-Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal
Kashmiris are a great nation, where Prophets lived and guided them, but now they are the victimized children of the earth – divided, persecuted, fooled, terrorized and yet ignored by the world powers and UNSC to deliver justice to them.
India for the first time in years has faced a crucial problem almost questioning validity and rationality of fits post-sovereignty foreign policy in annexing neighboring weak Jammu Kashmir, Propelled by an artificial rivalry with Pakistan over the sovereign Kashmir.
India might consider the immoral annexation and illegal occupation of Jammu Kashmir as a great feat, but international community sees it as a shameful deceit.
There are hue and cry about the Kashmir Unrest all over the world media, but media has so far ignored the important part of this Unrest, i.e., the Rights and Protection of Children who are traumatized due to the world’s largest deployed troops in the disputed state. Many Kashmir observers had already warned Indian Government about the anger and frustration developed among Kashmiri children and youth due to the militarization of the area. During past 68 days, heavy use of force and lethal weapons have injured around 12, 000 civilians, killed around 85, and blinded 150 completely, around 800 partially. Indian forces are using mostly Pellet guns on peaceful protestors who don’t want to live in India anymore.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly abbreviated as the CRC, CROC, or UNCRC) is a human rights treaty which set out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.
Kashmir is witnessing unrest post the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with the security forces on July 8The Current Kashmir crisis is also known as Summer Uprising 2016 or Kashmir Unrest 2016.
Kashmir which is disputed conflict as per the UN Security Council Resolutions is now considered world’s largest militarized zone on the planet. Time has proved that India has adopted barbaric and inhuman methods and even now not cared about the lives of the people of Kashmir; India only eyes on the resources of the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir.
With the deployment of 700, 000 Indian para-military troopers of regular Indian Army, Border Security Force or BSF, Centre Reserve Police Force or CRPF and local police, India has only changed the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir into a military garrison and hence ultimately failed to resolve the Kashmir issue through political ways. Now a new generation of Kashmir of post 90’s the period when armed conflict erupted due to the rigging of elections in 1987 has decided to say good bye to India from Kashmir.
One still has no clues where exactly the thousands of Kashmiris have disappeared. However, unmindful of those Kashmiris, Indian forces are busy scheming for the further genocides in Kashmir. Now India has started blinding people who demand to end the Indian Military Occupation in Kashmir.
Since 68 days damage and destruction done by Indian forces in Kashmir are against the treaties which India has signed with international bodies including United Nations.
United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Raad Al-Hussein sent a team of observers to Kashmir to assess the situation on the ground there. We also condemn the Indian denial for not granting access to United Nations Human Rights Group.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui has to take serious notice for violating the UNCRC treaty which India had ratified agreeing in principles all articles except with certain reservations on issues relating to ‘child labor. Kashmir Children campaigners also appeal leading European Institutions prominently European Commission, European Union and European Parliament to listen to the cries of Kashmiri Children who are being pushed into a dark future. They also appeal to global NGOs working for the rights and protection of children to break their silence and come forward to adopt the victimized Kashmir children and join our campaign to so that India forces can be stopped to kill and maim the traumatized generation.
Amid ongoing Kashmir unrest, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh recently postponed his visit to Russia and the USA beginning from September 18, PTI reported. The development comes after militants stormed a battalion headquarters of the Army at Uri, in the wee hours of Sunday, with explosions and heavy gunfire heard at the spot. “Keeping the situation in Jammu and Kashmir in mind and the wake of a terror attack in Uri, I have postponed my visits to Russia and the USA,” said Rajnath Singh on Twitter.
Last week, another youth who was injured in clashes succumbed, taking the death toll to 81 in the unrest that had gripped the Kashmir Valley since July 8, when Hizbul militant Burhan Wani was gunned down in an encounter, and violent clashes broke out.
Singh was scheduled to visit Russia and the United States to highlight the issue of the neighboring country sponsoring terrorism in India and discuss efforts to counter ISIS activities in the region. After visiting Russia, the Home Minister was going travel to Washington on
September 26 for a seven-day visit for the Indo-US Homeland Security Dialogue with his American counterpart Jeh Charles Johnson. Other issues which were to be discussed in the two visits include extradition of each other’s wanted criminals, liberalization of visas, etc.
The visit by Singh, one of the top leaders of the Modi government, to the two global powers within a week was considered significant as India had raised its pitch on the issue of “terror export” from Pakistan.
JK government said helicopters and drones would be used for security and surveillance purposes in the Valley to prevent any untoward incident. The army has also been kept on standby and has been asked to stay vigilant. Taking a strong exception to the use of helicopters and drones to prevent any untoward incident in the Kashmir Valley, the Congress said the use of such devices in the context of a security situation in India is possibly the biggest failure of the BJP-led NDA Government. “It’s, of course, the responsibility of the state to maintain law and order but perhaps this is for the first time the word ‘drone’ is being used in the context of a security situation in India. Drones are usually associated with Afghanistan, South and North Waziristan in Pakistan. This is perhaps for the first time that the word drone in a security context has figured in the Indian narrative and this is possibly the biggest failure of this government,” he added. In the wake of Eid-ul-Zuha, curfew is imposed in all ten districts of Kashmir.
As per reports, the decision to impose restrictions on the assembly of a large number of people has been taken given separatists’ call for a march to the local offices of the United Nations. The shutdown of internet services of all telecom networks and also mobile telephony except that of the state-run BSNL for the next 48 hours has already been imposed in the Valley.
Meanwhile, curfew and severe restrictions were imposed in different parts of Kashmir Valley on Wednesday in the wake of separatists call for freedom march. Life was crippled for the 82nd consecutive day due to curbs and shutdown that started shortly after the killing of Hizb poster boy Burhan Muzaffar Wani who was killed in an encounter with government forces on 8 July this year. All the business establishments, schools, colleges and public transport remained shut while skeletal movement of private vehicles was witnessed in Civil Lines areas of Srinagar city including Lal Chowk, Jawahar Nagar, Raj Bagh, Dalgate, and Sonawar.
The struggle has entered the students’ realm as well. Meanwhile, Kashmiri Students across Kashmir continue to protest against the government decision to examine in November this year. They are not only threatening to boycott the examination on a mass scale but also are accusing the government of using them as scapegoats to prove that normalcy has returned to Kashmir Valley. The students carried placards saying that they are ready to sacrifice their future for Kashmir the students stated that Kashmir is a political problem and it should be resolved politically.
Children in Kashmir, like those in occupied Palestine, use stones to stop the Indian bullets from piercing the bodies of their parents and other elders. Can bullets be stopped by throwing stones or firing toy guns as Palestinian children do?
Only the UNSC can answer this!