Kashmir continues to bleed

Indian troops over the weekend killed five more innocent Kashmiris and injured 10 protesters, armed with stones and snowballs, in the disputed Himalayan territory. Indian troops — drawn from the Indian Army’s 9 Rashtriya Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force and Special Operation Group of police — launched a search operation and cordoned off a village in the southern Kulgam area of the occupied valley. By the time the operation ended, five Kashmiri men had been martyred and a house was destroyed. When locals tried to move towards the site of the incident in support of the martyrs, the Indian forces tried to push them back using shotgun-fired pellets and tear gas which left at least 10 civilians injured. The latest killings have been termed ‘senseless Kashmiri massacre’ by Pakistan’s Foreign Office.

This incident, which led to another shutdown and clashes in Kashmir, is the latest in a string of India’s aggressive actions in the occupied territory which defines the policy of the government in New Delhi. From the use of pellet guns against unarmed civilians to a blockade of social media networks to deny access to information, the Indian government has hiked the atrocities against Kashmiris.

Despite that, the Indian occupation forces, and more so New Delhi, have failed to deter Kashmiris from their quest for self-determination. The vigour with which Kashmiris braved the freezing cold to confront the Indian forces has now come to mark the Kashmiri spirit in the wake of the brutal murder of Kashmiri youth Burhan Wani nearly four years ago.

As part of its efforts to highlight the cause of Kashmir, Islamabad organised a seminar at the British Parliament on February 4. But it must do more — a lot more — to convince other countries and international organisations to put pressure on India to end atrocities against innocent Kashmiris.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2019.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.