule should
respect human rights, he said and added that India, UK and Pakistan can come
together as commonwealth countries and hold India to standards of commonwealth,
he said. Labour MP Sharron Debbie from Birmingham said united in our sheer
horror on what’s happening in Kashmir. Peace can never be achieved by violent
means. Kashmir has become a horror story.
5.
Kashmir solidarity day in the World: Feb., 5, .2019: In Kabul, Afghan
women for the first time staged a rally to express solidarity with the Kashmiri
people An International Conference on Kashmir, held in London,
has adopted a resolution expressing concerns over the plight of Kashmiri
people. The resolution urged the International Community including the United
Nations to take immediate and effective measures to address the human rights
situation in Kashmir. The Embassy of Pakistan in
Tehran in collaboration with ECO Cultural Institute
arranged a three day pictorial and cultural exhibition of Kashmir titled
"Kashmir, Iran-e-Saghir" to express solidarity with Kashmiris
struggling for their right to self- determination. Kashmir Council Europe
organized an event of candle light vigil in Belgium's capital Brussels to express solidarity with the
oppressed people of occupied Kashmir. In Thailand, an impressive event was
held at Embassy of Pakistan in Bangkok today to commemorate the Day. Locals of Iran’s holy city of Mashhad marked the
‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ by rallying with posters carrying messages of the
Supreme leader of the country Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei on Kashmir. The youth
of the country are following Khamenai’s call for resolution of Kashmir dispute
according to aspirations of Kashmiris.
6.
7.
Government
in Exile: Feb., 6, 2019: Mr Baloch(of JI) urged the world
community to shun its silence on the Kashmir issue and play its role in
motivating the UN for the grant of right to self-determination to the
Kashmiris. He also stressed upon the Pakistan government to present a roadmap
for the liberation of Kashmir, saying that there could be no talks with India till
it stopped considering Kashmir its integral part. Mr Azeem called upon the government to set up a `government
in exile` of the Kashmiris under the leadership of veteran leader Syed Ali
Geelani. Islamabad should not only recognize such a government, but also
establish Kashmir desks at every embassy so that Kashmiri leaders could
present their case to the world.
8.
Update: Feb., 10, 2109: To
begin with, Pakistan needs to comprehend duly that religious diplomacy has a
great potential to catch India off guard and bring about a qualitative change
in the enduring struggle of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.
Building on the Sikhs-specific Kartarpur initiative, it should now open up Shardah Valley in Azad Kashmir and
allow all Hindus, especially those living in Kashmir, to visit the area,
freely. Home to Shardah Devi and a centuries-old civilisation, the area is
among the holiest places for Hindus who desperately long for visiting it in
their lifetime.
9.
As the Sikh community strongly reacted to
the lukewarm response by Delhi to Pakistan’s Kartarpur initiative, lack of
enthusiasm on Shardah Valley would
again pit India against its own people — this time around the fundamentalist
Hindus. Apart from dispelling cross-border terrorism charges against Pakistan,
the decision would eventually compel India to open Chirar Sharif shrine on its
side in Srinagar for pilgrims of Azad Kashmir. Needless mentioning that it
would be a gigantic leap towards turning the barriers between two parts of
Kashmir irrelevant, a prerequisite in the eyes of many for a peaceful
settlement of the conflict.
10.
barring Azad Kashmir to international
visitors and rights organizations has historically served Pakistan no purpose
at all. Of late, in fact it provided an excuse to the UN Human Rights Office to
censure Pakistan in its special report for violation of human rights in Azad
Kashmir. Notwithstanding ubiquitous militarization and imposition of draconian
laws, India on the contrary has always projected Kashmir under its control as
the ultimate destination of tourists and a symbol of its federalism. Removal of iron clad on Azad Kashmir is,
therefore, essentially important to let the world make a fair and square
comparison between the degree of human rights and civil liberties enjoyed by
the Kashmiris living across the divide, respectively.
11.
violation of child rights by India in Kashmir also needs to be specifically highlighted at different
forums attaching great significance to this issue. According to a report by
Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), children in the occupied
valley are the direct target of Indian forces who, with complete impunity, have
exterminated 318 of them in the last 15 years.One could hardly disagree that ghastly
incidents such as abduction, rape and murder of eight-year-old Asifa Bano and
blinding of 18-month-old Hiba Nisar through pellet guns by Indian troops could
not have gone almost unnoticed, were they highlighted effectively under various
international child rights conventions and protocols. Pakistan should not allow
India to go unscathed on such issues.
