Minor Children and the Struggle for Freedom of Kashmir (JR 224)

Minor Children and the Struggle for Freedom of Kashmir (JR 224)

Introduction

Children are the worst sufferers in a war zone. They are deprived of a normal childhood and are most times afraid and under stress. The children of Indian Occupied Kashmir, had to suffer even more as the Indians were and are aping Israeli policies and procedures, these allow imprisonment of children and use of brutal police force against children. The use of pellet guns by Indian Occupation forces has resulted in loss of eyesight and serious damages to the eyes to numerous children. 107,775 have been orphaned since 1989

The children of Kashmir are facing violence and armed conflicts. In this light it is important to remember the Optional Protocol to the Convention relating to the Rights of the Child, regarding the involvement of children in armed conflicts of 2000, in order to gain an understanding of the difficult problems that children growing up in violence are facing. Although this refers to child soldiers, it also concerns ongoing state violence, which children are undeniably facing every day if their region is at war.

The main issues children are facing in the region currently are violence and lack of education. As stated by a report created by Indian economists and activists, boys have been abducted during midnight raids by the security forces, and girls and women have been molested during nighttime raids by officers  Although thorough, the report does not include any video interview evidence from ordinary people that the Indian researchers encountered. However, there is a reason for this: parents fear speaking about it in the event that the raids are filed in the Public Security Act cases. The parents’ statement of their boys’ disappearance could lead to their arrest due to interference with state security. Indeed, the raids have installed fear on Kashmiris.

Malnutrition

Furthermore, Indian researchers report on lack of food, milk and basic needs throughout the population. This has quite negative effects on children, who are still growing, in need of proper resources for their growth. In regards to health, people have been prevented from travelling to the hospitals, too unsafe considering the current situation.  The report has been a useful source of information in a country which is currently facing a media blackout, with journalists unable to travel within the region.

Education

The second main issue that children have been facing is lack of education. Around mid-August 2019, Indian authorities ordered the primary schools to reopen, after having closed them on August 5. They are still opening schools, where restrictions no longer apply. Due to the ongoing conflict, which in practice translates itself to conflicts in the streets and clashes with security forces, parents have been reluctant to bring their children to school. In fact, the lack of safety has lead some parents to state that education is less important than the safety of their children. Children need a safe environment in which they feel comfortable in order to attend school and be in a working environment.

Besides human and economic losses, education has taken a major hit in Indian-administered Kashmir due to conflict and clampdowns. On Feb. 24, nearly 1.2 million students attended classes for the first time in almost seven months, since India revoked limited autonomy and divided the region into two centrally administered units. But analysts say, in an unpredictable situation, there was no guarantee of their proper functioning. Since the 2008 civilian uprising, the schools and business establishment have seen many shutdowns in the region. Mohammad Hamza, 12, a student of standard 6 class, said he was preparing for a class test scheduled last year Aug. 5, when the government ordered the closure of all educational institutions. No reason was given. Young Hamza least understood what was happening around as he was grappling with a mathematical problem.“The chaos and uncertainty soon gripped me. I saw for the first time my mother was not interested in my class tests, but my safety,” he told Anadolu Agency. Following the controversial move, authorities on two occasions announced the reopening of schools. But students stayed away amid the ongoing restrictions and concerns among parents about the children's safety.“I thought bombs are being dropped and my school will be in rubbles. I remember helicopters and fighters zooming on skies during the whole night. I was unable to sleep,” said Hamza. Since Aug.5 last year, Hamza said he has remained confined to his home only.“There was no communication with the friends or with any of relatives due to commination clampdown. The only shelter was to sit in a corner of a room," he added.

For the child every single day was boring, with no activity, just staring from windows to find someone to talk with. Last time in 2016, soon after the killing of a militant commander Burhan Wani, educational institutions remained closed for eight months as unrest plagued the region. While at that time, schools in South Kashmir bore the maximum brunt, during the last seven months, the whole Kashmir Valley has witnessed continuous closure of schools.

Due to uncertainty looming large, parents refused to send children to schools, even though the government tried to open schools. “The day used, to begin with, uncertainty and end with uncertainty. Which parent in the world would send children to school in such a situation?” asked Shaheena Akhter, a mother. 

"We want to secure the future of children. We cannot afford more loss to their education," he said. Io compensate for the loss, the number of academic days has been increased from 180 to 200 for primary and 210 days for middle classes for the year 2020.For now, Hamza is back to school, studying and playing with his friends. But in current times ravaged with uncertainty and marked by clampdowns, nobody knows how long the optimism lasts.

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

Students: Nov., 30, 2019: Access to mobile, landline and internet networks were suspended along with a complete lockdown in the Indian administered Kashmir region on August 5, 2019  After more than two months, the government partially restored the communication blockade. Internet access has been restored in some institutions and new rules force companies to give up their privacy and refrain from the use of social networks if they want to use the Internet. However, regular citizens still have no access to Internet. The Internet ban is taking a toll on the 48,000 Kashmiri students who are appearing at different public examinations. Many students were in the dark regarding their examination dates. Because of the “Security Measures” taken after the abrogation of Special Status of Jammu and Kashmir allotted under Article 370 of Indian Constitution, schools were closed and students could not prepare fully for examinations. They worry about qualifying for the upcoming examination.  https://globalvoices.org/2019/11/29/inside-kashmirs-internet-blockade-video-report-with-kashmiri-students-affected-by-the-crisis/

Education and Kashmir: Dec., 2. 2019: Already delayed by four months, the end of semester examination is yet to take place in most of the graduate courses in Kashmir. “For now there is no formal date sheet for the examination. Our exams were to be completed in late August of this year and so our graduation but still we are waiting for the exams to take place,” another student media student Zulkilfah Shakeel told Anadolu Agency.The delay in examinations has cost students in different ways, some are not able to prepare for entrance examinations. Some are not able to go for internships and some are not able to go abroad for higher studies because of their pending degrees. The students, particularly from rural areas, received a setback in their prospectus of educational career when administrative orders were issued to close hostels of the varsities across Kashmir Aug. 4. The hostels of Kashmir are still closed for rural students who are facing immense hardships in postgraduate exams which were notified recently. For now the students find it hard to appear for exams although the administration at the varsity level asked students to appear for exams in satellite campuses but students from South Kashmir told Anadolu Agency it does not make any difference. They have to travel the same distance to the satellite campus or the main campus of Kashmir University. He also said because of no transportation, students are suffering badly. “I had to travel for four hours to reach to Kashmir University to appear in my first paper. It is very difficult situation,” the student said. The classwork at schools, colleges and universities of Kashmir has remained suspended after the Aug. 5 lockdown which severely affected the education sector of the region. “These four months have been hard. We couldn’t read anything at our homes. The mind was already occupied with external disturbances and volatile situations,” Sanam Mukhtar, a high school student told Anadolu Agency. As the condition of businesses, trade, health care and livelihood remains dismal in the region but the future of education of children stare cluelessly at a blank with dejection and helplessness among them. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/lockdown-puts-education-in-kashmir-on-back-burner/1660514

Cost of struggle to children

Children orphaned: Jan., 4, 2019: As per the reports, over 31 children have been killed in 2018, while many human rights organizations have put the number of orphans in Kashmir as more than 30,000 in last three decades. The year 2018 has been the deadliest in last one decade, with highest number of killings and increased number of incidents of violence. In absence of the political initiatives on the disputed nature of the region, it has only been the violence that has grown over the years, and it has left countless orphans dotting the bloodied political canvas of Kashmir’s tragic history. December 2018 has been the deadliest year in Indian Occupied Kashmir

violation of child rights by India in Kashmir Feb., 4, 2019::  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.  

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

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.  

Minor arrests after Aug 5

Farhan Farooq, a skinny 13-year-old with a tuft of black hair, was the youngest. Suddenly, a police vehicle came to a stop next to them and armed officers jumped out in the August twilight. They bundled the three friends into the car, one of the other boys recalled later. Farhan began to cry. For the next week, Farhan’s family said, he was held in a jail cell at the local police station in this Kashmiri town 10 miles outside of Srinagar, part of a sweeping crackdown by Indian authorities in the wake of the government’s decision to strip Kashmir of its autonomy and statehood.

Farhan is among some 3,000 people detained in Kashmir since Aug. 5, according to an estimate from a senior local government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. It is unclear how many of the detainees were minors, but The Washington Post has confirmed that at least five Kashmiris younger than 18 have been taken into detention since the start of the crackdown.

“There is an atmosphere of fear in every house,” said Farhan’s mother, Nazia, adding that she did not know why her son was detained. “If they can pick up children, they can do anything.”   

Farhan and his friend Junaid Shafi Mir, 17, picked up on Aug. 5, were held in a cell with four others, with new detainees arriving and leaving each day, Junaid said. On the second day of their detention, he said, the two boys were asked to tell the police the whereabouts of another boy. When Junaid said he didn’t know the boy, an officer hit him with a wooden baton five times on his knuckles and palms, he recalled.

Nazia, Farhan’s \ mother, said that she came to see her son every day and that officers sometimes let her speak to him. “He would cry and ask me to take him home,” she said. “It was very difficult to see him like that.” 

Raids and detentions were still underway in recent days. About 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 24, Nisar Ahmad Mir, who is not related to Junaid, was awakened by a voice claiming to be a local cleric, asking him to open the gate to his home. Half a dozen armed policemen jumped over the wall and said they were looking for his youngest son, 17-year-old Danish, he said. They whisked the boy away.Two days later Danish had still not returned.

