Kashmiri leader hails S Africa’s move against Israel

A prominent Kashmiri leader has said that South Africa’s move to sue Israel in the world court for “genocidal acts” in Gaza and a similar case filed by Gambia against Myanmar for atrocities against Rohingya Muslims were “significant” steps towards addressing human right abuses committed against civilians.

“Filing of an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) may take the veil of secrecy off of the alleged human rights violations,” Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of World Forum for Peace & Justice, said in a statement on Sunday.

“Perhaps now the global community can share the outrage felt by the people of the region,” Dr Fai said, hoping the world would now turn its attention to Kashmir where atrocities of a similar pattern are being perpetrated by the 900,000 Indian forces with impunity.

“The scale of the human rights atrocities in Kashmir dwarfs those in Kosovo, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, and East Timor which have triggered international interventions,” he said.

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“But the world powers and the United Nations have remained silent, not even employing moral suasion against India’s shocking indiscriminate violence in Kashmir as was done in South Africa during its ugly years of apartheid.”

Pointing out that Dr Gregory Stanton, President of the Genocide Watch, had warned the world community in 2021 that the Indian government’s actions in Kashmir had been an extreme case of persecution and could lead to genocide, he regretted that there was no response to the sounding of that alarm.

“It is painful to note the virtual immunity Indian law gives to any type of war crime against humanity perpetrated in Kashmir,” Dr Fai said.

“Common Kashmiris also asks: Are Kashmiris less human than peoples of other nations?”