12.
Legal experts in Pakistan should also look
into the question of filing law suits in the International Criminal Court against Indian officials and men in
uniform for crimes against humanity in Kashmir. Discovery of 2,080 unmarked
mass graves in Kashmir by civil society organisations, for instance, makes it a
perfect case to approach the court to try India on that count. Irrespective of
the outcome of such moves, the very decision would bring the world’s attention
back to the Kashmir situation and mount pressure on India to pay heed to the
clamours of Kashmiris for an amicable settlement of the issue.
13.
Pakistan
should now shun ill-advised procrastination on inclusion of Azad Kashmir cricket team in the PSL
list. Besides transmitting a softer image of Kashmiris and their struggle for
right to self-determination across the globe, the decision would make Kashmir a
household name in the cricketing world and open up new vistas
14.
Cost of Kashmir struggle
Kashmir Update 7:
Week January,21,2019 January ,27,2019
1. UK House of Commons: Jan., 30, 2019:
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi invited all parliamentarians of Pakistan
and the political leadership of Azad Kashmir to attend a seminar on the Kashmir
issue at the United Kingdom’s House of Commons early next month. He urged the
Pakistani and Kashmiri political leadership to attend the seminar in the House
of Commons on February 4 and a related exhibition in London on February
5.Qureshi and Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua also briefed the standing
committee on the report released by the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary
Kashmir Group (APPKG) in October 2018.The report highlighted the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act as “draconian laws” under which
“Indian occupation forces are committing human rights abuses in IoK with
impunity
2. JI; Jan., 30, 2019: Present and past
Pakistani governments only
verbally terms Kashmir as its jugular vein , Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer
Sirajul Haq has said JI would observe
February 5 with great enthusiasm to express solidarity with the innocent
Kashmiris who are facing Indian atrocities since many decades and the entire
world is keeping silence over the Indian cruelty. “On Kashmir Day, the JI will
take out protest rallies from Karachi to Khyber and Kashmir.”
4. Telephone Call: Jan., 31, 2019:
Pakistan has reiterated its support for the Kashmir liberation cause and
dismissed Indian objections to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s
telephone call to All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement on Thursday,
31stJanuary.
5. Jan 31,2019: Pulwama: Freedom fighters killed in encounter in
Pulwama dist of Jammu and Kashmir In Jammu &
Kashmir, two militants were killed in an encounter that erupted in Drubgam
Rajpora area of Pulwama district
Kashmir Update 6:
Week January,21,2019 January ,27,2019
1. Dr. Rita Pal: Jan., 21, 2019: We
have noted the report by the UNHRC following our complaint detailed here www.kashmirhumanrights.com It
was a good report but with no further action. You will agree that the idea of
reports is to solve the Kashmir problem. In this case, the emergency remains
unsolved and left to escalate with more civilian casualties. There has
been no resolution so the HRC is able to vote for a full inquiry ( as was done
in the case of Yemen). There has been
no UNSC review despite the high death rate of civilians. There has been no
consideration of a referral to the ICC or a decision by the ICJ. These options
have been concealed by yourselves and not publicised. The people of
Kashmir have not been informed of the fact that the UN can do more. No help or
advice has been given to the people of Kashmir on how to raise concerns of
complain to the UN safely. The UN/UNHRC has left Kashmir to slowly die. It's a
conflict zone with a high rate of PTSD, disability, injuries, high numbers of
arrests, mass graves, bereavement, torture centres you've turned a blind eye
to, sexual exploitation by the military, hybrid warfare inflicted on its people
by India and the destructive consequences of India's ineffectual ill
thought-out counter terrorism policies.
The place is becoming more dysfunctional and dangerous with each vague,
ineffective impractical UN statement made by you. It is possible to allocate a individual similar to Owen Dixon in the
past. They could mediate an agreement between India and Pakistan.
