Indians are committing massive
atrocities and violations of human rights unleashed on the innocent and unarmed
Kashmiris in the Held Valley. So far 55 people, mostly youth, have reportedly
been killed and over 1,800 injured. Among them are 350 said to be in critical
condition, while over 1,000 protesters who were fired on faces with pellet
bullet guns have nearly lost their eyesight.
The Indians have adopted a novel way to torture the victims of brutality; they
resort to attack the hospitals where the innocent victims are getting treatment.
They ransack hospitals, manhandle the staff and harass them to stop treating the
injured. They injured are denied access to basic emergency services and right to
health. Imposition of curfews has doubled their plight. This is adding more
miseries as well as casualties.
The Indian law enforcing agencies are using new techniques and tactics to
arrest, detain and humiliate the Hurriyat Conference leaders, even the elderly
Syed Ali Geelani. The use of pellet bullets is another new tactic to deprive the
youth of their eyes; they aim the bullets on the protesters’ faces and the
bullet-fume poisons the eyes, which is incurable and gradually victims lose the
eyesight.
Ironically, the UN and world community and media are silent; they are being
denied access in the Valley, phone lines, mobile services and internet are
disconnected. Besides, there is a bias in the reporting; there seems a total
blackout of the atrocities being meted out to the people of Kashmir. The State
Department spokesman said the United States is watching the events in the Held
Valley but meaningfully said India must fight terrorism which implied as if the
Kashmir movement is not a freedom struggle. This is a clear duplicity on part of
the US. What would they call George Washington’s struggle, for independence, or
he too was a terrorist? It is clear that America does not want to sour its
growing relations with India.
There is a need for the UN to order direct, independent and transparent inquiry
against the individuals responsible for massive and systematic killings in the
held valley. Secondly, since India, Pakistan are nuclear states, the world
community must realize that Kashmir is now a nuclear flashpoint as President
Bill Clinton recognized at the time of Kargil, it is no longer a bilateral
issue. And since, the issue is lying pending in the UN it has to be a matter of
concern for the international community. So the world must intervene, raise the
voice for innocent Kashmiris and force India to hold plebiscite so that the
people may choose their political future according to their own free will,
though Pakistan is not very hopeful of favourable results because India of late
has been changing the demography of the valley by settling Hindus and through
genocide of Muslim majority population.