IIOJK: New report details India’s land rights violations since August 2019
Paris: The 50-page report, titled “Your Land is Our Land – India’s land rights violations in Kashmir”, analyses the consequences of the abrogation of Jammu & Kashmir’s statehood on land-related laws and documents the impact of such changes on a range of socio-economic and political rights.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Deputy Director of International Federation for Human Rights, Asia Desk, Juliette Rousselot said, “The Indian government’s obliteration of Jammu & Kashmir’s legal framework, which had protected land rights for decades, has already had a disastrous impact on the Kashmiri people. Thousands have already been evicted from their lands and lost their homes. Key European Union and United Nations institutions, including the UN Human Rights Council, must wake up to this human rights crisis and start putting public pressure on the Indian government to adhere to its own international legal obligations.”
On 5 August 2019, the Indian government unilaterally revoked the special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which had been protected by Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution since 1950.
By October 2020, the majority of Jammu & Kashmir’s progressive land laws had been either amended or repealed, resulting in evictions, destruction of property, and land confiscation that affected thousands of Kashmiris in violation of international human rights laws and standards.
The report also details the increased repression of civic space and violations of human rights that have taken place in Jammu & Kashmir since August 2019, including the criminalisation of civil society, and arrests and detentions of human rights defenders and journalists under draconian counter-terrorism legislation.
“Jammu & Kashmir has often been used by the Indian government as a testing ground for its tactics of repression. Human rights violations and attacks on civil society in Jammu & Kashmir must be a matter of serious concern in India and beyond, as Delhi’s abusive policies and actions risk having far-reaching and long-lasting effects”, said FIDH Vice-President Fatia Maulidiyanti.
The report is dedicated to Khurram Parvez, a Kashmiri human rights defender and FIDH Deputy Secretary General, who has been arbitrarily detained since November 2021 over politically motivated charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Mr Parvez and his colleagues at the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) (an FIDH member organisation), have long faced attacks and reprisals by the Indian authorities for documenting the grave human rights violations that have been committed in Jammu & Kashmir.
