Indian occupied Kashmir- one year of repression-sufferings and lock down

Indian occupation forces failed to quell Kashmiri resistance and struggle for freedom 

One year ago on August 05, 2019, Modi government revokes the Articles 370 and 35 A to change the status of Indian occupied Kashmir. The Indian government imposed harshest restrictions and lock down on the besieged Kashmiris exactly one year ago. Many powerful countries crippled after the lockdown of several weeks. But Kashmiris are facing lockdown and other restrictions for last one year. Modi government has converted the Kashmir into an open prison and military garrison.  

The people of Jammu and Kashmir continue to face the curfews, communication blackout, restrictions on media and information. Nearly 9 million Kashmiri people are continued to suffer under Indian occupation and repression. Thousands of young people had been arrested, tortured, and then disappeared.

Indian forces used rape and abuse as a weapon against Kashmiri women. The young boys have been raped and sexually abused to break  the determination of Kashmiri people.  The continued lockdown and restrictions crippled the economy of Kashmir. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost jobs, livelihood, and businesses as the result of lockdown and restrictions. 

Indian occupied Kashmir ravaged by a brutal curfew that included complete shutting down of internet services, Kashmir today continues to suffocate under unprecedented military presence. The Hindu supremacist government of BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had boasted on Aug 5 last year that the annexation of Kashmir would bring peace and prosperity to the people of the region. A year later all such predictions have proved wrong. Thousands of Kashmiris have been imprisoned, tortured, and made to disappear, and yet the population remains defiant.

There is hardly any doubt that Mr Modi’s real objective in revoking the special status of Indian occupied Kashmir as a semi-autonomous region under Article 370 was to bring about a demographic change there.

 Since last year, the government has aggressively promoted migration of Hindus to IOK through various incentives. In the long run, the BJP wants to convert the Muslim Kashmiri population into a minority on its own land. This policy has continued to unfold in the occupied territory since August last year under the shadow of Indian guns. Both the government and the pliant Indian media continue to claim that normalcy has returned to Kashmir but nothing could be farther from the truth.

 A large number of Kashmiri leaders —including the pro-Indian ones — remain incarcerated, freedom of movement is severely curtailed, and independent media cannot get access to the region. Draconian measures like a communication blackout are routinely used to clamp down on resistance.

 Horrendous incidents of beatings and custodial killings of Kashmiris, including young boys, by the occupying force are commonplace. The heart-wrenching image of the infant sitting on the dead body of his grandfather slain by Indian soldiers is only one illustration of the gross human rights violations being perpetrated by the Indian occupying force.

The annexation of occupied Kashmir has also had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of people. The influx of outsiders into the region has put a strain on employment opportunities for locals who have already suffered the loss of earnings under the blanket curfew that was imposed prior to the annexation last year.

Covid-19 has added another adverse factor in the lives of people while providing security forces an excuse for further clamping down on movement. Occupied Kashmir is on the brink of a political, demographic, and financial disaster. It’s a systematic destruction of Kashmiri economy.  

 Pakistan should undertake every effort feasible to highlight the situation and mount pressure on India to reverse the disastrous decision of revoking the special status of Kashmir. India has been involved in gross violations of human rights. India must be brought to international Court of Justice to face the charges of crimes against humanity. Thousands of Kashmiri people have lost their lives in the struggle to win freedom and to end the occupation.

Kashmiri people have the right to decide their own future like any other nation. Kashmiri people have the right to live free, dignified, and independent life free of occupation, repression, miseries, and sufferings.

The world powers must demand and put pressure on India to end the occupation. Let the Kashmiri people decide their own future. Release all the arrested politicians, political workers, and young people. Withdraw Indian forces from Kashmir.  Lift all the restrictions, lock down, and curfew from Kashmir. Restore the status of Kashmir. Cancel all the domiciles issued to the non-Kashmiris to change the demography of Kashmir valley.  

                                                                    The Editor