Srinagar: The military siege and gross human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have surged to alarming proportions since India’s BJP government repealed the region’s special status on August 5, 2019.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the report, marking five years since the Indian government’s controversial move, reveals that Indian troops have martyred 907 Kashmiris, including 17 women and 30 young boys, during this period. It states that senior Hurriyat leaders Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai and Altaf Ahmed Shah were among the 223 Kashmiris who died in fake encounters and the custody of Indian police. The report details that at least 2,459 people were critically injured due to the use of brute force, including bullets, pellets, and teargas shells, by Indian troops, paramilitary, and police personnel on peaceful demonstrators and mourners.
The report highlights that the killings since August 5, 2019, have been higher than in previous years, with most victims killed in fake encounters and custody during violent cordon and search operations. Many youths were reportedly arrested from their homes and subsequently eliminated after being labeled as mujahideen or over-ground workers of resistance organizations. The arrested youth were often booked under black laws like the Public Safety Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The report also notes that these killings have rendered 69 women widowed and 190 children orphaned. The troops damaged over 1,124 houses and structures, molested or disgraced 134 women, and arrested 24,904 people, including at least 33 women or girls, during cordon and search operations and house raids across the occupied territory.
The report emphasizes the economic, political, and social hardships faced by Kashmiris since the repeal of the territory’s special status. It claims that the Indian government’s actions are aimed at changing the Muslim-majority status of the occupied territory into a minority.
Thousands of Hurriyat leaders and activists, religious and political leaders, businessmen, civil society members, and youth have been arrested before and after August 5, 2019, and continue to remain in different jails in India and IIOJK. Prominent detainees include APHC chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Aasiya Andrabi, and many others.
The report further deplores that press freedom is under constant threat in IIOJK, with journalists detained and harassed, particularly following the introduction of a new media policy by the BJP regime in 2020, which has further restricted the flow of free information.
The report accuses the BJP regime of using brutal tactics to achieve its objectives in IIOJK, including granting domicile certificates to thousands of Indians and non-Kashmiri migrants to alter the region’s demographic composition. It criticizes the confiscation of properties of pro-freedom leaders and activists and the re-arrangement of constituencies to favor Hindu representation.
The report concludes that despite these brutalities, the sentiment of the Kashmiri people remains strong, and they are determined to continue their fight for their rights, including the demand for a plebiscite. It calls on the international community to take notice of India’s actions in IIOJK and to pressure New Delhi to resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and relevant UN resolutions.