The Post confirmed two more cases in Srinagar in which police detained minors. 

Nowsheena Sheikh, 17, said her husband, Aquib, also 17, was detained on Aug. 22 when he left home to buy milk. The following day police told her he was being held at Srinagar’s central jail but did not give details of any charges against him. “I’m scared that they may transfer him out of the state,” said Sheikh, one of dozens of people who gathered at the city’s main prison complex on a recent morning searching for information about their relatives. “How will I ever find him then?”Her fears are not unfounded. One woman began sobbing after a guard handed her a note indicating that her relative had been moved to a jail in Uttar Pradesh, more than 600 miles away. She left immediately, clutching her 4-year-old daughter.

Some of the detentions are taking place under Kashmir’s controversial Public Safety Act, a state law that allows local officials to order that people be held for up to two years without charges or judicial review for reasons of national security.

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.

Children detained : Sep.,24,2019: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-india-49772269/the-detained-children-of-kashmir video of children being detained by Indian Occupation Forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir  #FreeKashmir #SaveKashmir. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2063006/3-helpless-kashmiri-families-fear-children-occupied-valley-report/ , Thousands of Kashmiri men – including minors – have been arrested in the name of maintaining order during nocturnal raids by Indian occupying forces. The BBC spoke to 17 Kashmiri families who said many children were illegally detained in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) by Indian forces. The British broadcaster interviewed some of the victims – with their faces hidden as they fear reprisals from Indian forces – who were still trying to forget the ordeal they went through. “We were beaten up at the camp and told, ‘you throw stones (at us), you seek freedom, what kind of freedom do you seek?’ I wished for death, so I didn’t have to watch the children being tortured,” said a Kashmiri man who was detained along with his 16-year-old son. He said they were picked up by the Indian army and then locked up at a police station for six days. “What could I do? I was powerless.” His son was badly affected by what happened to him and his father.“I feel very scared when it gets dark. I stay indoors. I can’t eat food or sleep at night. I am scared they will come back again,” said the boy. Lawyer Mir Urfi told the BBC how basic human rights were being “totally” neglected in the valley. “People are arrested, they are kept in custody, be it juveniles or be it majors, without legal justification, without being given access to their families, without being given access to legal aid. That is a basic human right that is available to every human being on this planet. And that is being totally denied to the Kashmiris,” she said. Another Kashmiri woman told the story of her 14-year-old son who was picked up by the Indian police in the dark. “They (Indian police) came around midnight. They took my husband away. Then they asked us to produce our son in exchange for my husband’s release,” said the woman. With weeks into the crackdown, the report continued, many Kashmiri families feared that their children might be next.

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

Afaan: Oct., 15, 2019:  Afaan, spent a fortnight in a prison in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOK), after police booked him under a stringent Public Safety Act (PSA). He was charged of protesting against Indian decision of revoking the special status to the region. A fortnight in a prison cell has completely changed Afaan, says his father Manzoor Ahmed Ganai. The Juvenile Justice Committee of the State High Court has confirmed the arrest of 144 juveniles. “He (Afaan) is very depressed and frightened. His whole body aches and there are visible scars on his back,” Ganai, told Anadolu Agency. A report prepared by the IOK Coalition of Civil society (JKCCS) and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), mentions how the detention of children was adding to the chaos. .https://tribune.com.pk/story/2080010/torture-detention-children-adds-rage-kashmir/ 

Children: Oct., 19, 2019: Children in Kashmir are prevented from accessing urgent medical care. Basic necessities — including baby food, milk and medicines are in short supply. Parents are not sending their children to school for fear they will be injured, detained or killed and have no way of communicating with them. Armed forces have illegally detained Kashmiri children and abused them, physically and sexually. Children have been shot in the eye by soldiers firing pellet guns and even marble slingshots. A 17-year-old boy recently died of tear gas and pellet gun injuries. Women in labor cannot access obstetric care for safe delivery, putting their newborns at risk. Fathers are randomly detained by the military; many disappear, leaving children behind. Local children’s organizations are being paralyzed by the blackout and lockdown while international organizations tasked with promoting children’s well-being, like UNICEF and Save the Children, have yet to initiate meaningful programs to address this crisis   https://www.insidesources.com/children-are-the-largest-casualty-of-the-kashmir-crisis/

Blinded children: Oct., 30, 2019:“Watching cartoons on TV, playing with my friends on the street, reading books for hours — this is what I dream of now,” says nine-year-old Asif Ahmad Sheikh, a Class 5 student from Anantnag.“I used to teach sewing and tailoring to girls in my village, but not anymore. Because of the injuries, I could not write my class 10 board exam,” says 17-year-old Ulfat Hameed, a Class 10 student from Baramulla.“When I went to a hospital in Srinagar, there were so many people that the doctors sent me back home as they did not have beds available,” says Bilal Ahmad Bhat, 17, another student from Baramulla. https://www.dawn.com/news/1513749?fbclid=IwAR2UMEnMz84kpK9IbkgtIEyefxDn0cQKR1AdKVReUfVraG8a_96vMZuIt5c

De-radicalization camps for children: Jan., 18, 2020:  Top Indian general had suggested putting young Kashmiri children in “de-radicalization camps”  The statement, which referred to Gen Rawat's remarks at the Raisina Dialogue 2020, added that as a perpetrator of “unabated state-terrorism in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOK)”, India is in no position to pontificate on the issue of terrorism.    https://www.dawn.com/news/1528918/fo-condemns-indian-generals-remarks-on-sending-kashmiri-children-to-deradicalisation-camps. Concentration camps: Jan., 18, 2020: In occupied Kashmir, India has planned to set up Nazi type concentration camps for the Kashmiri youth to starve, torture and kill them. A clear indication of the plan has been given by warmonger former Indian Army Chief and incumbent Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, while addressing a conference in New Delhi. He said that young Kashmiri children are being radicalized and they need to be identified and put in de-radicalisation camps. Rawat also claimed that Indian forces could not be blamed for injuries caused by pellet guns and that radicalised stone-pelters were “more dangerous” than the pellet guns. By emphasizing the need to deal with heavy hand in occupied Kashmir, General Rawat has pointed towards the Indian design to step up state terrorism in the territory. All Parties Hurriyat Conference and other liberation organizations in their statements have said that in the name of de-radicalization, the Kashmiri youth would be tortured in new camps. They said that General Bipin Rawat’s warning was a depiction of India’s militaristic approach towards the Kashmir dispute and was aimed at making the Kashmiri youth to shun their struggle. The organizations said New Delhi is using all brutal methods including torture to crush the Kashmiris’ liberation movement and bully them into accepting its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. They pointed out that despite killing over 95,000 innocent Kashmiris since 1989, Indian troops have failed to subdue the Kashmiri people’s resolve for securing freedom from the Indian yoke. Meanwhile, as the Juma congregational prayers culminated, people took to the streets in Srinagar, Badgam, Pulwama, Tral, Doda and other areas and held forceful anti-India demonstrations. The protesters raised high-pitched pro-freedom and anti-India slogans https://kmsnews.org/news/2020/01/17/india-plans-nazi-type-concentration-camps-in-iok-2/. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXYZPJ03p2U

HRW: Jan., 16,2020: The New York-based Human Rights Watch has criticized the Indian government for gross human rights violations including arrests, torture and communication blackout after abrogation of Kashmir’s special status in August, last year. Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2020 posted on its website said, Indian authorities also failed to protect religious minorities, used draconian sedition and counter-terrorism laws to silence peaceful dissent, and invoked foreign funding regulations and other laws to discredit and muzzle nongovernmental organizations, critical of government actions or policies. “  The report said, “Prior to its actions in Jammu and Kashmir, the government deployed additional troops …, shut down the internet and phones, and arbitrarily detained thousands of Kashmiris, including political leaders, activists, journalists, lawyers, and potential protesters, including children. Hundreds remain in detention without charge or under house arrest to prevent protests.” It said that the Indian government blocked opposition politicians, foreign diplomats, and international journalists from independent visits to occupied Kashmir. “The Indian government’s actions in Kashmir have led to loss of livelihood and access to education. independent recommendations, including by United Nations experts, the India government did not review or repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives soldiers effective immunity from prosecution for serious human rights abuses. The law is in force in occupied Kashmir and in several states in northeast India. The HRW said that in November, following a petition by child rights activists, the Indian Supreme Court sought a detailed report from the juvenile justice committee of occupied Kashmir High Court on the detention of children and other abuses during the lockdown imposed since August. The committee earlier submitted a police list of 144 detained children, the youngest being 9, it added.  https://kmsnews.org/news/2020/01/15/hrw-condemns-indian-government-over-atrocities-in-iok/

  

Women and the Struggle for freedom of the Kashmiri People (JR223)

 

Women’s rights in conflict area, a case study of Indian Administered Jammu and Kashmir
Dr. Shagufta Ashraf
March 20, 2021

Kashmiri women are the biggest victims of the ongoing conflict. They have suffered human rights abuses under the impunity of the suffocating Indian military presence in Indian administered Kashmir. According to statistics from Jammu and Kashmir state commission from women, a now defunct government institution is established to protect women and children rights to ensure quick prosecutions. Cases of domestic violence and general violence have been rising more than three thousand a year during the previous clampdowns in 2016 and 2017.

