Kashmir’s torment

For over two months now, Kashmir has been held in the vice-like grip of the Indian security forces that were deployed in larger numbers to the occupied area just before Article 370 of the Indian constitution, granting Kashmir a degree of autonomy, was abrogated. Things have worsened since the early days of the lockdown. Difficulties continue with obtaining essential items such as medication, although the curfew is being lifted for a few hours to allow essential items to be purchased. Children have now been out of school for a prolonged period and many of the young boys who have no choice but to roam streets and alleys have become caught up in street violence. They have also faced inhumane brutality from Indian security forces, using not only pellet guns against groups of children as young as nine or ten years old throwing pebbles towards them, but also picking up young boys and removing them to places far away from their homes in Kashmir to be locked up in cells. A child aged 16 was rescued recently; his age had been put down as 23 by police. His parents were able to move a court and after two months in detention in an isolated cell in Uttar Pradesh, bring him back home where they say he has suffered injuries to his spine and remains in severe pain.This is not what Kashmir deserves. The UN secretary general, through his spokesperson, has once again drawn attention towards the worsening situation in the occupied valley and sought an end to barbaric acts against people. Imran Khan has continued to do the same, although he has also warned Pakistanis not to cross the LoC at any cost. This is important as the pro independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front is at the time of writing this editorial on its way to the LoC on the Pakistan side to express their solidarity with Kashmiris in the Indian-occupied portion. Time is also running out for Kashmiris. Within weeks, the territory will be formally divided into two unions, making it more difficult to restore the original dimensions and status of Kashmir. The Indian courts have not yet come to the rescue of the Kashmiris, with the suggestion in response to petitions that the high court in Srinagar be approached genuinely ludicrous given that it is impossible even for foreign journalists to reach Srinagar. It is hard to understand how a petition could be moved there.Journalists in Kashmir have staged their own protests over the blackout of news from the territory and the continued insistence by the Indian government that all is well in the valley. Fewer and fewer people believe this now, even if any did earlier. There is an urgent need for human rights observers to be sent to the area and an even more urgent need for world leaders to act collectively in some fashion. The fascism that Imran Khan spoke of in his UN address has meanwhile truly come alive in India. An FIR, on the grounds of tarnishing the image of the country, has been lodged against some 40 celebrities included musicians, actors, producers and other public figures who had protested mob lynchings of Dalits, Muslims and others. A nightmare is unfolding before us. Is it really true that even in 2019 the world can do nothing but watch and allow such atrocities to continue?

from The News International - Editorial https://ift.tt/2IrxrZx