27 October 2024 marks the 77th anniversary of the illegal invasion and occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India.
On this day, Indian Security forces, through a suspicious instrument of accession, landed in Srinagar to illegally occupy the territory and subjugate the people of Jammu and Kashmir in clear violation of international law and humanitarian norms.
The status of accession is clearly reflected in Maharaja’s statement “Nothing in this instrument shall be deemed to commit me in any way to accept any future constitutions of India” and Governor’s letter to Maharaja “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 the question of the State’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people.”
Indian rulers’ multiple recorded commitments are a part of the record:-
Indian Government letter to UN on 31 Dec 1947 “The people of Kashmir would be free to decide their future by the recognized democratic method of plebiscite”.
Statement of PM Nehru in Parliament on 12 Feb 1957 “We have given our pledge to the people of Kashmir and subsequently to the UN; we stood by it and we stand by it today. Let the people of Kashmir decide” and.
K. Gandhi at a prayer meeting on 29 July 1947 “The people of Kashmir should be asked whether they want to join Pakistan or India. Let them do as they want. The ruler is nothing, people are everything”.
The Jammu & Kashmiri dispute between Pakistan and India has been on the agenda of the UN Security Council since January 1948. It remains an internationally recognized dispute, as affirmed by multiple UN Security Council resolutions and statements. The illegal occupation has been rejected by the Kashmiri people, by Pakistan, and by the international community for being in violation of International Law, relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions[i] and India’s own solemn commitments made bilaterally to Pakistan as well as to the people of occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
On 5 August 2019, India took further illegal and unilateral actions in violation of UNSC resolutions by annulling Article 370 and 35 A of Indian Constitution guaranteeing a special status to IIOJK. Since then, India has continued the longest military siege and incarceration of a population more than the size of many countries - in excess of 8 million. All fundamental freedoms remain in abeyance. Draconian laws such as Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Public Safety Act (PSA) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) are being used by more than 900,000 armed Indian occupation forces to carry out gross and systematic violations of human rights with complete impunity. Unprecedented security restrictions haveresulted in enormous human sufferings.
The human rights and humanitarian situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) remains grave, as continuously being highlighted by the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Procedure Mandate Holders (SPMHs), international media and civil society. The occupying Indian government’s repressive policies and failure to investigate and prosecute alleged security force abuses have only increased fear and insecurity among Kashmiris. India continues to spurn calls for access by the OHCHR, international media and human rights and humanitarian organizations while its intimidation and reprisals against IIOJK-based journalists and human rights defenders continue unabated.
Authorities in India have shut down the internet more often than anywhere else in the world. A majority of those shutdowns have been in Kashmir, where they are used to curb protests and access to information. State-terrorism is being inflicted on the people of IIOJK through fake encounters, cordon-and-search operations and indiscriminate use of pellet guns / live ammunition against unarmed civilians including women and children. Due to illegal and indiscriminate use of pellet guns, dozens of Kashmiri Muslims are seriously injured, including with eye injuries causing permanent blindness.
The incidence of extra-judicial killings has significantly gone up in recent months. In particular, Kashmiri youth is being targeted. Collective punishment is being imposed on entire neighbourhoods and communities, with dozens of houses of Kashmiris being burnt or razed to ground on mere suspicion of support to resistance fighters. There have been increased reports of sexual violence at the hands of the Indian army, police, and paramilitary forces. The rape of women in Kashmir by Indian security forces is an attempt to punish and humiliate the community.
Kashmiri Muslims are being prevented from offering sacred religious obligations such as Jumma and Eid prayers. Whereabouts of thousands of innocent civilians forcibly abducted by Indian forces, including minors, remain unknown and their families are struggling to trace them. Indian forces continue to employ torture and sexual violence as instruments to break the will of the Kashmiri people.
A systematically engineered demographic change in IIOJK post 5 Aug 2019, under the Domicile Rules promulgated by India is institutionalizing a system of numeric domination over the indigenous Muslim Kashmiri population, leading to their disempowerment and disenfranchisement. Forced and illegal demographic change is a grave violation of the principles of UN Charter, UNSC resolutions as well as the 4th Geneva Convention.
Given that the situation in IIOJK has gone from bad to worse, we request you to:-
Express concern in your national statements at the HRC Session.
Call upon India to comply with its international human rights obligations; halt its atrocities in IIOJK and allow unimpeded access for independent media and observers to the occupied territory to ascertain the state of human rights.
Urge India to engage with OHCHR and UN human rights machinery and implement the recommendations of the Kashmir Reports.
Call upon the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue the Kashmir reporting process.
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