Let us view this problem, in the light of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. Since the founding of the United Nations, gender equality is the foremost agenda and has been among the most fundamental guarantees of human rights. Adopted in 1945, the Charter of the United Nations sets out as one of its goals “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, [and] in the equal rights of men and women”. Furthermore, Article 1 of the Charter stipulates that one of the purposes of the United Nations is to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms “without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion”. This prohibition of discrimination based on sex is repeated in its Articles 13 (mandate of the General Assembly) and 55 (promotion of universal human rights).

In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. It, too, proclaimed the equal entitlements of women and men to the rights contained in it, “without distinction of any kind, such as ... sex,”. In drafting the Declaration, there was considerable discussion about the use of Women’s Rights Are Human Rights of the term “all men” rather than a gender-neutral term. The Declaration was eventually adopted using the terms “all human beings” and “everyone” in order to leave no doubt that the Universal Declaration was intended for everyone, men and women alike.

I would like to discuss the status of women rights in conflicts, different Indian governments during the past seventy three years have architected the present disturbing scenario in Indian Administered Kashmir. The situation has worsened ever since the present government has assumed office in Delhi since 2014. This government systematically implemented a muscular policy and a doctrine of state is quelling the rebellion by force. This policy change has dangerous implications.

On 5th August India launched its intended assault to fracture the state of Jammu and Kashmir in two union territories. This scenario should be kept in mind when we are discussing women rights in Indian Administered Kashmir.

Widows and half widows

Ever increasing number of widows and half widows in Indian Administered Kashmir is a matter of great trauma as it reduces the grace and color of life of a woman. There is a long way to get freedom for women from the clutches of suppression and humiliation committed against them. Women of Indian Administered Kashmir die in silence. The economic, social and psychological status of widows devastates under the social patriarchy and inequality. In most of the cases she loses the property rights. There is no existence of initialization and rehabilitation. Most of the widows and half widows are from poor families. Half widows are such women whose husbands are subjected to enforced disappearances but have not been declared dead. These half widows live in isolation with little or no social or financial support. Most of the half widows have not remarried due to doubt about their husband’s fate and lack of consensus among Muslim scholars from this issue. According to a Kashmiri sociologist, Dr. Bashir Ahmed Dabla, the conflict has affected women and children more than any other group or class especially widows and orphans.

United Nations Security Council has stressed the need to survey and compensate women in Indian Administered Kashmir, whose husbands have been killed or maimed. The situation of widows and half widows is an eye opener for the world if it realizes that more needs to be done rather than observing an international day for widows.

People of Indian Administered Kashmir are frequently facing human rights violations. India as a party to the dispute has failed to protect human rights. The right to live a respectful life without external interference is a dream for all, especially women, but this right has not been granted to the women of Indian Administered Kashmir. Indian army denied, distorted and buried all evidence and suppressed the truth.

Kunan and Poshpora in the India-administered Kashmir was such an incident that had changed the social and mental life of our women when 150 girls and women were raped that night; nearly 200 men were tortured. Barns became torture chambers. The next morning, as one can well imagine, was marked by immense horror and paralyzing pain. And yet, justice is elusive over all these years, as the Indian army has continued to exercise brutality and has enjoyed complete impunity, thanks to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). The controversial law lets Indian Army personnel enter any premise at any time in the Valley, without a search warrant, and use lethal force, if they deem it necessary. The Indian state has continuously avoided responsibility for abuses at the hands of the Army. Human rights groups have repeatedly condemned extrajudicial killings by Indian forces [BBC report].

The Shopian rape and murder case is the abduction, rape and murder of two young women allegedly by local Indian army, in mysterious circumstances between 29 and 30 May 2009 at Bongam, Shopian district in the Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. Two women who were sisters-in-law went missing from their orchard on the way home on 29 May 2009. The next morning, their bodies were found both one kilometer apart. Local police rejected the allegations saying that the women appeared to have drowned in a stream.

There has been no justice since and that is what they mean when they say justice denied. “The killers, the rapists are the ones who are doing the investigation,” says the father of one. How can you trust a system that is run by the very people who are part of the society that questions the integrity of a woman who has been raped?,

Eight year A. was kidnapped and gang raped and then murdered by the priest and government servants in a temple in Kathua, in Indian-administered Kashmir. On the morning of 17 January, Muhammad Yusuf Pujwala was sitting outside his home in Kathua when one of his neighbors came running towards him. He stopped in front of Me Pujwala and broke the news: they had found his eight-year-old daughter, A. B.. Her body lay in bushes in the forest, a few hundred meters away. The Indian Administered Kashmir valley has a turmoiled relationship with India - the way women and children have been targeted.

I demand an impartial investigation of all these cases by international organizations. The way women and children are used as weapons of war is alarming. Indian rule from 1989 to 2020 has increased pain among women and their families by arresting their only bread earners and kept in different Indian jails. Despite the fact that 187 countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), discrimination against widows has been ignored. Before conclusion it needs to be emphasized that every conflict has many consequences. Oppression and state sponsored terrorism are responsible for increasing the population of widows, half widows and rape victims. Enlightened opinion of the world must converge to resolve the conflict by redeeming their democratic right to choose their future as per United Nations Charter and United Nations resolutions.

Dr. Shagufta Ashraf is the Head, Department Banking and Finance, University of Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Note: This petition was submitted to the Under Secretary General of the United nations Women during the 65th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65) which is meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, March 15 – 26, 2021. She can be reached at: xhagufta@yahoo.com

