Kashmiri delegation stages anti-India protest in front of UN office in Geneva
Geneva: A Kashmiri delegation, headed by Altaf Hussain Wani, staged a strong protest in front of the UN office against India’s illegal occupation and systematic violations of human rights committed by Indian forces in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, besides representatives of the delegation, the protest demonstration was addressed by. Asif Jarral, Sardar Amjad Yousaf, Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, Advocate Parvaiz Ahmad, Hassan Bana, Atiqe Jarral and others
Referring to the fast deteriorating political and human rights situation in occupied Kashmir, the speakers sought the UN Commission’s urgent intervention to help stop bloodshed and human rights violations in the troubled region.
The Kashmiri delegates, currently in Geneva to attend the 55th session of the UNHRC, impressed upon the Council and other international human rights organizations to take effective notice of the Indian government’s totalitarian measures that seek to change the demography of the Muslim majority state and convert it into a minority.
They said the human rights situation in the occupied territory has further worsened since India’s apartheid regime revoked Article 370 and 35A in August 2019.
Seeking the highest body’s urgent intervention to stop bloodshed and violence in the territory, the speakers appealed to the world community to take tangible measures to hold the Indian government accountable for its actions it had taken on Kashmir unilaterally.
Terming Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory, the speakers said that the UN should mount pressure on India to oblige its commitments vis-à-vis the improvement of the human rights situation in the UN-recognized disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, repeal all draconian laws and revoke all the actions it had taken on Kashmir since August 5, 2019.
Highlighting the Indian government’s repressive policies, the speakers said that along with policies of oppression and suppression, India’s apartheid regime has been using colonial era tactics to suppress political dissent and disempowerment of indigenous population through political and administrative machinations.
Referring to anti-Kashmir policies of the Indian government, they said, the actions such as land grab, dispossessions, forced evictions and illegal confiscation of civilians’ properties and granting voting rights to non-Kashmiris have been central to the BJP’s settler colonialism project aimed at changing the demographic complexion of the territory.
To bring a demographic shift in the valley, they said the Indian government has enacted a series of laws that not only enabled outsiders to settle in the region but also buy land and seek other privileges.
Regarding the clampdown on peaceful dissent in the region, the Kashmiri representatives said that the ruthless suppression of dissent by the Indian authorities has left no space for democratic dissent in the region.
“Restrictions on civil rights activists, confiscation of property, harassment and humiliation of civilians by the armed forces has become a new norm”, they said, adding that use and abuse of laws have led to wholesale arrest of political and human rights activists.
On misuse of “anti-terrorism laws” they said the Indian government has been using such laws to silence legitimate political voices and all those who have been critical to India’s hostile policy towards Kashmiris.
They said that detention of prominent rights activists and top rank political leaders serve as an eye opener for the world as to how India was using black laws to enable silence in Kashmir.
