t is time to end the long night of suffering for the people of the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. They must be able to exercise their right to self-determination according to UNSC resolutions. The only road to peace and security in South Asia runs through a peaceful and just settlement of Kashmir.
The state of affairs in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir remains extremely alarming since the Government of India revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution stripping the territory of its autonomy.
By canceling Article 370 of the Constitution, the Indian government has given people from the rest of India the right to buy property in occupied Kashmir and settle there. The revoked constitutional provisions introduced decades ago included reserved government jobs and college placements for residents, in an effort that people do not overrun the state from the rest of India.
Kashmiris as well as critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government termed the move as an endeavor to change the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir by Hindu settlers. No unilateral step by the Government of India can change the disputed status of IHK, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council resolutions. The decision is not acceptable to the people of IHK and Pakistan.
The Indian move violated international resolutions and the Indian opposition parties slammed it as well. Even the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ruled that Article 370, granting special status to the state, has assumed a place of permanence in the Constitution and the feature is beyond amendment, repeal, or abrogation.
India imposed a lockdown in Kashmir and put Kashmiri leaders under house arrest including restrictions on movement and assembly. The actions came after the Indian government moved additional troops to the region, followed by an exceptional order asking tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave the Himalayan Valley.
The persecution of innocent men, women, and children in Kashmir at the hands of Indian occupation forces, who had illegally placed a population of eight million under detention, in utter disregard to human rights, is continuing.
The rapes of thousands of Kashmiri women by the brute Indian army troops, as pointed out in the UN reports, the deaths of Kashmiris, the detention of the entire Kashmiri political leadership, the abusive use of pellet guns against unarmed civilians, blockade of communication links and deployment of security personnel to quell the freedom movement is unparalleled.
According to Human Rights Watch, Hundreds of people remain detained without charge, detractors are threatened with arrest, and access to the internet is limited.” Kashmiri says, “Since August 5 last year we have been living under a fascist regime like prisoners in an open-air cage. Killings, arrests, detentions under draconian laws, destruction of property is the order of the day”.
India even refused to listen to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ call to refrain from taking steps that could affect the status of Jammu and Kashmir, recognized as a disputed territory by the United Nations and the Security Council. He said in a clear-cut manner that the UN position on Kashmir was tied to its charter and applicable Security Council resolutions.
Congress leaders had warned Narendra Modi against abrogation of Article 35A and Article 370, which gives special status to Kashmiris. They had also warned of the consequences of any attempt to abrogate these Articles of the constitution or carry out delimitation of constituencies or trifurcating the Indian Held Kashmir.
Kashmiris have kept their fight alive in the face of a heavily militarized occupation. The response from the international community can prevent the Hindu nationalist government in New Delhi from speeding up the systematic massacre of the Kashmiris physically, politically, economically, and now demographically.