Kashmir Update 99: Week Oct.,26, 2020 to Nov.,1, 2020 1. War with China and Pakistan: BJP’s Uttar Pradesh chief Swatantra Dev said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided when the country would be at war with Pakistan and China. His remarks on Friday came amid tension at the Line of Actual Control between India and China, where the two countries have massed troops. The BJP leader linked his claim to the beginning of construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya following a Supreme Court judgment, and the abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. Like the decisions on Ram Mandir and Article 370, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided when there would be war with Pakistan and China, he is heard saying in a video clip on social media.“Sambandhit tithi tai hai,” he said in Hindi, claiming that a decision has been taken on the date. 2. Youth martyred: Oct., 29, 2020:In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred two Kashmtiri youth in Badgam district, today.The youth were martyred during a violent cordon and search operation which was launched by the troops in Machowa area of the district, last evening https://kmsnews.org/news/2020/10/28/indian-troops-martyr-two-kashmiri-youth-in-badgam-3/ 3. UK MPs on Kashmir: Oct., 30,2020: The British parliamentarians have recognised that Kashmir has become a “cross-party” issue in the UK following the launch of “Conservative Friends of Kashmir” (CFoK) recently. Addressing a parliamentary webinar organised by the Pakistan High Commission in connection with Kashmir Black Day on October 27, the speakers condemned the continuous military siege in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) since August 5 last year and ongoing human rights violations committed by the Indian occupation forces with impunity. According to a statement, High Commissioner Moazzam Ahmad Khan presided over the webinar, which was addressed by President Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Sardar Masood Khan, a large number of cross-party British parliamentarians — including Debbie Abrahams MP, Chairperson All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Kashmir, Paul Bristow MP, Chairperson CFoK, Steve Baker MP, Lord Qurban Huassain, Imran Hussain MP, Mohammad Yasin MP, Andrew Gwynne MP, Alex Sobel MP, Rachel Hopkins MP, Richard Burgon MP, Tracy Brabin MP, Afzal Khan MP, Khalid Mahmood MP, Naz Shah MP, John Howarth ex-MEP, Anthea McIntyre ex-MEP, Wajid Khan ex-MEP, and Richard Corbett ex-MEP. It was demanded that India should repeal draconian laws, end military siege, lift communication blockade and release political prisoners in IIOJK immediately. The British parliamentarians said they would continue to raise the human rights issue in the UK Parliament and other platforms. They also urged India to allow access to human rights and humanitarian organisations on its side. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/736164-uk-mps-recognise-kashmir-as-cross-party-issue 4. NGOs raided: Oct., 30, 2020: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday had carried out raids on the offices of several non-governmental organisations (NGOs), human rights activists and Greater Kashmir, a local daily, in Srinagar. The raid was also conducted on a house in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.“A case was registered under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967 on receipt of credible information that certain NGOs and Trusts are collecting funds at home and abroad through donations and business contributions etc; and are utilising these funds for secessionist and terrorist activities in J&K,” an NIA spokesman said. Raids were conducted on the residence and office of Khurram Parvez, co-ordinator of J&K Coalition of Civil Society; his associates Parvez Ahmad Bukhari, Parvez Ahmad Matta, Swati Sheshadri; who is based in Bengaluru; Parveena Ahanger, the chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons ( APDPK), and NGO Athrout and GK Trust, among others, the spokesperson said. 5. “Several incriminating documents and electronic devices have been seized. Further investigation is in progress,” he added. Bukhari, a journalist, works for a foreign news agency. The Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) has expressed its concern over the pre-dawn NIA raids on Greater Kashmir’s premises. “Kashmir media continues to be targeted, demonised, vilified and raided by both state and non-state actors for a long time now,” KEG said in a statement condemning the raids. “This is despite the adversity of an extraordinary situation and the mounting challenges day in and day out,” it added. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/j-k-nia-raids-ngo-offices-human-right-activists-newspaper-office-in-srinagar/story-AXuuzi4YrHOmRf1RAFbSTP.html 6. Azerbaijan and Kashmir: Oct., 30, 2020: Azerbaijan has expressed support to Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute besides the concern shown over the plight of Kashmiri people suffering immense abuse in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Ombudsperson of Azerbaijan Sabina Aliyeva expressed solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir at an event organized by Pakistan’s embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan in connection with Kashmir Black Day. Aliyeva said she was “proud to stand with Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir”.She made a special mention of the killing of children by the Indian forces and compared it to Azerbaijani children killed due to recent Armenian bombardment on civilian population https://nation.com.pk/29-Oct-2020/azerbaijan-supports-pakistan-s-stance-on-kashmir-dispute 7. AI: Oct., 1, 2020: The Indian government must immediately halt its intensifying suppression of dissent, said Amnesty International, following a series of raids by counter-terrorism forces on the homes and premises of civil society groups, human rights defenders and journalists in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) region on Wednesday 28 October. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the country’s premier anti-terror agency, raided the residences and offices of prominent human rights activists Khurram Parvez, the co-ordinator of J&K Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), three of his associates and Parveena Ahanger, Chairperson of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). Both organizations have reported extensively on human rights abuses in Kashmir, including the indefinite administrative detention and extrajudicial execution of human rights defenders, torture of people in detention and the widespread impunity of the security forces in the region. Further raids were carried out on the offices of the NGOs Athrout and GK Trust and on the residence of Agence France-Presse’s Kashmir correspondent Parvez Bukhari. These raids are an alarming reminder that India’s government is determined to suppress all dissenting voices in Jammu and Kashmir. Julie Verhaar, Acting Secretary General of Amnesty International “These raids are an alarming reminder that India’s government is determined to suppress all dissenting voices in Jammu and Kashmir. The authorities are evidently targeting these civil society and media groups because of their continued work reporting and advocating for the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir despite a harsh communications blackout that was imposed by the Indian government in the region since 5 August 2019,” said Julie Verhaar, Acting Secretary General of Amnesty International. “In a worrying pattern, the UAPA and the foreign funding law are being repeatedly and deliberately weaponized to intimidate, harass and restrict the ability of civil society groups from operating, in clear violation of their rights to freedom of expression and association.” The raids come after Amnesty International India was forced to halt its work and let go of its employees in the country from 1 October 2020 after its bank accounts were frozen by the government, shortly after it released a Situation Update on human rights in Jammu & Kashmir. In September 2020, APDP submitted almost 40 testimonies of victims who were subjected to arbitrary detention and torture by security forces in Kashmir, to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. On 5 August 2020, JKCCS published its bi-annual human rights review documenting the extrajudicial executions of at least 32 individuals and the impact of internet shutdowns in the region. Both UAPA and FCRA have been criticized by UN human rights experts for their overarching nature, which is used to criminalise religious minorities, political dissidents and human rights defenders. In October 2020, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Michelle Bachelet appealed to the government of India to review the FCRA and its compliance with international human rights norms, and regretted that it was being “used to deter or punish NGOs for human rights reporting”. Since 2014, several organizations have been targeted under the foreign funding law, including Greenpeace India, Lawyers Collective, Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns, Sabrang Trust, Navsarjan Trust, Act Now for Harmony and Democracy, NGO Hazards Centre, and Indian Social Action Forum. In September 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCRA was further amended, without any public consultation, to choke civil society in India. On 19 October, the office of the Kashmir Times, a news daily was sealed by the Jammu & Kashmir Estates Department. Since 5 August 2019, Anuradha Bhasin, the editor of Kashmir Times has spearheaded the litigation in the Supreme Court of India against the shutdown of internet and telephone services in Jammu & Kashmir https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/10/india-counter-terror-raids-on-civil-society-groups-signal-escalating-crackdown-on-dissent/ 8. 9. 10. Human rights violations HR Violations (From Jan 1989 till Sep 30, 2020) Total Killings * 95,686 Custodial Killings 7,147 Civilian arrested 161,037 Structures Arsoned/Destroyed 110,367 Women Widowed 22,920 Children Orphaned 107,802 Women gang-raped / Molested 11,219 (Sep 2020) Total Killings * 19 Custodial Killings 1 Tortured/Injured 16 Pellet Injured : 4 Persons whose sight in one eye has damaged 0 Persons whose one or both eyes are injured 0 Civilian arrested 88 Structures Arsoned/Destroyed 14 Women Widowed 2 Children Orphaned 4 Women gang-raped / Molested 0 From July 8, 2016) Atrocities by Indian Troops (Jan-Sep 2020 ) Total Killings * 211 Custodial Killings 11 Tortured/Injured 600 Total pellet Injured 134 Persons whose sight in one eye has damaged 8 Persons whose one or both eyes are injured 21 Civilian arrested 2635 Arson (Houses etc) 910 Women Widowed 8 Children Orphaned 17 Women gang-raped / Molested 44 (Aug 5, 2019- Sep 30, 2020) (Aug 5, 2019- Sep 7, 2020) Total Killings * 233 Custodial Killings 17 Tortured/Injured 1406 Total pellet Injured 441 Persons whose sight in one eye has damaged 19 Persons whose one or both eyes are injured 144 Civilian arrested 13768 Arson (Houses etc) 960 Women Widowed 11 Children Orphaned 26 Women disgraced / Molested Kashmir Media service

Women and the Struggle for freedom of the Kashmiri People (JR223)

Introduction

Women have been at the receiving end of this occupation as direct and indirect victims of violence by the State. Women have lost their loved ones; husbands, brothers and sons, some of whom were killed and some never returned. This gave rise to a new sub-category among women, called ‘half-widows’, women living in the hope of knowing whether their husbands are alive or dead. Moreover, rapes have been used by the Indian armed forces against Kashmiri women, and the figures are alarming; even though these cases have been documented by international investigating agencies such as Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, the majority of such cases continue to remain unreported.

Women have paid a very heavy price in this struggle for freedom of Kashmir. The cost to women, since 1989, could be summarized as: 11179 raped; 22192 widowed; and some portion of the 96000 dead were women. . At least 667 women have been martyred by Indian troops since January 2001 to 2019.  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. 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.  

Women were and are in the forefront in the struggles for freedom. They did not chose to stay back under the garb of orthodoxy but came out to the streets, as a result of which many lost their lives and many more were victims of pellet attack, some lost their eyesight’s.

Contribution by Women

Some contributions of Women are summarized as follows:

Apart from the thousands of nameless women, fighting pitched battles with armed forces on streets and women fighting the state legally or in political spaces, there are younger women who are challenging narratives, one at a time, breaking the long silence that the Indian state has managed to maintain around Kashmir and its realities. Iffat Fatima, an independent film-maker has made a documentary ‘Khoon diy baarav’ (Blood leaves its trails) that revolves around the question of the whereabouts of thousands of disappeared people in Kashmir. Uzma Falak, a young poet and researcher, uses poetry as a form of expression remembering countless incidents that mark the Indian occupation of Kashmir. Ocean of Tears, a documentary on Kunan Poshpora Mass Rape in Kashmir

https://youtu.be/JwGXYw5vf3w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwGXYw5vf3w

Women Detained: The report said that several women including Hurriyat leaders, Aasiya Andrabi, Fehmeeda Sofi and Naheeda Nasreen were and are facing illegal detention. They are being victimized only for the reason that they represent the Kashmiri people’s aspirations.

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.”

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

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  

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

Women of Kashmir: Oct.,14,2019P: “As feminists, women’s rights activists, peace, democratic and civil rights’ activists, lawyers, academics, students, journalists, scientists, artists, writers, etc., we raise our voice today in salute and solidarity with the women of Kashmir. About 500 individual women and women’s organisations from about 30 countries across the globe—ranging from South Asian nations to the US, Iran to Indonesia, Afghanis-tan to Argentina, Europe to Mexico, Israel, Palestine, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa—stand with them in this, their darkest moment. We condemn the actions of the Indian Government and their dealing with a political problem as a territorial one.”  We call for an end to the culture of fear and terror, violence and assault that has been cultivated in the state for far too long;  We speak out against the continued detention of countless people of the state and demand their immediate release; We seek an immediate end to the Internet shutdown, lift on all restrictions on movement and communications, and a restoration of real ‘normalcy’.; We call for restrictions be lifted in order to allow the independent media in Kashmir to carry out its duty of reporting facts and informing the public, without fear or favour;  We urge the Indian Government to step back from its current aggressions and stop the militarisation that has failed to solve the problem since independence;  We seek a reinstatement of consultative processes with the people of Jammu and Kashmir on any action that concerns them, their lives and their community; We call for an end to the smokescreens of Kashmir being an ‘internal matter’ etc., to avoid meaningful dialogue. For that is the only way to evolve a long lasting peaceful solution to Kashmir. Because like the women of Kashmir, we have also, all too often, been told that the violence and control we face in the home, family, community and nation is an ‘internal matter’, not to be exposed to the world. But we all have lived and learnt the reality, that it is only in breaking our silence that we break the shackles of our oppressions. And in that fight, we StandWithKashmir, Stand with the Women of Kashmir! http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article9039.html

Women’s protest: Oct., 16, 2019: In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops arrested several women after subjecting them to brute force during an anti-India demonstration in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar, today.. A large number of women including rights activists and leading academicians carrying placards gathered at the Pratap Park in Srinagar. As they started the march, the police swooped in on them and arrested several women including the daughter and the sister of former puppet Chief Minister of occupied Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, during the protest against the revocation of Kashmir’s special status. Ms Hawa Bashir, the wife of former Chief Justice of IOK High Court, Bashir Ahmed Khan, was also among the detainees. The protesters were dragged and subjected to torture by the police. This was the first anti-India protest of its kind in Lal Chowk area, the center of Srinagar, after 5th August 2019. https://kmsnews.org/news/

US hearings: Oct., 23, 2019: The United States on Tuesday renewed calls on India to ease its clampdown in Kashmir as several lawmakers voiced anger at actions by a country that usually enjoys strong US support. Alice Wells, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia, said that the United States “remains concerned” about the impact of India’s actions in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. “We have urged Indian authorities to respect human rights and restore full access to services, including internet and mobile networks,” she told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee. Representative Ilhan Omar, a prominent first-term Democratic lawmaker and one of the few Muslims in Congress, charged that Kashmir is part of a pattern against Islam by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Brad Sherman, Chairman of the panel, said that the hearing will focus on the occupied valley where thousands of people had been detained ever since India revoked Article 370.. “Many political activists have been arrested and daily life, the internet, and telephone communications have been interrupted,” said Sherman in a statement. He said that food, medicine and other essentials will also be reviewed in the hearing. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have expressed concern about human rights in Kashmir in recent months. 

