UNMASKING ATROCITIES: THE HINDUTVA BJP/RSS REGIME’S OPPRESSION IN KASHMIR
The Hindutva BJP/RSS regime and their establishment in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have crossed all limits of atrocities and state terrorism in the territory, creating immense suffering for the local population. A comprehensive report by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service highlights rampant atrocities, including arrests, cordon and search operations, house raids, property confiscation, and the termination of employees by Indian forces and investigative agencies such as the National Investigation Agency and State Investigation Agency. These actions have become a disturbing norm in the occupied territory.
The innocent Kashmiri population, already reeling under the relentless military and police siege imposed by the Hindutva BJP government led by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, has been subjected to a fresh wave of horror and atrocities. These acts have further intensified the suffering of the Kashmiri people. A specific incident where three innocent Kashmiris were tortured and killed while in the custody of the Indian army in the Surankote area of Poonch in December 2023. Such brutal treatment serves as a stark reminder that India continues to employ strong-arm tactics to intimidate and suppress the Kashmiri people, aiming to force them into submission.
Since the imposition of the BJP regime in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in 2015, Indian troops and its notorious agencies have been responsible for the martyrdom of 2,152 Kashmiris, including 305 individuals who were subjected to extra-judicial killings through custody and fake encounters. This alarming figure reflects the grave human rights violations perpetrated by Indian forces in IIOJK. Civilians including women and children have been killed in “reprisal” attacks by Indian security forces. Even infants were not spared. International NGO’s as well as the US State Department have documented human rights abuses including disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions carried out during India’s counter-terrorism operations.
The move of Modi regime to disfranchise the Kashmiris is yet another attempt to make Kashmiris aliens in their own homeland. It is the worst assault on the identity of Kashmiris and a sheer violation of international law and the UN resolutions on Kashmir, which is an internationally accepted disputed territory. The main objective behind this move is to install a Hindu chief minister in IIOJK who will implement Hindutva ideology in the territory. “It is also part of sinister conspiracy to change the demography of the disputed area.
Kashmiris urged the United Nations Secretary-General to take steps to resolve the Kashmir issue. Freedom leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, alleged human rights violations in the Valley. They said a commission should be established to end the cycles of violence and “ensure accountability” as the conflict has consumed many lives in Jammu and Kashmir.
United Nations has expressed serious concerns over large number of killings by Indian security forces. Human Rights groups have also accused the Indian security forces of using child soldiers. Torture, widely used by Indian security sources, whose severity is described as beyond comprehension by Amnesty International, has been responsible for the huge number of deaths in custody.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in his speech at the 73rd session of United Nations General Assembly effectively presented Pakistan’s viewpoint on Kashmir issue saying, “The unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute hinders the realization of the goal of durable peace between our two countries.”Qureshi presented Pakistan’s stance that there can be no lasting peace in South Asia without a just settlement of the Kashmir dispute based on the UN Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people.“We will welcome the Commission to Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and hope that India too, will do the same,” he categorically stated.
The Hindutva BJP/RSS regime, led by Narendra Modi, has perpetrated egregious atrocities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in immense suffering for the local population. India has been exposed and now it is time for UN, International Community and all individuals with human conscious to force India to rectify its course and respect the human norms and respect the humanity and pull its occupying forces from Kashmir. Despite India’s use of force over the past seven decades, it has become evident that the resilient Kashmiri population cannot be subdued.