By Qudrat Ullah LIPR Ambassador Of Peace
In Indian occupied Kashmir, every other day, according to Indian media, terrorists killed in encounters, are linked to Pakistan. In these encounters, the youth, who are against the Indian oppression, are mercilessly killed.
During 2021, there were 274 such incidents in which 189 militants were killed with security forces in which 85 percent were locals. In 2020, 203 militants, 160 militants in 2019, 257 militants in 2018; 213 militants in 2017 and 150 militants were killed in 2016. Despite so many fake encounters and extra-judicial killings, Indian armed forces are unable to stop the youth from taking arms. The fear the Indians want to instill in the valley has not been successful.
It shows that the locals of IIOJK had a clear view against Indian occupation and their atrocities and are not looking to stand down from their basic fundamental right, the freedom.
The Indian atrocities have no end when it comes to Kashmir and it continues without clemency. The extra-judicial killings, fake encounters, arrest of human rights activists, the clamp down on media and the closure of Kashmir Press Club are few among the list of Human rights violations in the occupied territory.
The BJP-led central government, after the revocation of Article 370, has intensified its policies in the valley to antagonize the locals. The political sphere has vanished, the name of public places, schools and roads are being changed. The new direction for teachers and students to perform “Surya Namaskar” has drawn criticism from regional political parties, terming it a “religious imposition”. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has called it “Idolatrous practice”.
Such new directions, steps will not pacific the demands of the Kashmiri locals, else it will add fuel to the fire, and they will retaliate against Indian armed forces which in turn will be suppressed with military might. As usual, the just struggle for freedom will be labeled as terrorism.
To raise the awareness regarding these violations and alarm the global community, a UK based law firm “The Stoke White” filed an appeal in London’s Metropolitan Police against the war crimes committed by Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane and Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah. The appeal was to arrest the top Indian officials under the “Universal Jurisdiction” and held them responsible for the crimes committed under their supervision.
The Stoke White’s appeal is a ray of hope and if the appeal is converted into a formal investigation, it will encourage other human rights defenders to follow the suit. This might have a snowball effect and will lead other to come and join the crusade to give a new direction the struggle of freedom in Kashmir.
The legal appeal for the arrest of two top Indian government officials under the “Universal Jurisdiction” principle has been made to British Police following the release of a detailed report by London-based law firm Stoke White, which held them responsible for the torture, kidnapping, extrajudicial killings as well as rape and sexual violence against women in the valley.
Shocking as it may seem, the law firm, while demanding the arrest of Naravane and Shah, also presented detailed evidence to attest that Israeli security personnel have been present, and themselves been responsible for, interrogations whose methods fall under the legal definition of torture. The law firm said that it is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the SWI unit.
The SWI-unit noted growing evidence testifying to the presence of Israeli intelligence operatives during interrogations and torture of Muslims in IIOJK. It said that India’s increasing security and defence partnership with Israel, including the growing use of armed and surveillance drones, means that “this security alliance between India and Israel is finding form in violations of international law on the ground.”