Kashmir is entitled to its own rights of self determination and accountability
yet you insist on neglecting their civil rights. You give no reason why this
cannot be done for Kashmir The UN has accepted donations from India and given
it accolades despite the UNHRC Report on Kashmir, it's potential war crimes and
it's neglect of the civil rights of Kashmiri individuals.The UN has failed to
hold India accountable in any way or form. It's inaction resulting in lack of
hope has increased militancy and made Kashmir volatile and vulnerable to
exploitation. You once said you did not tolerate fascism yet you allow the
Indian government to execute innocent civilians, use human shields, create mass
graves and walk away without any accountability. Kashmiris have been censored
and so have foreign activists like us. Prof Kaye has simply written letters and
there doesn't seem to be any accountability for India's lack of concern for the
UN's view. The net result is a complete silencing of civilians in Kashmir. In
conclusion, the UN is seen as a toothless organisation since it's been unable
to protect civilians in Kashmir for the last 71 years. Is this what you wish its
reputation to be? We therefore conclude that the UN/UNHRC has not done their
job yet. There is a lack of confidence in its ability to hold fascist countries
to account. We are the complainants to the UNHRC and we are disappointed in the
total lack of immediate action for Kashmiris. They deserve better. They deserve
an organisation that works for their civil rights. Instead, the UN appears to
us to be working to protect its donations from India. This is an insult to the
Kashmiris who have suffered terribly at the hands of the cruel inhumane Indian
forces
2.
Jan., 21, 2019: Chairman
Hurriyat Conference (M) Saturday urged the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio
Guterres to take immediate steps for implementation of recommendations of
United Nations Human Rights Commission report on Kashmir."While the people
of Jammu & Kashmir welcomed the long overdue UNHRC report on severe HR
violations in J&K, we urge the UN @antonioguterres to walk the talk and
take immediate steps to implement the recommendations of the report!,"
Mirwaiz wrote on Twitter. The UN Chief had said that the UN had done its job by releasing a
report on human rights situation in Kashmir.
3.
Jan.,22,2019: Indian occupation forces
on Monday, Tuesday martyred three Kashmiri
youth in the occupied valley as state-sponsored brutality continued in the
region Three
militants, including the brother of an IPS officer, were killed and a soldier
injured on Tuesday in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian
district..Police sources said Shamsul Haq Mengnoo of Draggud village of Shopian
was among those killed in Heff Shermal village by security forces.
4. Jan.,
24, 2019: Three militants, including the brother of an IPS
officer, were killed and a soldier injured on Tuesday in a gunfight in Jammu
and Kashmir's Shopian district
5.
Jan., 24, 2019, Dr. Rita Pal: We have been informed that some foreign activists are
being used as proxies by the Indian establishment. Young Kashmiris who pour
their hearts out to these activists are being reported to the Indian
authorities. Until we have found out the true extent of this, please refrain
from disclosing your real name or your personal feelings to any foreign
activists. This is very important as confidentiality is at risk My own social networking accounts have been
closed voluntarily by me since I discovered Pakistan Defence on
Twitter were advertising a foreign
"activist" whom we knew to be working with India and
fleecing money for non existent causes. I felt this was a danger to
Kashmir and an insult to our work for Kashmir and support for Pakistan. It is
for this reason; I will not be reactivating my Twitter account for quite a
while. One could say I still remain in disbelief that Pakistans finest could do
such a thing to us. This includes believing in the lies propagated to them
about us. Pakistan online defence have sought to correct this position but that
does not excuse the 8 months of damaging consequences caused to Jasmine and
myself. We expected better from the people we respected.Regards Dr #RitaPal www.kashmirhumanrights.com
6.
#DrRitaPal :
Jan.,27,2019: This week, Pakistan
pledged to support Kashmir diplomatically. In the past we have asked why Gaza
was considered by the UNSC and why Kashmir remained an outlier on its own. This
week the US has approached the UNSC over Venezuela. We ask the question again, Kashmir is in an
emergency situation, why isn't Pakistan or the UN Secretary General approaching
the UNSC. Will everyone remain silent on this again? Will Kashmir be left to
it's own devices with civilians being killed and militancy going out of
control. Pakistan won't respond to this question much like it doesn't respond
to its failure to apply to the ICJ. It will remain quiet on these points while
claiming to offer diplomatic support. Kashmir deserves better from the Foreign
Office in Pakistan. While Imran Khan has tried to be pro-active, his Foreign
Office is nothing but a show master. Says all the great things but actually
does very little in the world of accountability
7.
Black Day: Jan., 27.2019: Indian troops killed two Kashmiri
youths in the Khonmoh area of Srinagar, Kashmir Media Service (KMS) said on
Saturday. The killings took place on India's Republic Day,
which is observed as Black Day by residents of Indian-occupied Kashmir and Azad
Jammu and Kashmir.
8.
