BRUSSELS: Chairman Kashmir Council Europe (KC-EU) Ali Raza Syed has expressed solidarity with the families of forced disappeared persons in Indian held Kashmir (IHK).
Indian troops in occupied Kashmir have subjected thousands of Kashmiris to custodial disappearance in the last three decades.
In a statement issued after a meeting of KC-EU’s core committee in Brussels, on international day of disappeared people, Syed said that thousands of unnamed graves had been discovered in the occupied territory and the human rights activists feared that these graves could be of the disappeared Kashmiris.
A report revealed that over 8,000 Kashmiris have vanished after they were picked up by the Indian troops, police, paramilitary forces and its agencies and the families of the victims have no information about their whereabouts.
The family members of the disappeared persons also claimed that their dear ones had been subjected to enforced disappearances by the Indian forces and their related agencies after picking them up from their homes, streets and even roads.
Chairman Kashmir Council EU also supported the stance of Chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons in Jammu and Kashmir (APDP) Mrs Parveena Ahangar who demanded that India must fulfil its obligations under international human rights laws.
He also appreciated the role of Parvez Emroz, the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) remarking that both Emroz and Ahanger were conferred an award by RAFTO foundation of Norway in 2017.
Chairman KC-EU appealed to the world community to play its role in tracing the whereabouts of thousands of innocent Kashmiris subjected to custodial disappearance by Indian police and troops. He asserted that families of the disappeared persons in IHK are still waiting for their near and dear ones.
He added that the impunity provided to the troops and police personnel through draconian laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Disturbed Areas Act and Public Safety Act gave them the permit to slaughter, arrest and harass the people.
Syed further revealed that the Kashmir Council EU is currently engaged in preparation of documentations of atrocities in IHK.