US House hearings South Asia: Oct., 23, 2019: recent happenings in Indian Occupied Kashmir were discussed and concern expressed. Ms. Spanberger. , Ms. Jayapal, Mr, Brown. Ms. Wells.  . Health, communications and diplomatic access were raised. Ms. Omar raised BJP and Modi’s close relations with racism and violence. They are also involved in crimes against Muslims.  . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMMiVJr-A4U

US House hearings Part II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8UH4v-mv4. US House hearings on human rights in South Asia, Vol II; Ms. Kaul: .RSS is akin to Nazis: Kashmir is not a communal issue it has been communalized; Jummu massacre is an enlarged version of Janllianwala massacre; the question is about the consent of the people; Ms. Chatterji- Hindu majoratism is driving events in Kashmir; Shan and Modi were part of Gujarat massacre they have not apologized; the intent of this change is potentially genocidal; Mr. Bencosme- India threatened AI and raided offices etc. other NGO were also targeted; they have documented human rights violations in Kashmir; they have documented health issues n Kashmir; Dr. Mahmood- Kashmiri have been imprisoned by India; we are facing a very brutal regime; mental health is threathened; Ms. Houlahan- there have been numerous violent gender based incidents including rape and group rapes ; Mr. Levin- situation is very dire in occupied Kashmir; Assam tribunals do not meet international standards; Ms. Wild- no justification for the clamp down ; something has been hidden ; 370 abrogation is not a step to better women rights; union territory is a step backwards; Ms. Omar- Indian actions are wrongly termed as for the betterment of women rights; Mr. Lieu: violence against Christians is State sponsored; all other religions are persecuted; when the State sues violence and is also upholding justice is exactly why Kushneris want the matter to be internalized; Ms. Jayapal: laws are used to arbitrarily hold people or even kill people

Tom Lantos HRC: Nov., 15, 2019:  The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bi-partisan commission, held the hearing on Thursday to examine the human rights situation in Kashmir in its historical context, a statement issued at the Commission’s website said  Indian-American Congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, at the hearing said that she was deeply concerned by Indian government’s actions in Kashmir. “To detain people without charge, severely limit communications and block third parties from visiting, is harmful to our close and critical relationship,” the Democrat said. She was joined by other Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee, David Trone and David Cicilline, who criticised India’s actions after scrapping Kashmir’s special status. Arunima Bhargava, commissioner from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said that the rights of Muslim communities were being curtailed because of Indian government’s actions. “Throughout the country, political and community leaders are promulgating an ideology that suggests that to be Indian is necessarily to be Hindu and views India’s religious minorities as subordinate or foreign,” she told the hearing. “India’s religious minorities currently stand at a precipice. If the Indian government continues on its current trajectory, their livelihood, rights, and freedoms could be in serious danger,” she pointed out. On occupied Kashmir, Bhargava said, “USCIRF is concerned about reports starting in August that the Indian government restricted freedom of movement and assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, limiting people’s ability to attend prayers and participate in religious ceremonies; forestalling any large gatherings, including for religious purposes; and for certain communities, curtailing access to healthcare and other basic services.”She said mobile and internet services were denied to Kashmiris and healthcare was withheld by the Indian government. “USCIRF has also seen reports of mosques being closed; imams and Muslim community leaders arrested and detained; and violence and threats towards residents and businesses in particular,” she told the Commission. Bhargava, who is of Indian descent, said the restrictions in the region impacted the ability of people to “practice their faith”, visit their places of worship and exercise their rights. She claimed this was targeted at a certain community.. https://kmsnews.org/news/2019/11/15/2nd-congressional-hearing-us-lawmakers-express-concern-over-indias-actions-in-iok/

Women in Kashmir: Dec., 2, 2109: A women’s conference titled “Elimination of torture against women with special reference to Kashmir” was jointly organised by Kashmir Women’s Movement UK and Europe and Sheffield Sisters4Kashmir in the Town Hall’s Council Chambers in Sheffield in the English county of South Yorkshire.  On the sidelines of the conference an exhibition titled “Losing Sight in Kashmir – Bloom of the Dead Eyes” was also organised by Organisation ofKashmir Coalition (OKC). A video enumerating the atrocities committed on Kashmiri women by the Indian occupying forces was also screened on the occasion.  Zahira Naaz, introduced the event and said that humanitarian crises always have a gender angle, particularly those involving armed conflict adding that trends analysis by the United Nations in 2018 shows that sexual violence is factored into the broader strategy of conflict, with women and girls being disproportionately affected and It has been no different in Kashmir’s disturbed history. Nighat Hafiz took over from here and moderated the event. Mrs Shamim Shawl apprised the participants about the challenges and consequences of the recent developments created by a Hindu fascist regime who have started a systematic process to change the demographic profile of the state by crippling the economy and facilitating the Indian population to come into state to convert the Muslim majority into a minority. She said that these developments on one hand cripple the economy and on the other generate fear for economic migration. She appreciated Sheffield women to be in the front line to create awareness about the challenges at hand in occupied Kashmir. Rana Shama Nazir gave an overview of the dispute and explained its chronological evolution. She lamented that the promises with regard to self-determination remain unfulfilled. Gill Furniss pleaded for an ethical foreign policy and promised the conference that she would stand with Kashmir. She also referred to the harrowing atrocities that she had viewed in a Kashmir documentary shown to her by a constituent. She also pleaded that British envoy in the United Nations should play effective role on behalf of the government as it was incumbent on the British government to play a pro-active role.  . Shahad Abdul Salam said that occupation is a crime from Palestine to Kashmir. She also discussed the similar practices of Israel and India. She said that Israeli apartheid is travelling to Kashmir. Shahad believe that both Kashmir and Palestine need international solidarity to restore human dignity in these occupied lands. Maxine Bowler delivered the concluding remarks. She pleaded for making the women voices heard for raising the humanitarian concerns such as the sufferings of the locked down Kashmiris. The message from the conference is loud and clear that we all need to pool efforts to bring about a qualitative transformation in the British Foreign Policy regarding the Kashmir dispute and that she shell of bilateralism has to open up for international facilitation.The conferences emphasised that atrocities of a supremacist regressive and extreme right Indian government in Kashmir must come to an end and that the international solidarity should help Kashmiris to become masters of their destiny by choosing a political future of their choice. https://kmsnews.org/news/2019/12/02/plight-of-kashmiri-women-highlighted-at-seminar-in-uk/

US Congress: Jan., 14, 2020: The situation in Kashmir violates human rights, a US Congresswoman has said, as she joined as co-sponsors to a resolution urging India to end restrictions on communications and mass detentions in the newly created Union Territory. The resolution No. 745 that was introduced in the House of Representatives last year by Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal now has 36 cosponsors, of whom two are Republicans and 34 from the opposition Democratic Party."The situation in Kashmir violates human rights. Thousands have been detained unjustly & millions are without access to the internet & telephones," Congresswoman Debbie Dingell said in a tweet Monday night. "That's why I signed onto House Resolution 745 so the US can let the world know we will not stand by while these violations happen," she said. Dingell represents 12th Congressional District of Michigan.  . https://www.news18.com/news/world/situation-in-kashmir-violates-human-rights-says-us-congresswoman-joins-pramila-jayapals-resolution-2457079.html

UK member of Parliament denied entry: Feb., 17, 2020: Debbie Abrahams, a Labour Party Member of Parliament who chairs a parliamentary group focused on Kashmir, was unable to clear customs after her valid Indian visa was rejected. Abrahams has been an outspoken critic of the August 5, 2019 abrogation of Article 370. Shortly after the changes to Kashmir’s status were passed by Parliament, Abrahams wrote a letter to India’s High Commissioner to the UK, saying the action “betrays the trust of the people” of Kashmir. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/british-mp-debbie-abrahams-who-chairs-uk-kashmir-panel-denied-entry-to-india-6272305/?fbclid=IwAR215RLIyahdgxWlQq3wBl767kOiytMNgt3PDkk1R7z8bvfk4Yh83AysFyI

Claire Bidwell: A retired school teacher manages a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/worldkashmirteaparty/, she has taken up the cause of informing people of the plight of the Kashmiri people and has delivered a lecture  on the issue .