Kashmir Update 5:
Week January,14,2019 January ,20,2019
Note: There is a decided change in Indian policy and actions in India
Occupied Kashmir in the last few days. This seems to be the impact of the
altered American interests in the region. Ever since Trumps, announcement of
withdrawal from Afghanistan, Indian are also altering there policy related to
South Asia, Afghanistan and also towards Pakistan. This may be temporary as
Trumps is very unpredictable. The Pakistani establishment and Government are doing
their utmost to force the Taliban to agree to US demands of negotiations
between Taliban and Afghan Government. This may be temporary respite for the
hapless people of occupied Kashmir but this could also be the harbinger of
somewhat better conditions in the near future.
1. Jan., 14, 2019:
Encounter: A freedom fighter was killed after an
encounter between government forces and militants broke out Saturday evening in
Yaripora area of south Kashmir’s district Kulgam.
2. Jan., 14, 2019: Funeral Firing: At least 11
people have been injured after Indian security forces opened fire on mourners,
who were attending the funeral of two freedom fighters in Indian Occupied
Kashmir.
Zeenat ul-Islam was killed along with his associate on Saturday in a gun battle
with Indian troops. Thousands of people on Sunday marched towards his village,
Sugan in Shopian district, to offer funeral prayers despite the barricades and
deployment of troops along the way. To stop people from joining the funeral
prayers, government forces fired bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas to stop
the mourners, leading to street clashes as groups of youths pelted stones at
the troops
3. Footballers:Jan.,17,2019:,members of a Kashmiri youth soccer team
watched their 16-year-old captain, Saqib Bilal Sheikh, and goalkeeper Mudassir
Rashid Parray, two years his junior, walk off the field toward a man on a
motorcycle. The two teenagers were not seen again until months later, when they
were returned to their hometown in body bags.
4.
UNGA
President: Jan., 19, 2019: The UNGA president is here on a five-day
visit. This is the first visit by a UNGA president to Pakistan since 2010. It
is also Ms Espinosa`s first to any country in the Asia-Pacific region since her
election last September. Mr Qureshi, in his meeting with the UNGA president at
the Foreign Of fice, conveyed Pakistan`s deep concern over the systematic human
rights abuses in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He underscored the need for the UN
to ensure implementation of the Security Council resolutions.
5.
Kashmir Update 4:
Week January,7,2019 January ,14,2019
1. Kurile Dispute and its relevance to Kashmir: The
Second World War left behind many problems inherited from history, not least in
Asia in respect of multiple disputed territories. One of them concerns four
islands in the Kurile chain that are claimed by Japan but occupied by Russia as
successor state of the Soviet Union. Despite the passage of over 70 years, this
dispute has defied solution and prevented the conclusion of a Russo-Japanese
peace treaty to draw a final curtain over the detritus of the war. The Kuriles
are an archipelago of some 56 islands spanning about 1,800 km from Japan’s
Hokkaido to Russia’s Kamchatka. All of them are under Russian jurisdiction but
Japan claims the two large southernmost islands, Etorofu and Kunashiri, and two
others, Shikotan and Habomai, as its ‘northern territories’. These islands were
occupied by the Soviet Union in August 1945, after which the entire Japanese
population, numbering less than 20,000, was evicted. The islands are now
populated by the various ethnic groups of the former Soviet Union, but only
eight of them are actually inhabited. Mr. Abe’s wish to engage with Russia
stems from the rapid rise of China, which spends three times more on defence
than Japan, and the perceived threat from North Korea, which recently fired two
ballistic missiles over Japan as a taunt to the U.S. Russia is now seen in
Japan as the lesser enemy, and improving relations with Moscow might drive a
wedge in the growing quasi-alliance between Russia and China, a break-up
desired by the U.S.-led Western alliance. Tokyo notes that the Russian far east
is endowed with plentiful natural resources which are in need of investments,
but is hampered by a small population, whereas China has 100 million citizens
along that shared land border. Japan has no territorial or demographic ambitions
in Russia other than the Kuriles, and has the capacity to transform the vast
contiguous areas of Russia. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that both Japan
and Russia see merit in pursuing greater collaboration At Vladivostok last September, Mr. Abe declared
that Japan-Russia relations held “unlimited potential” and that the absence of
a peace treaty was “an abnormal state of affairs”. Mr. Putin agreed, noting
that the Russian and Japanese militaries had cooperated for the first time, and
urged the immediate conclusion of a peace treaty without preconditions. Japan
demurred on the grounds that the Kurile islands dispute had to be settled first
before the issue was foreclosed. Nonetheless, Mr. Abe stated that “Japan-Russia
relations are advancing at a degree never seen before.” The interactions
between Japan and Russia probably hold scant interest for the Indian public. Nevertheless, although no two
international problems are analogous, there are important lessons to be drawn
from the manner in which traditionally hostile neighbours can identify common
interests and explore unorthodox avenues along which to proceed in search of
innovative solutions to apparently insoluble disputes. This requires strong
leadership and a bold imagination. Neither India nor Pakistan lacks either
attribute. Kashmir is essentially a territorial dispute of almost equal vintage
as the Kuriles. But if both sides keep waiting for the most propitious time to
make the first move, it will never come about.
