Britain’s House of Commons on Wednesday expressed alarm at human rights violations, including fake encounters by Indian forces, in India-occupied Jammu & Kashmir and sought a response from the Indian High Commission over the maltreatment of Kashmiri citizens.
As many as 28 MPs of the British Parliament have written a joint letter to the Indian High Commission, seeking its response to reports of flagrant abuse of human rights in the occupied territory.
Fake encounters and grave human rights violations are the order of the day in the India-Illegally-Occupied Jammu & Kashmir but the incidents have dramatically increased during the last two years as it is widely being used as a tool to eliminate dissenting voices physically.
According to the police chief of the disputed territory, 225 Kashmiris were killed in police encounters during 2020 but the actual number of those who became victims of extrajudicial killing is much higher.
The tactics used by Indians to kill Kashmiris were highlighted by BBC, which quoted findings of an inquiry that revealed an officer of the Indian army – a Major – kidnapped three men in Barramula district by offering them jobs as porters and later killed them in a staged gun battle near the Line of Control (LoC), with troops claiming that found Pakistani currency and arms and ammunition on the three men.
The bogey of infiltration is raised in a bid to put pressure on Pakistan and malign the legitimate freedom struggle of Kashmiris. In the past, as many as 3,000 unnamed graves were found in Baramula and Kupwara districts.
All this is happening because of the sweeping powers given to troops that also enjoy immunity against prosecution unless the Indian government accords prior sanction for such prosecution.
The level of protection and encouragement (for crimes against humanity) is explained by an incident where a major of the Indian army tied a protester to the front bumper of his jeep and paraded him in villages and the Indian army chief not only defended his loathsome action but honoured him.
The latest concern shown by the British parliamentarians is reflective of the greater awareness among the world community about serious human rights violations.
It is, however, regrettable that despite availability of concrete evidence, the international community especially influential powers and the United Nations are not taking due interest to bring cruelties against Kashmiris to a halt, may be due to their religious identity as Muslim.