  Asya Andrabi :  founding leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the nation).This group is part of the separatist organisation 'All Parties Hurriyat Conference' in the Kashmir valley. The main aim of the organisation is to work for the separation of Kashmir from India.^[ Asiya Andrabi remains one of the most important women separatists in the valley Asiya Andrabi was married to Qasim Faktoo (a founding member of the Hizbul Mujahideen) in 1990. Her husband is in jail since 1992. By then, Asiya was already the head of Kashmir's biggest network of 'women jihadis' (as she describes her 'lieutenants of Dukhtaran-e-Millat'). Asiya Andrabi has taken part in various protests in the Kashmir valley. She is best known for supporting Masarat Alam in the 2010 stone-pelting rallies across Kashmir by using her village network of Dukhtaran-e-Millat operatives for rally support.^[She hoisted the Pakistan flag and sang the Pakistani national anthem in Kashmir on 25 March 2015. Later on, she was booked for unfurling the Pakistan flag on its national day in Srinagar. On 6 July 2018 Asiya was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), India's federal anti-terror organisation, for allegedly "waging war against India" and other unlawful activities.

Impacts upon women

Some impacts upon women are summarized as follows:

Human rights watch:  has also accused the Indian security forces of using children as spies and messengers, India army have targeted reporters and human rights activists, they have also been accused of committing over 200 rapes in an attempt to intimidate the local population. Wikileaks cables are reported to contain material stating that the International Committee of the Red Cross briefed US officials in India, alleging that India “condoned” torture and that “sexual penetration” formed part of the maltreatment of victims. "The ICRC alleged that of the 1296 detainees interviewed, 681 had reported of being tortured. Of those, 304 individuals complained of sexual torture/abuse. "In 2005 Médecins Sans Frontières conducted a survey in Kashmir which found that the number of people who had witnessed a rape in Kashmir since 1989 was comparably far higher than the number of people who had witnessed a rape in other conflict zones such as Chechnya and Sri Lanka. The survey found that 13% of respondents had witnessed rape and 11.6% of the interviewees had themselves been victims of sexual abuse since 1989"

LoC Violations: Jan., 10, 2019: a mortar shell fired by Indian troops from across the frontier in   Kashmir killed a woman as she was trying to reach a shelter during an exchange of fire between India and Pakistan. Akhtar Ayub says the woman, identified as Sajida Bibi, was “martyred” Wednesday when the shell hit her near the bunker in Bugna village north of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled section of Kashmir.

LoC Violations: Mar.,3,2019:   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.  

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.

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 . 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.

Blinded children: Oct., 30, 2019:“ I could not write my class 10 board exam,” says 17-year-old Ulfat Hameed, a Class 10 student from Baramulla  https://www.dawn.com/news/1513749?fbclid=IwAR2UMEnMz84kpK9IbkgtIEyefxDn0cQKR1AdKVReUfVraG8a_96vMZuIt5c

Women: Nov., 7, 2019: A mother unable to get updates from the hospital about her premature newborn. A bride who couldn't have the wedding of her dreams. The photojournalist who risks double harassment by security forces due to her profession and her gender. Life has been a struggle for ordinary Kashmiris Kashmiri women are suffering from the lockdown in their own less visible way. Zahida Jahangir's son was born premature and weak. He was rushed from the clinic where he was born to the neo-natal intensive care unit in a children's hospital across town. The lockdown made it nearly impossible to visit her son or even communicate with the hospital. Zahida was separated from her son for the first 20 days of his life, and though he is now healthy, the experience has created what she says is a pain only a mother could know and left her with regrets that will last a lifetime. Kulsuma Rameez's wedding was scheduled for during the lockdown and she was unable to go shopping for the wedding dress she dreamed of. Instead she was married in a borrowed dress at a small ceremony attended by a few relatives and neighbors. After the ceremony, she had to walk to her new home as the roads were blocked. Photojournalist Masrat Zahra was covering the first Friday protest since the lockdown when a police officer threatened to kick her. She notes that Kashmiri women can't leave their homes without a male companion out of fear they'll be harassed by soldiers. Nevertheless, she is undeterred. Ateeqa Begum has lived alone ever since her only son 22-year-old Fasil Aslam Mir, the family's sole breadwinner, was detained on his way home after fetching medicines for her on the day the lockdown began."My son has been shifted to a jail in an Indian city and I have no means to travel there to see him," she said.A doctor at a hospital in Indian Kashmir's main city, Sabahat Rasool says she's seen the lockdown forever alter lives. She tells the story of a pregnant woman who refused to be admitted to the hospital because she had no way to tell her family that she wouldn't be coming home and didn't want them to worry that she had been kidnapped. She was brought in unconscious the next day."She survived but lost her unborn baby," Sabahat said.https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/11/06/world/asia/ap-as-kashmir-women-photo-gallery.html

Video: Nov., 27, 2019: Three sisters narrate, 25 masked men smashed their window and barged into their house and grabbed their father Abdul Hameed Karim,, an administrator in the postal services. They took their mother Uncle and father to unknown location, . They destroyed everything owned by the family . The girls fear that they might not see their father again. SHO denied any involvement. A video prepared by a Western source details all this.

Kashmiri women: Nov., 28, 2019: Ahmad, a class 7 student, was equally afraid. The police first dragged his sister by the hair, and then thrashed her in front of Ahmad. His cousin's sister, Soliha Jan, couldn’t bear the scene and tried to intervene. The police didn’t budge and turned towards Soliha and beat her up as well. They kicked her in the stomach and also hit her back, they say as her family recalls the horrifying day in August. “Soliha vomited blood through her mouth and then fainted,” her mother said. She then took her to a city hospital where she underwent an X-ray. After a few more tests, the doctors advised that she be admitted to the emergency ward   While most of the detainees ahead of the revocation of Kashmir’s autonomy were men, the valley’s womenfolk also bore the brunt of state violence in multiple ways. For Soliha and her family, that day was the worst amidst the enforced clampdown, “I thought my daughter died when I saw her lying on the road,” her mother said. It took two weeks for her to recover. The 16-year-old girl hadn’t expected such harassment from the local police, “they don’t differentiate, didn’t even realise that I was a girl,” she said. For the last three months, Soliha has been suffering from nightmares of that incident and is finding it hard to focus, “my exams are coming, and I haven’t been able to study.”Since the incident took place, the family is afraid to talk to media.  “We fear that they will intimidate us if we will speak about it.” Such was the fear that during their conversations with TRT World, the brother of the victim stood guard outside his home, fearing that police might catch on and they'd be harassed. But it wasn’t torture alone. Kashmiri women also have to face the burden of navigating India’s tiring legal system to seek the release of their sons. When the Indian government clamped down on communication in Kashmir, families, and mothers of detainees had to visit several jails to find where their sons had been put up. A group of activists from India-including a social activist, Kavita Krishnan, travelled to Kashmir in August, after the abrogation of Article 370, and spoke to Indian media saying, “there was feeling a sense of betrayal, and people were angry at being denied the special status. The misery of residents was further aggravated as there was no communication, and the people were made to live like in an open jail, the activists claimed.” After Shakeela Bano’s son Shahid*, a 16-year-old from Srigufwara Anantnag, was detained by police in Anantnag and shifted him outside of Kashmir, she lost all hope that her son would be released anytime soon.“My son is a kid, how can any justice system in the universe put a minor under the Public Safety Act?” she asked.On August 4, Shahid was picked up by police who assured the family that he will be released the next morning. When the family went to the police station the next day, the same day Kashmir's autonomous status was revoked, police told them that they had shifted Shahid to Central jail Srinagar, 80kms from their place. After four days, he was shifted outside Srinagar into India proper, without informing the family. Shahid's PSA dossier shows that he was detained on charges of being affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terrorist organisation after he completed his 12th class examination. But the irony in his case was that he hadn’t even attended his 12th class board examination. “When I came to know that our son was shifted outside Kashmir, darkness fell before my eyes. Everything seemed blurred,” said Bano. Shahid's family had to file habeas corpus in the high court, and on September 20, the Supreme Court of India directed the Juvenile Justice Committee of Jammu and Kashmir High Court to examine allegations that children have illegally been detained. On October 1, the PSA of Shahid was revoked, and he was released on 29th September, two months after his initial detention. Bano, sitting next to her son, stares at him helplessly. She fears that her son will not be able to live the life he could before. Shahid, who is attending his 12th class board exams, now sits in his room but doesn’t study, “I don’t feel like studying now, I don’t want to remain confined in my room. I cannot believe that I am finally free,” he said.  The restrictions imposed by the Indian government have taken a heavy toll on access to healthcare and prevented many from reaching hospitals for urgent care. Dr Omar Salim, a doctor from Kashmir, protested in August outside a government hospital in Srinagar against the restriction on phones and internet in Jammu and Kashmir. He felt the blackout was preventing patients from receiving government health benefits.  Ameena Jan, a 30-year-old from the summer capital of Kashmir recently had to walk 10 kilometres to reach a hospital for a checkup. Jan who is eight months pregnant couldn’t take her husband along instead her mother had to walk with her amid teargas shelling which was going in her area at that time, “it is impossible for men to leave this place and go somewhere, when police see that they are from Soura, they arrest them.” Doctors have told Jan that she is anaemic and has to take proper care of her health, otherwise, it could lead problems for her baby, “but since the situation had turned bad in Kashmir, I had no other way but to skip going to the hospital.” For Jan, also having a proper diet in these conditions when her husband is not able to earn anything is impossible. A few weeks before when Jan had a checkup at the hospital, the tests revealed that the umbilical cord had got stuck around the fetus’ neck. Jan is apprehensive that the condition she faced was because of her situation.“My heartbeat would increase every time clashes would occur.” She also harboured fears that the army and police might barge into her home and take her husband when any clashes occur in the area. She is now terrified about the prospect of going into labour.“I feel like we won’t be allowed to reach the hospital on time,” she said. For all her life, Kulsum Jan has been planning for her wedding.Kulsum's wedding date happened to be just three days after the Indian government's moves to annex Kashmir. “It was not possible to cancel the event on the last moment,” Kulsum says. She of course had no idea that situation would become so unmanageable, Kulsum had to borrow a dress from her cousin for her special day, “my cousin got married three days before the article was scrapped, I had no other way but to wear her dress on my marriage,” she said. Earlier when she sent her cousin to get a dress (lehanga) from somewhere, he got stuck between police and stone-pelters and Kulsum then had to skip out on the idea of getting a new dress. The 23-year-old couldn’t even invite her cousins from other districts. “Because of the communication blackout, it was impossible to call them or even go to their place.” Women in Soura say that the males were not able to travel anywhere because of the fear of police and army, “Any male who held an identity card of Anchaar area was either arrested or assaulted,” said Kulsum. Her groom had to ask permission from authorities when to visit Anchaar to take his bride. Humaira, another bride faced a similar situation saying she had no idea when her bridegroom might arrive. “I wasn’t prepared when he arrived. I wasn’t happy at all. I was more concerned about his safety than about our wedding,” she said. https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/this-is-how-women-are-suffering-under-india-s-kashmir-crackdown-31692

