Turkish lawmaker urges India to end human rights violations in IOK

Hakan Cavusoglu says recent incidents have turned occupied Kashmir into one of the most sensitive regions in the world

ANKARA: A senior Turkish lawmaker on Tuesday called on the Indian government to end the worsening human rights violations in  Indian Occupied Kashmir "as immediately as possible."

"Human rights violations have shown a massive increase in  Indian Occupied Kashmir ( IOK)  since August 5, 2019," Hakan Cavusoglu, the head of parliament's Human Rights Commission, said in a statement.

Cavusoglu mentioned how thousands of troops were deployed to the region in early August before India took the sudden, unprecedented move of revoking the region’s special status.

IOK have been facing a communications blackout since August 5, when New Delhi stripped the disputed region of special provisions guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.

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"I call on the Indian government to end the human rights violations in IOK as immediately as possible," he said.

Cavusoglu said the recent incidents in the region "turned Kashmir into one of the most sensitive regions in the world."

From 1954 until August 5, 2019, IOK enjoyed special status under the Indian Constitution, which allowed it to enact its own laws.

The provisions also protected the region's citizenship law, which barred outsiders from settling in and owning land in the territory.

After New Delhi's move of scrapping IOK special status, it has been under a near-complete lockdown since August 5.

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Several rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly called on India to lift restrictions and release political detainees.

Indian authorities, however, claim that daytime restrictions have been lifted in 90 per cent of the region.

India and Pakistan both hold Kashmir in parts and claim it in full. China also controls part of the contested region, but it is India and Pakistan who have fought two wars over Kashmir.