Memorandum to Secretary General of United Nations,
António Guterres,
Secretary General
United Nations,
405 East 42nd Street,
New York, NY, 10017, USA
Tel: (+ 1) (212) 963-1234
Dated: 10 December, 2021
On the 74th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we the people of Jammu and Kashmir through this memorandum bring into your kind notice that India too is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which gives fundamental rights guaranteed to the individuals. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights tirelessly affirms the fundamental equality and dignity of every man, woman and child.
India, which claims to be one of the largest democracies in the world, unfortunately does not adhere to the principles in the Preamble to the Constitution of India declaring it to be a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic.
The value of life of a member of one religious community is more than the life of a member from another religious community and nowadays India is considered to be among the major human rights violating countries.
Every year more and more civilians are killed in cordon and search operations, fake encounters, custody, tortured and arrested by Indian armed forces in Jammu & Kashmir.
India’s violent repression of protests in Jammu & Kashmir from 1989 resulted in hundred thousand deaths of Kashmiris. Indian armed forces arbitrarily detained and tortured peaceful protesters during these years.
There are over 4000 Kashmiri leaders men and women, youth, students human rights defenders, journalists and traders including Masarrat Aalam Butt, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Ayaz Muhammad Akbar, Altaf Ahmed Shah, Peer Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Ameer Hamza, Muhammad Yousuf Mir, Muhammad Rafiq Ganai, Feroz Ahmed Khan, Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo, Ghulam Muhammad Butt ,Syed Shahid Yousuf, Syed Shakeel Yousuf, Muhammad Yusuf Falahi, Zahoor Ahmed Butt, Eng Rashid, Zahoor Watali,Hayat Ahmed Butt, human rights activist Khurrum Parviaz and journalist Aasif Sultan remain lodged in different jails under black laws across Jammu and Kashmir and in Indian jails whose reports from jails narrate horrifying stories about plight of detainees.
Reports about manhandling of Kashmiri leaders in Tihar at the hands of dreaded criminals have also been received. Apart from physical torture, complaints about quality of food have also been received. Prisoners suffering from serious ailments are not moved to hospitals. The jail authorities force detainees to spend all the time in narrow and dark cells while other inmates from other Indian states are allowed to spend their time in the open. It is unfair, against the law and at the same time it is even worse if prisoners are discriminated against by the authorities on the grounds of their geography, religion and relationship. Time and again the matter has been raised by us with concern but nothing is done to ease the suffering of the prisoners, instead, the Government of India is using the notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) to suppress and muzzle the voices raised for the right of self-determination.
Sir, the Government of India has waged a war against the un-armed civilian population of Jammu & Kashmir. It is trampling the religious freedom and rights of the people as well. The Government of India is continuously refusing to accept the ground reality in Kashmir and recognize the importance of a peaceful resolution to this decades-old dispute, instead it is using the methods of coercion, suppression and arm-twisting tactics to deny the people of Jammu & Kashmir their legitimate right of self-determination.
The struggle and voices raised by the people of Jammu & Kashmir for right of self-determination, against the failure of the Indian government to respect international laws, singed UN resolutions, human rights and account for violations.
The Indian armed forces including army, paramilitary and police personnel are using unnecessary or excessive force, beatings, and detentions as a tool to suppress the voice of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. The people of Kashmir for the past seventy four years are in a struggle for the exercise of their right to self-determination accrued to them under United Nations Charter and the resolutions passed by UN Security Council on Kashmir Dispute.
The Indian armed forces enjoying impunity under Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA) and other such laws have committed mass crimes in Jammu and Kashmir.
Harassment, threats, arbitrary detentions and politically motivated arrests, threats to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, crackdowns on peaceful protests, restrictions on freedom of expression, imposition of repeated curfews, restrictions, raids, and vandalising of homes are often coupled with crackdowns on public protests and others have become a regular feature in Kashmir.
Due to the continuing conflict, a total number of 484 deaths and thousands injured by bullets and pellets on the streets of Kashmir in Indian forces violent incidents since August 5, 2019 across Jammu & Kashmir were reported, which included aged men, women and young boys. The Kashmiri youth are picked up from their homes and then eliminated after being falsely labelled as militants or over-ground workers of armed rebel organisations.
During the popular uprising of 2016, 152 Civilians were put to death, scores of persons deprived of their vision either completely or partially by pellet firing, hundreds of youth arrested and thousands injured by the Indian government forces in Kashmir.
We appeal to your good self and through you to all the member nations of the United Nations to take serious note of the prevailing situation of Jammu & Kashmir and stress upon the government of India to respect the right to peaceful assembly which is a fundamental right.
Thank you
Kashmir statistics centre
(http://kashmirstatisticscentre.com)
Email. raiesmir@gmail.com