Missing sons: Feb., 7, 2020: Several Kashmiri mothers are awaiting the return of their sons who were picked up by the armed forces ahead of the August 5 announcement altering the constitutional status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The arrested men have been moved to faraway jails in various states across country. As per Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society ( JKCCS ), 412 people were charged under Public Safety Act (PSA), which allows preventive custody for two years without trial or charges, after August 5 last year and majority of them have been moved to jails outside the Valley. 80-year-old Zaina hobbles through room sits quietly in a corner and takes out a picture of her son and stares at it without blinking her eyes. After a while, she wraps a piece of cloth around the picture, kisses it, and puts it back. “They have expunged my heart. I am restless. He is the light of my eyes. I am suffocating inside,” she wails. She has not seen her son in past six months after he was picked up by armed forces from his home in Southern Kashmir’s Bello village.“Only god’s name is with me now. I do not know what to do. I am helpless,” she says. She was not home when her son, Lateef Ahmad Dar, was picked up by the Army from his home in Southern Kashmir’s Bello village. Next morning, she rushed to her home and headed straight to the Rajpora police station to see her son, “When I saw him, he pretended to be alright. His face was pale and his voice suggested he was unwell. We hardly talked. We looked at each other’s face and wept,” she says. The police officers there told her that he would be released soon. But that did not happen. Instead, he was first shifted to central jail and then to Agra, “I visited central jail, where I was thoroughly frisked, almost stripped. “They looked inside my clothes and asked me to remove my pheran (a knee-length dress that Kashmiris wear during winters). It was humiliating. I tolerated everything for my child. Even if I have go through the procedure thousands times for the sake of my child, I would not hesitate,” she says.She says she was then told that he would be released after August 15. “I was making arrangements for his return, but he did not come,” she says. 56-year-old Naseema looks downcast. She could not gather courage to meet her son in the police station. She says on August 4, the Army scaled the wall of their house and barged inside, “they locked me and my daughters inside a room and enquired about my son,” she says. The last she saw her 18-year-old son was when he opened their door and pleaded for their safety, “I have not seen him ever since,” she says.Her head becomes heavy and her heartbeat increases whenever she misses her son, “My veins tighten up and my head feels heavy. I weep day and night without letting any know about it. In fact, every member of my family weeps secretly,” she says. She says the thought of her son sleeping on a bare floor keeps her awake, “how can a mother enjoy a cosy bed when her child is sleeping on floor. It keeps me awake whole night,” she says. Naseema says her son has never been away from his home even for a single day. “He would not spend a day without me. None knows about his likes and dislikes. The mere thought about it tears my heart into pieces,” she says.He used to change his clothes thrice a day, “I have heard he doesn’t get good food and clothes there. What will he do there,” she says, knowing well that travelling to distant jail is a tough call for her. Atiqa, 55, sits on the verandah of her mud house with her gaze fixed at the door hoping that someday her son will open it and emerge from there. She says her son is the only person left in her life. Her husband died a decade ago and she was living with her son. He was the sole bread earner of the family. On August 5, Atiqa had sent him to run an errand to the market in Maisuma but did not return. Instead, somewhere between his home and the market, Faisal was picked up by police.“He went out to buy medicine for me but was picked up Central reserve Police Force on the way,” she says.Her son has been booked under the draconian Public Safety Act. Faisal Aslam Mir, 30, runs a business. According to his mother, he was detained for three days at a local police station and then shifted to the Srinagar Central Jail until August 21, after which he was moved to a jail in Agra in Uttar Pradesh.“I am only alive for my son. Otherwise, I have no other reason to live,” she says, with tears in her eyes. A few kilometers from the Southern Pulwama town, Sara Bano, in her late 40s, is inconsolable. “I am unable to bear your separation please come back. I am dying inside. I tell no one but I cry silently behind haystacks in the field, in the bathroom and in your room,” she wails. Fayaz, 26, was among hundreds slapped with the PSA and shifted to Bareilly in UP after he was charged for ‘stone-pelting’, as per his dossier. Fayaz was in the middle of his completing his PhD in Arabic, having completed his Master’s from the University of Kashmir. According to Sara Bano, Fayaz was falsely framed under prior charges and was “just keeping himself busy with a tractor — which was his part-time job”. It has been six months, and she has not only been able to visit her son even once. “Since the past six months, our son has not able to work or study. And as a result of him being jailed, our financial condition has worsened,” she adds. Rubeena, 45, remembers the last glimpse of her son before he was taken away by the Army from home in Karimabad area of Pulwama. “I only had half a glimpse of his face. I remember that from fear, his face had turned dark. That face still swims in front of my eyes,” she says. She tried to run after him but was scared away by the Army personnel. “They fired a few bullets at the door. I was scared. They took him away,” she says. Rubeena’s financial conditions did not permit her to meet him, “I am poor and cannot afford to travel outside,” she says, adding “all my savings have been exhausted.. Since the past four days, Rubeena has been running from pillar to post to gather money for her visit to her son. “My cow is sick and I don’t have money to even buy medicine for her. Only god’s name is with me,” she says. She believes her son was picked up by the Army for keeping long hair. “His hair was cut with a knife. How would have his hair harmed them?” she says, adding “He is innocent. What will government achieve by arresting him”. Jana, 75, says that she has no option but to only wait for the return of her son. “Even if I wish to meet him in jail, my health will not allow me to do so. I have problems in my back and knees,” she says. Gulshan, 70, is suffering from multiple ailments which prevent her from moving outside, “I have not seen my son in the last six months. I have problems in my back and knees and cannot travel long distances,” she says.In the absence of her son, she says, she is dying inside and often cries when she is alone. “I have no other option but to seek help from the god. I cry whenever I miss him. Why is government snatching our sons from us. Don’t they know how important a son for a family,” she says. Gulshan says she does not know what to tell her 5-year old granddaughter who wants to know where her father is. “I have no answers for her. And I am sure the government has no answers either,” she says. The other thing that is keeping her away from meeting her son is her family’s economic condition. “A visit costs Rs 10,000-20,000. Where will I be able gather so much money from? He was the only source of income for the family,” she says. All the mothers have requested government to release their sons immediately as they are old and infirm and not in a condition to travel long distances, just to catch one glimpse of them. https://www.newsclick.in/Kashmir-Missing-Youth-Mothers-Article-370

Missing persons: Feb., 18, 2020: Kashmiri mothers are still awaiting the return of their kids...When most parts of the world celebrate Mother’s Day, thousands of Kashmiri women continue to wait for the return of their sons subjected to disappearance in custody by Indian troops in Indian Occupied Kashmir over the past 30 years. Their resistance persists. One such story is of Parveena Ahangar, the mother of Javeid. Javeid was 16 when Indian security agents arrested him in August of 1990. She has not seen him since. Parveena does not know why her son was arrested, or even whether he is alive. In her grief, she started a group called the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) more than 10 years ago. Since then she has filled a thick green folder with hundreds of letters and sun-faded photographs from families with husbands and sons who have vanished. Women in Kashmir have suffered immensely as the conflict in the region continues.Many has lost their husbands, sons, or fathers. There are also around 2,500 "half-widows" who remain unaware of their husbands' whereabouts. For Parveena and thousands of other Kashmiris who have lost family members in this conflict, the politics is irrelevant. For them, there is only the one recurring question: Where is my son?

