Srinagar, Oct 22 (KNS): The JRL has in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Geuters urged him to stop being a mute spectator to the continuing spree of killing of civilians in Kashmir and play his role in putting an end to the killings, repression and resolution of Kashmir dispute.
In a statement issued here on Monday the JRL said “in view of the recent spree of killing and blatant abuse of human rights in Kashmir and immense atrocities committed on the civilian population under the ruthless cordon and search operation (CASO) in the length and breadth of Kashmir by Indian forces, the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik has sent a petition to the Secretary-General of United Nations Antonio Guterres to stop being a mute spectator and play its role in putting an end to the extreme repression people are being subject to by the Indian state by taking urgent steps for the resolution of Kashmir dispute which is the main cause of all suffering and human rights violations of people of Kashmir.”
Saying that the dispute of Kashmir being on UN agenda, with umpteen resolutions passed on it in the august body, the JRL has said in the letter that it is the binding responsibility of United Nations to resolve this dispute as soon as possible in the light of the resolutions. UN can in the meantime ensure that human rights are protected in Kashmir and grave repression stopped. The people of Kashmir are suffering the killing of generation after generation.”
Making mention of the recent incidents it has been said that On 21 October 2018 seven unarmed civilians were ruthlessly killed and hundreds injured by pellets, bullets and bombs at Laroo area of southern Kulgam district, the JRL has also noted in its letter that on October 17 in the heart of Srinagar city, as per family sources a young man Rayees Ahmad Sofi was taken into custody by Indian forces, tortured whole night in front of his family and then killed in cold blood during custody, adding that on October 19, a five months pregnant woman was killed by the government forces in Pulwama. The letter further reads that the slain was identified as Firdausa Akhtar, W/o Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, resident of Qasabyar Pulwama and the destruction of residential houses by planting explosives or by burning them down, devastation to vehicles and house hold goods besides killing has become order of the day. Alleging in the letter that even women are ruthlessly beaten and harassed, the JRL in its letter says “despite repeated closure of educational institutions by the state to prevent protests, students repeatedly hit streets against killings atrocities, crackdowns, illegal detentions and space for expression.”
It has further been said in the petition that there is no semblance of any civilian authority, even in the name, in Jammu & Kashmir. The state is run by a New-Delhi appointed Governor with military, paramilitary and police-force at his command who are hell-bent to crush the popular political movement of self determination of Kashmiri’s by bullets and batons. The overwhelming boycott of 95% by the people of Kashmir in the recently held Urban Local Bodies Elections in Kashmir has further frustrated the Indian authorities who have stepped up their vendetta against the people. The horrible incidents of past including Kunan-Poshpora mass rape, Shopian, Machil, Chattisinghpora fake-encounters, massacres at Hawal-Srinagar, Gow-Kadal, Handwara, Sopore, Kupwara, Bij-Behara, killing of hundreds of youth in 2008, 2010, and 2016 mass uprisings besides countless unabated incidents of grotesque human rights violations in the form of fake encounters, forced disappearances, rapes everyday killing of un-armed civilians and destruction of property by Indian forces have inflicted deep wounds on the collective existence of people, the scars of which are etched on the conscience of Kashmir’s.
Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) through the petition has appealed to the secretary general and through him to the all member nations of the UN to intervene effectively to stop Government of India from committing crimes against humanity in Jammu & Kashmir and take all possible measures to address the festering wound i.e. Kashmir dispute so as to protect the population of the territory from the atrocities of the Indian apparatus of coercion and suppression which is essential for establishing permanent peace and stability in the region.
The petition is published online and can be accessed at http://ipt.io/O22MA. All the justice loving people across the globe in particularly the people across LOC and Kashmiris living in Diaspora are requested to sign the petition.
The copies of the petition have been sent to the representatives of permanent members of United Nations Security Council US, UK, Russia, France and China in New-York and to the ambassadors of these countries in New-Delhi also to High Commissioner for United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) and Secretary General OIC. (KNS)