Human rights abuses in Kashmir – issue of mass graves, Dr Shabir Choudhry

Posted by on July 12, 2012 in Articles by Dr Shabir Choudhry | Comments Off

Human rights abuses in Kashmir – issue of mass graves

Dr Shabir Choudhry         11 July 2012

Documentary shown on the British TV Channel 4 at 11.10pm on Tuesday 10 July 2012 was harrowing tale of human right abuses perpetrated by para military forces in Kashmir. Although a lot of what had happened has been compiled by different human rights organisations; and highlighted in Kashmir, India and at the international level, still it was distressing to see and hear what trauma my countrymen had to endure.

No one can deny that human rights have taken place in Kashmir. But reading about these tragic events is one thing, and going through them or witnessing them is totally another. I am sure the documentary made by a Kashmiri human rights activist Parvaiz Imroz has done a great service to promote and protect human rights in the Valley of Kashmir; and the British TV Channel has also obliged us by showing tragic stories of human rights abuses. I am sure many Kashmiri people were in tears after seeing that and listening to the horror stories, at least my wife and children were.

Sad thing is that these human rights abuses were committed by para – military forces that were allowed to enter Jammu and Kashmir to protect dignity, honour and property of the people; and by a government that claims to be the biggest democracy and believes in promotion and protection of human rights.

It must be recalled that when the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir was attacked by the tribesmen supported by Pakistan, he requested India for help; and that help was only provided after India obtained ‘provisional accession’ from the beleaguered Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir. In reply to the Maharaja’s request, India’s Governor General Lord Mountbatten wrote:

‘In consistence with their policy that in the case of any State where the issue of accession has been the subject of dispute, the question of accession should be decided in accordance with the wishes of the people of the State, it is my Government’s wish that, as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and its soil cleared of the invader, the question of the State’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people. Meanwhile, in response to Your Highness’ appeal for military aid, action has been taken today to send troops of the Indian Army to Kashmir, to help your own forces to defend your territory and to protect the lives, property, and honour of your people.’

Indian forces are not only under obligation to protect human life and dignity because of this ‘provisional accession’; but also because of the obligations ordained in the UNCIP Resolutions. In addition, India has a duty to protect and promote human rights as a signatory to the UN Charter; but what we witness is a clear violation of these obligations and disrespect for human rights regime, at least in the Valley of Kashmir.

Some people point out that the army is in Kashmir because of the militants; and wherever army is sent to deal with militancy, insurgency and unrest human rights violations are bound take place. The counter argument is that the militancy and unrest started because the Indian government failed to honour its obligations; and frustrated people resorted to violence.

The Indian government’s view is that they are dealing with Pakistani trained ‘terrorists’ who were trained for the purpose of disrupting peace and stability of Kashmir, and communalise Kashmiri culture of tolerance and co – existence. True, militants were trained and sent by Pakistan; but in early years of the conflict, majority of the militants were local disgruntled youths. Later on, of course, non – Kashmiris took over the militancy; and they did enormous damage not only to the cause of Kashmir; but also they shattered social fabric of the Kashmiri society.

The Indian government also point out that these militants are mainly responsible for deaths because they start acts of violence in heavily populated areas; and when ‘security forces’ fight back these ‘terrorists’, innocent people get killed in cross firing. Furthermore, they claim ‘terrorists’ kill and torture those who refuse to cooperate with them. Whereas, one can find some truth in the above, but the fact remains it is the responsibility of the government to maintain peace and protect life, dignity and property of the people. Call them militants or ‘terrorists’, they are not signatory to the UN Charter to protect and promote human rights; or have any obligation under the UNCIP Resolutions.

If militants or ‘terrorists’ with weapons are killed in some encounter, then one can see some justification, as both parties were armed and ready to kill each other; but what justification is there to kill non – combatant civilians and rape women? According to Parvaiz Imroz more than ‘8,000 Kashmiri non-combatants had vanished from army custody in a state the size of Ireland – four times more than disappeared under Pinochet in Chile.’

Cathy Scott – Clark in a report published in Guardian London on 9 July 2012 notes:

‘Imroz widened his search, mapping almost 1,000 locations. He was shocked by the implications. Indian law requires that the police probe every violent death and that corpses be identified. But in the village of Bimyar, white-haired Atta Muhammad Khan came forward to describe how he had been forced to inter 203 unidentified bodies under cover of the night – men whose identities and crimes were unstated. “Some corpses were disfigured. Others were burnt. We did not ask questions.” It was a similar story in Kichama village, where the lawyer mapped 235 unmarked graves and in Bijhama, where 200 more unidentified corpses had been interred. In Srinagar, Imroz’s team alerted the government’s State Human Rights Commission (SHRC). “We suspected the missing of Kashmiris were buried at these secret sites,” he said, publishing a report, Facts Under Ground.’

