The Pulwama massacre

India once again displayed brutal use of state force in Indian-occupied Kashmir, with the occupying forces using lethal weapons and dirty tactics to repress and terrorise the people of Kashmir. The Indian forces once again gave a clear message that they have no respect for human life, dignity and rights nor for international laws, and basic human and democratic rights.

The Indian occupying forces martyred 11 Kashmiri youths and injured more than 200 at the Pulwama district of occupied Kashmir. The Indian forces had launched a cordon and search operation in the area in which three young people were martyred. The killings sparked protests by locals, resulting in clashes between the protesters and the occupation forces. The Indian troops fired bullets, pellets and teargas shells to disperse the protesters which led to the martyrdom of eight more youths.

The forces had directly fired at the protesting crowd to deliberately kill young people. This was a cold-blooded murder of mostly teenage boys chanting slogans and throwing stones.

India has criminalised the protest and dissent. And the Modi government has consciously adopted a policy of genocide in Kashmir. The Indian forces have been given a free hand to kill as many Kashmiris as it takes to silent the dissent and rebellion against Indian occupation. India is doing exactly what Israel did in Palestine to enslave them.

India feels no pressure from the international community to stop the continued violations of human rights in Kashmir. This silence has been encouraging India to continue killing innocent people in Kashmir.

In June 2018, the UNHCR, for the very first time, prepared and released a detailed report on human rights violations and abuses in Indian-occupied Kashmir. According to this report, “one of the most dangerous weapons used against protesters in 2016 – and which is still being employed by security forces – was the pellet-firing shotgun. According to official figures, 17 people were killed by shotgun pellets between July 2016 and August 2017, and 6,221 people were injured by the metal pellets between 2016 and March 2017. Civil society organisations believe that many of them have been partially or completely blinded”.

“Impunity for human rights violations and lack of access to justice are key human rights challenges in the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” the report says, noting that the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA) and the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978 (PSA) have “created structures that obstruct the normal course of law, impede accountability and jeopardise the right to remedy for victims of human rights violations.”

The AFSPA prohibits prosecution of security forces personnel unless the Indian government grants prior permission to prosecute. “This gives security forces virtual immunity against prosecution for any human rights violation. In the nearly 28 years that the law has been in force in Jammu and Kashmir there has not been a single prosecution of armed forces personnel granted by the central government”, the report says. “There is also almost total impunity for enforced or involuntary disappearances, with little movement towards credibly investigating complaints, including into alleged sites of mass graves in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region”.

The UN and world powers have failed to take action on this report. It seems the Indian market is much more important for Western powers than the continued violations and abuse of human rights. Not a single statement of condemnation of the Pulwama massacre is a clear indication of their policy. For them, trade and business deals with India and their own strategic interests are more important than the continued loss of human life.

The problem is that the Indian ruling class has refused to accept the reality in occupied Kashmir – that Kashmiris want freedom and an end to the occupation.

There is widespread anger and hatred against Indian occupation in Indian held Kashmir, and young Kashmiris have lost the fear of Indian brutality and state repression. Everyday young people take to the streets and faced brutal force.

The Kashmiri people are sick and tired of the Indian occupation, and want to decide their future through an open, free, transparent and democratic process. The UN Security Council promised the Kashmiris to give them their democratic right for having a plebiscite. This promise has not been fulfilled by the UN and the world powers.

India is facing a youth rebellion in occupied Kashmir. The Indian forces have tried every tactic possible to crush this rebellion – from using live bullets, pellet guns and severe torture to stopping young people from coming out on the streets. But these tactics have failed so far.

India calls itself the biggest democracy in the world. But it wants to keep Kashmir under its occupation against the wishes of the Kashmiri people. Kashmiris are just demanding their democratic right to decide their own future. But this democratic demand is met with brutal use of force by the Indian forces.

Kashmiris have the right to decide their own future like any other nation in the world. India has no right to occupy Kashmir against the wishes and will of the Kashmiri masses. It is the responsibility of the world powers to force India to stop using brutal force against innocent and unarmed young protesters.

India will never be able to win the battle of hearts and minds with brutality and force. India should accept this reality and pull its from Kashmir; the continued occupation and state brutality has also turned this paradise into a living hell.

Kashmiris should be given the right of self-determination. They deserve respect, dignity, freedom and liberty instead of humiliation, torture and abuses.

The writer is a freelance journalist.