Kashmiri Women: Feb., 24, 2020: The miseries and victimization of Kashmiri women by the 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 Kashmiri Women’s Resistance Day, today, revealed that at least 671 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 22,911 women widowed while Indian forces’ personnel have molested 11,178 women. 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. 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. https://kmsnews.org/news/2020/02/23/thousands-of-women-martyred-molested-in-iok-since-jan-1989/

LoC Violation: Apr., 28, 2020: Pakistan on Monday summoned the head of Indian High Commission in Islamabad to lodge a strong protest over the latest ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the Line of control (LoC), leaving a woman martyred and eight-year old inured. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Indian troops initiated unprovoked ceasefire violations in Jandrot and Khuiratta sectors along LoC deliberately targeting civilian population on Monday morning. “Due to indiscriminate fire of automatics and rockets, a 36 years old woman, Yasmeen,  resident of village Red embraced shahadat [martyrdom] while an 8 years old innocent girl, Adeeba Zaheer, resident of village Mohra Chattar sustained serious injuries. [The] injured child has been evacuated and being provided with medical care,” the military’s media wing said. “The Indian occupation forces  this year, India has committed 882 ceasefire violations,” according to the FO.  . https://tribune.com.pk/story/2208281/1-pakistan-summons-indian-diplomat-lodge-protest-ceasefire-violation-along-loc/

Women and Kashmir: Apr., 29, 2020:  Participants of COVID-19 Kashmir Women’s Conference have said that India is using COVID-19 pandemic as a cover to continue its brutal attacks on the Kashmiri people while Kashmiri women are bearing the brunt of New Delhi’s unlawful occupation of the territory.The conference was organized by Kashmir Women’s Movement (KWM) and Organisation of Kashmir Coalition (OKC) via video link, and it was attended by politicians, lawyers, human rights defenders, academics and jurists. A joint statement issued on the occasion said that Kashmiri women and girls were bearing the brunt of the India’s unlawful occupation in spite of the UN Secretary General’s call for a ceasefire. The participants maintained that as the world was engaged in containing the spread of the pandemic, India continued its attacks against the innocent people of Kashmir in breach of International Law. The joint statement says: “The women of Kashmir need international solidarity in order to protect their basic rights. Women of Kashmir have grown up knowing too much, too fast about conflict, trauma, bombs and violence including rape and sexual torture. Whilst international actors call for equality many of the women and girls are left behind without a voice. Thousands of Kashmiri women have been widowed in this conflict while over 20,000 are wives of the forcibly disappeared who we call half widows.” “In recent months many Kashmiri women have been detained in prison and several have been killed. The poverty, powerless, ill health, physical and psychological of these exposes them to great danger so they become infected with Covid-19. Whilst the lives of the de facto widows are wretched enough, those of the half-widows are even worse but all of them continue struggle against societal discrimination, poverty, marginalisation, abuse and violence. Not only have these women been subjected to violence by police but also by the occupation forces.”“The half widows suffer, as they have no closure to their grief as they continue to experience identity crisis from the uncertainty of whether they are married or not. This struggle reveals a cultural gap in Kashmir where the needs of women and the issue of their equality continue to go unrecognised. They have no rights to social security, pensions, inheritance, and land nor can they re-marry. They face harassment and violence from the police when they seek information from the police. India is signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance “Therefore, India is under international obligation to trace the disappeared. It must fulfill its obligations under international law. Article 1 of ICCPED places a non-derogable prohibition against enforced disappearances and applies even in a state of war and public emergency. India cannot invoke such grounds as a justification for these actions.”“Women of Kashmir and their sympathisers around the world shall undertake all possible measures to maintain the Jammu and Kashmir conflict at the highest level of the international agenda.”  “During the ongoing eight and half-month long military siege, annexation of and lockdown in IOJK imposed, since 5th August 2019, nearly half a dozen women leaders including Aasiya Andrabi, Fehmeeda Sofi and Naheeda Nasreen have been arrested and detained at Tihar jail, New Delhi.” “We demand their immediate release along with Saima Iqra and Insha Tariq, Hina Bashir Beig, Masrat Zahra among others.”“Post 5th August 2019, Indian troops have killed, according to media reports, nearly a hundred Kashmiris including three women Fehmeeda Bano, Shahzada Akhtar and Ulfat Altaf. The killing of Kashmiri women must stop immediately.” “We urge the European Union via its external action service (EAS) that any trade talks with India should be mindful that human rights and trade are two sides of the same coin. We further urge that the EU actively uses the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as a substantive normative legal framework which obliges transnational companies and or other types of business enterprises to comply under international law with a view to foster accountability and transparency of all businesses thus upholding compliance while safeguarding Human Rights. “ “It is greatly concerning that India attempts to keep prisoners in confinement and bring about a planned demographic change, as the occupying power, should be thwarted and discussed in any upcoming trade talks for this amounts to ethnic cleansing and is prohibited under international and humanitarian law.” “We implore the UK government and members of both Houses of Parliament to use all available means, diplomatic and economic, to ensure a resolution of this long pending conflict. Also to engage the Commonwealth in negotiation to ensure India complies with human rights and humanitarian law.”“We plead with UN WOMEN (CEDAW) and the Human Rights Council to address the extreme discrimination of Kashmiri women and girls especially in the context of Covid-19.”“We urge the Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) to take a more prominent lead in promoting greater engagement in order to protect all the human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and help in resolving the conflict.”“We urge the Indian government to allow international organisations to examine the prison conditions under which the detained Kashmiri leaders and other political prisoners are held, to commence dialogue with a view to achieve the release of all who are incarcerated simply because they demand the right to self-determination.”“We urge the Indian government to restore complete Internet services including 4G particularly during this pandemic to enable all health practitioners to access and download latest medical guidelines, conduct online medical video consultation and conferencing to share best practice, and help access and share vital information about how best to treat those affected by the Covid-19 virus.”“We urge India, Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir to begin direct tri-partite negotiations at a neutral destination, for example Geneva, within the next 12 months with a complete commitment (together with adequate representation of women on the delegation in compliance of UN Security Council Resolution 1325) to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue pursuant to the United Nations resolutions.”Among others who participated in the conference included: Federal Minister Dr Shireen Mazari, member of Organisation of Kashmir Coalition (OKC), Barrister Abdul Majeed Tramboo, IMWU Representative Shamim Shawl, British politician Julie Ward, Barrister Margaret Owen, Claire Bidwell, Soraya Boyd, Maxine Bowler, Beatrice Grace Alouch Obado, Cecilia Maho, Asma Rathore and Frank Schwalba-Hoth. https://kmsnews.org/news/2020/04/28/iok-women-bearing-brunt-of-indias-illegal-occupation-speakers/

Kunan Poshspora mass rape: The Kunan Poshspora incident occurred on February 23, 1991, when unit(s) of the Indian army launched a search and interrogation operation in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora, located in Kashmir's remote Kupwara District. It is reported that at least 100 women were gang raped by soldiers that night. However, human rights organizations including Human Rights Watchhave said that the number of raped women could be as high as 150 Although the Indian government′s investigations into the incident rejected the allegations as "baseless  international human rights organizations have expressed serious doubts about the integrity of these investigations and the manner in which they were conducted, stating that the Indian government launched a "campaign to acquit the army of charges of human rights violations and discredit those who brought the charges  An unspecified number of soldiers of the 4th Rajputana Rifles cordoned off the entire village in the name of conducting a “search operation”. All the men were asked to come out of their homes, and were taken away to another location for interrogation. Once the men were taken away, soldiers went inside every house, raped and abused women through the night. The victims of this mass rape ranged in age from 13 to 80 years

Durri’s Story

The Knock on Durri’s Door

My sister and I hugged the kangri even closer. We were scared of that
knocking. It seemed someone wanted to break down the door of our house.
My grandfather quickly got up and opened the door. I heard few words
“Kitnai admi ho ghar mai” (how many men are you in the house). “Koi
nahi sahib bas mai hun” (no one, just me). I tried to stand up. I was
stopped by someone. It was Amina, she held my hand tight. As I turned
towards her, I could see the disapproval on her face. Now I tried to hear
more clearly. I noticed Amina and Fatimah were doing the same. In middle
of all this I could hear a female voice. My mother was pleading with
someone. Suddenly ‘toth’ screamed “Haa Khudayo” (Oh God!). Within
no time an army soldier appeared infront of us. I could smell something
awful from him and then I saw that he had a bottle of alcohol in his hand.
My throat was dry. I could not even scream. I could not even stand, it
was as if the earth had gripped me. My sister Fatimah and Amina held
me tight from both sides. I could feel their fingers digging into my arms.
From one the soldiers became six as others joined the first one. I wanted to
scream. I could not hear my grandfather speak. I didn’t know where they
took my mother. One of them gripped my hair. I held his feet. I remember
begging him, “khuda kai liyai humai chhod do, hum nai kuch nahi kiya’
(for god’s sake please leave us, we are innocent). I even bowed my forehead
onto his shoes. He dragged me to kitchen. My mother was already there.
I screamed with all my energy, “Mouji meh bachaay tii” (mother, save
me). How could she, I don’t want to share all that I saw and remember
happening to her. My pheran was torn and with that my whole life.

When I regained consciousness, my head was blank and I felt numb.
My face was wet. I realized I was weeping. I was naked, not just my body
but my soul. My mother was in that room with me. She was unconscious or
pretending to be. She had turned her face away from me. I heard someone
crying. It was my brother, he covered me with something. I don’t remember
clearly what it was. I haven’t asked him till now. We never spoke about
that night again. But I remember I could not feel my lower body.

That one night has become my life. No matter what I do, where I go or
what I think. That night never leaves me. It’s with me all the time, when
I pray, when I cook, when I clean myself. I curse them (the army) all the
time and will curse them all my life. People console me. They say you must
forget and move on. But that’s easier said than done. It’s difficult; it’s like
losing your eyes and believing you never had them.

I did not give a statement to police. My family feared no one would
marry me. I never married. It’s not that I don’t want to but my health does
not allow me. I am not fit to marry. I don’t want to ruin someone’s life.
Besides when I saw how girls from my village were being treated by their
in-laws, I chose not to marry. We never spoke to anyone about my friend
Amina being raped. When we met after that night, we cried and cried. We
are still friends but we have an unspoken rule — never speak about that
night. I am a rape survivor from Kunan and Poshpora — I am breathing
but not alive.