As a Kashmiri I feel angry and frustrated because my countrymen are victims of human rights abuses; and sad thing is that those who committed these abuses are roaming free, as they are protected by certain laws. I and my party, Kashmir National Party condemn all the human rights abuses; and demand for abrogation of those laws that culprits could be punished and human rights abuses could be stopped. Can any Indian or pro India Kashmiri justify all the above abuses?

India claims Kashmir belongs to them because of that ‘provisional accession’. If one, for a moment, accepts this contention, then technically people of Jammu and Kashmir are Indians; question, however, arises, is this how civilised and democratic countries treat their own ‘citizens’

The above brutalities could not be justified under the pretext that Pakistan sent trained ‘terrorists’ to Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan have tragic history of animosity, confrontation and competition; the question is why should we people of Jammu and Kashmir become raw materials in their contest to defeat each other?

I agree, the prime responsibility of every government is to protect human life, dignity, honour and property; and if some people in name of right to protest or right to self – determination endanger life, dignity and property of citizens, the authorities have to step in to protect that. However, they have no right or mandate to trample all the above ideals just because they have guns and they are immune from any prosecution because of certain laws.

The authorities in Kashmir have certain obligations; and they cannot turn a blind eye to all these human rights abuses; and still claim to be champions of democracy and human rights. They have to act and act fast to stop these human rights abuses.

The Pakistani establishment, in order to equal a score against India, used sentiments of disgruntled and angry Kashmiri youths and created chaos in Kashmir that resulted in death of a generation and massive human rights abuses. The question is why people of Gilgit Baltistan are victims of human rights abuses when there is no Indian backed militancy going on there. Similarly, there is no Indian backed militancy going on in Pakistani occupied Kashmir; and yet people are denied of fundamental human rights; and they also suffer human rights abuses.

A friend and old colleague of JKLF from Nottingham (England) Isahaq Sahib phoned me a few days ago and complained why people of Azad Kashmir want to liberate Indian occupied Kashmir, when we are occupied by Pakistan on this side? He said, ‘Our first responsibility must be to get independence from Pakistan; and then help our brother across the LOC.’ He further said, ‘Those who gave us this policy that we should liberate the Indian occupied Kashmir were not sincere with us’.

I request both India and Pakistan to respect human rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir; and acknowledge this fact that the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed, and that there could be no peace and stability in the region without resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the wishes of the people.

Writer is a political analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.

Email:drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com

View: www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com           www.k4kashmir.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About K4Kashmir