2.
US Afghan Withdrawal: Jan.,,2019:The story of past many years of Indo-Pak relations is a
story of how a regional hegemon ‘pushed back’ a smaller neighbouring country by
arming its rivals and enemies on the western front, by executing military
build-ups on its eastern borders and threatening and setting red lines to
execute surgical strikes or initiate limited wars. The carrot of economic
participation that it offered to the rest of the world — whether it was the
access to its markets or investment in giant sports leagues like Indian Premier
League was all at the cost of all of them making a choice — of not looking at
Pakistan as a country that was suffering and was being victimised but as a
country that ‘harboured terrorist’ and provided them safe havens and exported
terrorism internationally. The rest of the world looked at India as a huge
vehicle that provided them with indisputable opportunities for making wealth.
If Afghanistan descends into a forecasted political upheaval during or beyond
the Afghan elections (May 2019), the repercussions for the Indian interests in
Afghanistan would be severely damaging. Alliances are ‘power-multipliers’ and
while India has benefited from its new found alliance with the Americans in the
last decade or so — Pakistan lost its opportunities in the past, but now it is
gradually repositioning itself to fight against the Indian-induced regional and
international isolation by showcasing its ‘deployable power’ of an efficient
and operationally trained force to fight the common enemy of terrorism. Russia,
China, Iran and the Central Asian States all respect and admire Pakistan’s
anti-terrorism fighting capabilities.The first and the most important step for
the Modi government should be a change of mindset. Its anti-Pakistan narrative
has miserably flopped. There are multiple actors that have their changing
interests that are competing for influence in the region and this region has
dynamics of its own, the nature of which also keeps changing. India has tried
its best to weaken Pakistan and exploit its vulnerabilities but the world is a
witness of the resilience and perseverance of the Pakistani nation that despite
its problems it has continued to fight and adapt and respond to all the Indian
challenges that it has so far thrown at it. With most of the Indian premises
about Pakistan going wrong it is still not late for the Indians to understand
that if ‘Pakistan stagnates or is troubled, India will also not remain immune’.
It is for India to decide whether to entrench against or engage with Pakistan.
For India, living with Pakistan as a friendly neighbour that engages in
dialogue to reach political ends rather than bullying with threats of surgical
strikes should be the right strategic option. Simply put, for PM Modi to
continue to seek and to push Pakistan to a corner and proudly boast that “India
has been able to isolate Pakistan internationally” is an Indian policy that in
coming days will no more be sustainable. India tried a full-scale ‘policy of
isolation’ against Pakistan — this policy of isolation and non-engagement only
increased unprecedented risks and uncertainty in the relations between the two
countries. The year 2019 may finally prove to be the deathbed of flawed
built-up Indian premises, policies and narrative against Pakistan. Through
hardships, tests and trials what Pakistan has managed to do is ‘find its way’. In the coming days not Pakistan but it’s
India that would be under the ‘world’s spotlight’ to ‘mend its way’ in Kashmir.
Even PM Modi and the whole India knows it.
3.
Kashmir Update 3:
Week December,30,2018 January ,6,2019
1.
Arab News, Dec., 30, 2018: The
war-torn disputed territory is now a place on the universe where the mothers
often receive the dead body of their sons, fathers announce the venue and time
for their funeral prayers, and sisters throw candies and flowers on their
funeral procession. When a rebel dies, thousands of people pour out onto the
streets and shout pro-freedom slogans. During their funeral prayers, the venue
and the lanes and by-lanes remain choked with the rush of people. Most of the
time, when the mourners don't find space on the ground, they climb trees to
have the last glimpse of slain armed insurgent and bid farewell to him. To wipe
out the armed insurgency and crush the dissent of the public, India has
increased military deployment, making this small region highest militarized
zone in the world. IAK is rife with stories of killing, maiming, enforced
disappearance, custodial The list compiled by the rights group, Jammu Kashmir
Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) reveals till November 24, 520 people
including 144 civilians, 234 armed rebels and 142 Indian armed force and Police
were killed in IAK this year killings, rape, torture, crackdowns and censorship
on media. n June this year, the United Nations Human Rights office released a 49-page
report on human rights violation in Indian-Administered Kashmir and
Pakistan-Administered Kashmir. It was first ever report issued by UN on
Kashmir.
