Kashmir and the world

The question of why the massive human rights violations taking place in Kashmir are not taken up by the world is becoming an increasingly pressing question. This issue has once again been raised by Pakistan, in the form of a 131-page dossier, termed a tribute to the late Syed Ali Gilani and his services to the people of Kashmir. The dossier gives incriminating evidence against India, exposing some major perpetrators of these crimes who are directly responsible for atrocities in Kashmir. The dossier has documented over 3,400 cases of war crimes in which over 1,100 individuals have been identified. These include some high-ranking Indian army officials such as one major-general, four inspectors general, seven DIGs, five brigadiers, 30 colonels and at least 188 majors and captains. The most revealing bit of the dossier is the Indian patronage of the militant Islamic State (IS) group. According to the document, there are five IS training camps operating in India whose GPS coordinates have been provided in the dossier.

It is alarming that as many as 118 units of the Indian army have indulged in human rights violations and no major action has been taken at any level by the higher authorities. There is irrefutable evidence that fake encounters have been used as regular tools to target civilians and freedom fighters alike. False flag operations and planting of weapons to harm the resistance movement has also become a usual practice of the Indian occupation forces in Occupied Kashmir. There is also the extremely tragic use of chemical weapons against the Kashmiris in the occupied territories.

Certainly, these are matters the world should be addressing. India's position as a major market for the US and other countries is perhaps one reason why this is not happening. But there is every possible reason for the world to wake up and to directly address Kashmir as a place where human rights have been tossed aside. Already the region is suffering a huge amount of instability. It has already been over two years since the autonomous status of Occupied Kashmir was taken away and large-scale military action began in the region causing unemployment, unrest and violence in a series of actions. Business has yet to resume as normal and the situation in Kashmir, as the dossier points out, simply cannot be ignored any longer. It is about time the international community and the UN took serious note and hauled India up over its terrifying actions against the Kashmiris.