Qaisar Mansoor
On 18 July 2020, three innocent Kashmiri youth (Cousins), Ibrar Ahmed, Imtiaz Ahmed and Muhammad Ibrar from Rajouri were killed by Indian troops of Rashtriya Rifles near Amshipora in Shopian District. Initially, it was claimed that all three were foreign terrorists and were killed after they opened fire on security team. Later, it was revealed by relatives of victims and local Police that the victims were innocent labours. Army had staged encounter allegedly to claim a cash bounty of Rs 20 Lacs (US$26000) which is granted by Indian Army as a reward for killing a militant.
An online petition on human rights abuses by Indian occupation forces has been launched in Australia to invite the attention of the country’s parliament to take up the issue of massive human rights violations by Modi-led Indian government in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The petition seeking maximum signing before its closing date on Wednesday to officially take up the matter of rights abuses in IIOJK in Australian parliament. It was launched at King George Square in Queensland, Australia on 26th February 2022 in remembrance of Kashmiri women victims of mass rape of Kunan & Poshpara on the night of 23rd February 1991. The day is remembered as Kashmiri Women’s Resistance Day.
The petition titled “Human Rights Abuse in Illegally Occupied Kashmir by Indian government” while addressing the Speaker and Members of the Australian House of Representatives draws their attention towards extrajudicial killings, collective punishments, enforced disappearances, abduction of children, use of pellet guns, and molestation of women and girls during the raids of Indian troops in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
It mentioned that “The demographics of the indigenous people of Kashmir are getting changed after the Indian government’s abolition of Article 370, while Kashmir remains one of the most heavily militarized areas in the world”. It is worth mentioning here that three labourers, one of them a teenager, were killed by Indian army soldiers led by Captain Bhoopendra Singh in Shopian district on July 18, 2020, and on the very next day, July 19, 2020, the army claimed that it had killed three terrorists. The Hurriyat leaders described the so-called initiation of Court Martial proceedings against the Captain as mere eyewash to hoodwink the international community.
The martyrdom of three Kashmiri businessmen and a dental surgeon in Hyderpora, Srinagar, one in Gund Jahangir, Bandipora, five in Pathribal and three in Machil fake encounters on different occasions as the glaring examples of how Indian troops are mercilessly killing the innocent Kashmiri youth in fake encounters. The petition deplored that millions of Kashmiris are suffering on daily basis while Australian government does not raise its voice and put pressure on the Indian govt over inhumane human rights abuses. “We therefore ask the House to call on India to lift the inhuman military siege and withdraw 900,000 troops, end use of pellet guns and hold India accountable for human rights violations, stop the demographic change of indigenous people and reinstate Article 370, release Kashmiri Journalist Fahad Shah Immediately, allow freedom of speech, end harassment of political activists, human rights activists & journalists. The petition urged Australia to call on India to uphold UNSC resolutions on IIOJK. Meanwhile, APHC emphasised on a lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and relevant UN resolutions. Without a peaceful and lasting solution to the long standing dispute of Kashmir, lasting peace and security could not be established in South Asia.
