HR violations: Panelists berate India for ‘atrocities’ in Kashmir

Pakistani media urged to vigorously highlight human rights issues in valley


Our Correspondent March 04, 2016
A file photo of Indian troops in Kashmir. PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: Human rights violations in Indian Kashmir continue to remain invisible to the world community because of the Indian government’s access denial for neutral observers and the international media to the region.

Indian security forces also have sweeping powers for making arrests and detentions or even shoot-to-kill with virtual immunity.

These views were expressed by panelists at a one-day national conference titled “Human Rights Violations in Indian Kashmir: Awakening Global Conscience” organised by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) at a local hotel here on Thursday.

The panelists also called on both Pakistani and international media to give more than mere ritualistic attention and coverage to highlight human rights issues.

In the age of social media, young people from Pakistan and Kashmir could play a vital role in bringing the plight of Kashmiris to the forefront,they said.

India covering up human rights violations in Kashmir: report

The speakers said that repressive laws such as the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act and Armed Forces Special Power Act have rendered Indian security forces virtually immune from prosecution against hundreds of heinous acts such as kidnapping, torture, rape and molestation they have committed against young men, women and children.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Social Welfare and Women’s Development Farzana Yaqoob said that Kashmiris will continue to struggle for their right of self-determination and raise the issue of human rights violations by the so-called largest democracy of the world.

“Kashmir is a reality and has a long history. They (Kashmiris) want accession (to Pakistan) not freedom,” she said while complaining about loopholes in Pakistan’s Kashmir policy

She said that Pakistan needed to increase integration with Kashmir to bring people with divergent thoughts under a single platform.

IPRI President and former ambassador Sohail Amin highlighted the atrocities and human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian security forces in the valley and called for bringing them to the attention of the international community.

Center for International Strategic Studies Executive Director Ali Sarwar Naqvi said that muted response and reaction of world’s major powers  to outrightly condemn atrocities have only encouraged India and its security forces to continue their blatant acts of aggression in Kashmir.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2016.

COMMENTS (4)

Babbar Mughal | 8 years ago | Reply In this age of social awareness Pakistan's human rights record is already highlighted as one of the worst in the world. Compared to that Indian Kashmir human rights are Jannat ...Inshallah
SKS | 8 years ago | Reply Ofcourse, Balochis, Asia bibi, Mukhthar Mai etc will endorse Pakistan excellent human rights record.
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