SYED ALI SAFVI
Amid growing clamour for withdrawal of the highly controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Indian administered Kashmir and Northeast region, Indian government has said that it was willing to make partial amendments to the AFSPA.
The proposed amendments, pending before Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) - entrusted with analysing security related aspects of India – relate to “taking arrests warrants in advance, taking away the power of the armedforces to open fire causing death and setting up of a grievance redressal cell.”
Indian government has come under scathing attack from various human rights groups for its failure in upholding human rights in this conflict ridden Himalayan region that borders India, Pakistan and China.
The global human rights watchdogs and human rights defenders have long been demanding the repeal of draconian AFSPA from Kashmir. Pertinently, more than 100 civilians were killed by government forces in Kashmir in protests against AFSPA in 2010.
Chief Minister of Indian Administered Kashmir, Mr Omar Abdullah, has also joined the chorus for the repeal of the law that gives security forces the license to kill innocent civilians on mere suspicion.
The Indian Army on the other hand has been rejecting the demand for withdrawal of AFSPA, saying that it needs the legal cover to deal with militancy in Kashmir.
The human rights defendersin Kashmir say that AFSPA is the main cause behind all the crimes against humanity in Kashmir.
“AFSPA has given legal impunity to the seven lakh security forces operating in Kashmir,” says Advocate Parvez Imroz, a human rights defender and Co-convener of the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice (IPTHRJ).
In 2011, Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (JKSHRC) had confirmed the presence of dozens of unmarked mass graves across 55 villages of north Kashmir, carrying over 2000 unidentified bodies.
The authorities claimed that the graves carry the bodies of foreign militants. However, the IPTHRJ, in its report, said the graveyards investigated have mostly the bodies of those murdered in fake encounters from 1990 to 2009.
“More than 8000 people have disappeared in custody after they were arrested by the law enforcing agencies. There is a relationship between mass graves and the disappeared people here,” Imroz added.
With over half a million Indian troops, Kashmir is the most militarized zone in the world.
Since their independence, India and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir, which continues to remain the bone of contention for both the countries. Innumerable direct bilateral negotiations between India and Pakistan have failed to yield any result.
The Indian authorities have been maintaining that situation in Indian administered Kashmir has significantly improved, but when it comes to repealing of AFSPA and demilitarization, it says “the time is not ripe”.
There are umpteen evidences to prove that army has been misusing the AFSPA in Kashmir. The abundant powers given to them have escalated human rights violations in this picturesque Himalayan region.
Pertinently, the Indian authorities have rejected to prosecute those Indiantroops who were found to be involved in murder, culpable homicide, and rape in Kashmir.
Custodial killings, illegal use of force, fake encounters, rapes, illegal detentions, and disappearances have become the order of the day. Killing of thousands of young men is upsetting the sex ratio, economy is in depression, education has been affected, child labour has become rampant, and many other social evils have cropped up.
The paradise of Kashmir has not just been lost but ruined and peace in the Valley has been broken into pieces.
For a Kashmiri, living life itself has become like walking on a minefield. Anytime anything can happen. Each day is a new day of death and uncertainty. Few seconds can change the entire course of life and the world will not be the same place again.
Kashmir was the only place where Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, father of Indian freedom struggle, had witnessed 'sunshine' and 'sobriety' during the days of partition when rest of the sub-continent was painted red with blood of thousands of innocents. After more than 60 years, Kashmir is the only spot in the sub-continent bleeding amid impunity.
(The article firsat appeared in www.taghribnews.com/en/)
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