PROFILE OF Dr SHABIR CHOUDHRY Dr Shabir Choudhry was born in Nakker Shamali (near Panjeri) in District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. He went to UK in 1966, and holds a dual nationality. Dr Shabir Choudhry has done extensive research on the issue of Kashmir and Indo Pakistan relations. He passed BA Honours in Politics and History, and Mphil in International Relations (title of the thesis, ‘Kashmir and Partition of India’); and title of his PhD thesis is ‘Kashmir- An issue of a nation not a dispute of a land’. Apart from this Dr Shabir Choudhry passed Post Graduates Certificates in Education, and NVQ Assessor’s qualifications; and taught English in London. Political Achievements Founder member of JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front established in 1977) and got elected as a Press Secretary in 1984. • Became its Secretary General in 1985, and resigned from this post in 1996. • Got elected President of JKLF and Europe in May 1999, and decided not to contest in elections of July 2001. • Said good - bye to the JKLF as it is in many groups and is largely seen as advancing a Pakistani agenda on Kashmir dispute, and set up a new party Kashmir National Party in May 2008. . At present, he is: • Spokesman Kashmir National Party and Director Diplomatic Committee; • Founder member and Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs; Previously • A founder Member and Trustee/ Director of London based registered charity, Kashmir Foundation International and resigned from this position in August 2001. • Regularly take part in the Sessions of the UN Human Rights (Commission) now Council in Geneva; and address various conferences and seminars to oppose violence and highlight the Kashmir cause. • Have addressed dozens of seminars and conferences in the British Parliament, European Parliament and other important capitals of the world on issue of Kashmir, violence and terrorism. • Addressed as a key note speaker in a Conference at New Delhi arranged by Jawahar Lal Nehru University. • Participated in a Round Table Conference on Kashmir, organised by Socialist Group of European Parliament in Brussels in 1993. • Addressed as a Chief Guest in a seminar on issue of Mangla Dam during the UN Sub Commission’s proceedings in August 2003. • Addressed as a key - note speaker in a seminar on the issue of Gilgit and Baltistan, organised by Association of British Kashmiris. • Addressed as a keynote speaker on human rights conference in Paris in 1991. • Addressed at Cambridge University as a Chief Guest in a conference on Kashmir in 1990. • Addressed as a keynote speaker at New Delhi conference on Kashmir, which was part of Track Two diplomacy in November 2000. • In September 2008, addressed a Conference arranged by Interfaith International in Geneva, topic of which was: “Kashmir Issue, Terrorism and Human Rights”. • Addressed as a speaker in a NGO Conference on Self - Determination in Geneva in August 2000. • Addressed as a keynote speaker in a fringe meeting of Liberal Democrats at their Annual Conference in Brighton in 1995. • Participated in World Human Rights Conference in Vienna in 1993. • Before President Clinton's visit to India and Pakistan in 2000, lead a JKLF delegation to the State Department to discuss Kashmir dispute and situation in South Asia. • Also had two rounds of meetings with senior State Department officials before President Musharraf’s meeting to Washington in June 2003. • Apart from that had meetings with senior officials including Ministers of different countries, and also held many meetings with the State Department and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials on number of occasions. • Played important role in advancing a Kashmiri perspective on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir; and also helped Baroness Emma Nicholson with her report ‘Kashmir: present situation and future prospects’, which was adopted by the European Parliament in May 2007. • Won first prize in an essay competition in Urdu in 1976. It was organised by High Commission of Pakistan in London, and title of the essay was 'Qaaid-e- Azam's role in Islamic History'. • Apart from that have addressed conferences in Brussels, Geneva, Toronto, Islamabad, Delhi, and Publications • Got first Urdu novel ‘Fareena’ published at the age of eighteen. • Second Urdu novel ‘Bay-Khataa’ which was about the problems of Asian youths living in UK published in 1983. • Third Urdu book ‘Pakistan and Kashmiri struggle for independence’ published in 1990. • Fourth Urdu book is also on Kashmiri struggle, 'Is an independent Kashmir a conspiracy?' • Apart from that has twenty five books and booklets published in English on various aspects of the Kashmiri struggle. • Recent publications are: Kashmir dispute as I see it • Different perspective on Kashmir • JKLF visit to Pakistan Administered Kashmir • Kashmir Needs a Change of Heart • If not self - determination then what? • Emma Nicholson report- who has won? • Struggle for independence, Jihad or proxy war (Introduction by Baroness Emma Nicholson) • Why 22 October 1947 is important in Kashmiri history? • New dimensions of the Kashmiri struggle. The following books are published by a German company and available on www.amazon.co.uk • New Round of the 'Great Game', ISBN 978-3-639-33084-7 • Liberation Struggle, Jihad or a Proxy War, ISBN 978-3-639-33424-1 • Kashmir Dispute: New Dimensions and New Challenges ISBN 978-3-639-33566-8 • Kashmir Dispute and Peace in South Asia ISBN 978-3-639-33732-7 • Terrorism, Kashmir Dispute and Possible Solutions ISBN 978-3-639-34239-0 • Kashmir And The Partition of India, (my Mphil research) ISBN 978-3-639-34801-9 • Kashmir – an Issue of a Nation not Dispute of a Land, (my PhD research) 978-3-639-35593-2 • Are Kashmiris part of the Kashmir Dispute? 978-3-639-37225-0 • A brief background Dr Shabir Choudhry was born in a small village called Nakker Shamali (near Panjeri) in District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. He went to UK in 1966, and like other people from the region, holds a dual nationality. He left secondary school in 1970 with no qualifications and began his life as a textile worker. In 1975 he started part time studies and passed Matriculation from Government High School Panjeri, passed ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels from UK, and resumed full time degree course in 1981, and passed BA (Hons) in Politics and History in 1984. He continued full time and part time jobs until he got his Mphil. He passed his PGCE (Post Graduates Certificate in Education) in 1990, and then started full time job as a Lecturer. Due to health problems he resigned from teaching in 1999. At present he is self - employed, provides private tuition, translation and interpretation and consultancy. Through out his adult life he has actively worked for the cause of Kashmir, and even during long illness he effectively carried out his responsibilities as a leader of the JKLF, a ‘prolific writer’ and consistent campaigner of Rights Movement and peace in Jammu and Kashmir and South Asia. Dr Shabir Choudhry Email:drshabirchoudhry@googlemail.com Telephone: 0044 (0)7790942471

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