Human Rights violations in Kashmir

UN finally takes notice

After the death of more than 90 Kashmiri civilians and thousands more injured, the UN human rights chief has said that a probe into the atrocities has become necessary. Speaking at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), he said that due to conflicting reports from both sides of the line of control there has to be an “independent, impartial and international” mission that has “free and complete access”.

Proof of excessive use of force by the Indian Army is amply available on social media websites and has also been widely reported in international media. India’s claim of using ‘restraint’ is, therefore, laughable. While Pakistan’s letter to the UN has been acknowledged, India has refused to write one. The UNHRC chief requires an invitation from both countries in order to send any mission.

Only yesterday a rights activist from Jammu and Kashmir, Khurram Parvez, was stopped from boarding a flight from Delhi to Geneva, where he was going to brief officials on the ongoing Kashmir issue at the UNHRC session. A refusal to invite a mission and detention of rights activists is further proof of India’s reluctance to let the violation of human rights in Kashmir be highlighted on any international forum.

The US and China have treaded carefully when commenting on this issue largely owing to their economic interests with India. But other countries have recently become more outspoken as there seems to be no end in sight to the daily incidents of violence. Turkey has backed Pakistan’s request for an inquiry while the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called for a referendum on the issue of Kashmir’s independence from India.

The international community was bound to take notice after three months of continuous killing and thousands of cases of injuries due to the use of non-fatal weapons like pellet guns. India does not take Pakistan’s requests to the UN very seriously, but now that the international community has taken notice, it will be hard to ignore.