Kashmir Update 1:
Week December,16,2018 December,22,2018
1.
DECEMBER 15, 2018 07:56 PM Srinagar,
Kashmir, : Indian forces who were exchanging fire
with insurgents in disputed Kashmir on Saturday fatally shot at least seven
civilians when large crowds descended on the site of the gun battle in support
of the militants, police and residents said. Residents accused troops of
directly spraying gunfire into the crowds. Police said in a statement that they
regretted the killings but that the protesters had come "dangerously
close" to the fighting. The violence started as troops surrounded a
village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there.
Gunmen jumped out of a civilian home and took positions in an apple orchard
while firing at soldiers and counterinsurgency police, said Muneer Ahmed Khan,
a top police officer. Residents said at least two
civilians, including a teenage boy, were killed away from the gunbattle.
Soldiers in an armored vehicle fired at a small group of civilians away from
the battle site, and as the vehicle jammed on a roadside, the troops fatally
shot one of them, said Ubaid Ahmed. Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday announced that Kashmiri
people, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) group, “will
march towards Badami Bagh Army cantonment on Monday [December] 17” to ask the
Indian forces to “kill all of us at one time rather than killing us daily”.
2.
Norway’s Ex-PM Visit Kashmir:
to clear Decks
for Manmohan-Musharraf Formula with Govt’s Blessing. Former R&AW chief and Kashmir advisor to former
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, AS Dulat, said that the fact that Bondevik
could travel all the way to Srinagar and meet Geelani meant that New Delhi was
also on board. Also known as the Musharraf formula or the Manmohan-Musharraf
formula or Chemab solution, the four-point formula is basically an idea of
demilitarization, maximum autonomy, making border irrelevant, and joint
management of the region. Refer to https://javedrashid.blogspot.com/2018/08/chenab-formula-musharrafs-four-point.html for more details of
the Chemab formula
3.
December, 18,2o18: Indian authorities
imposed a total curfew in parts of Srinagar and locked down several parts of
occupied region on Monday as police fired tear gas at protesters defying a
curfew to march against the shooting death of 11 civilians in Pulwama at the
weekend.Police and Indian
para-military forces put up barricades in various parts of Srinagar and
patrolled in force to prevent a march towards the Indian army headquarters in
Badami Bagh area. Authorities had also shut down mobile, internet and train
services.The call for the march was given by the Joint Resistance Leadership
(JRL), comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin
Malik, against the killings by Indian troops in Pulwama district at the
weekend. On Saturday, the Indian troops killed as many as 11 Kashmiri youth
during a cordon and search operation and firing of live ammunition on
protesters in the Kharpora Sirnoo area of Pulwama. The Indian army, in a
statement late on Sunday, warned the people against protesting.
5.
New
Delhi, December 18 (KMS): Former Indian Supreme Court judge,
Justice Markandey Katju has criticized the Indian Army Chief, General Bipin
Rawat, for carrying out the massacre of civilians in Pulwama district of
occupied Kashmir. Reacting sharply to the killing of 11 Kashmiris in firing by
Indian troops in Pulwama on Saturday, Katju¸ who has also been the chairman of
the Press Council of India, satirically wrote on twitter: “Congratulations to
Gen Rawat whose soldiers killed 7 civilians in a Jallianwala Bagh or My Lai
type massacre in Pulwama, Kashmir. How brave of the Indian Army General.” »
6.
Parveena
Ahanger Dec.,19,2018: Founder and Chairperson of the
Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and a human rights
activist in J&K, said that if people wanted to protest, they weren’t
allowed to do so. “Forces in Kashmir are killing people indiscriminately. All
the laws are made for Kashmiri people (referring to the Armed Forces Special
Power Act),” she said.“I have travelled to many countries to inform them about
the disappearance of people in Kashmir. However, they said that India never
talks about what Kashmiris are facing,” Ahanger said, adding that “they are
killing one complete generation of Kashmir.”
8.
11.