What is the value of one Kashmiri life in the valley of Kashmir, called “heaven on earth”? Who will return the vision in one eye of 18 month old Hiba Jan? Will India ever listen to the call of the UN Secretary General for resolution of the political conflict of Kashmir? Will the draconian AFSPA be withdrawn? The All Party Hurriyat Conference Annual Report on Human Rights -2018 asks these and many other searching questions.

While the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has once again asked India and Pakistan to find a peaceful solution to the vexed Kashmir issue, the 2018 Annual Human Rights report on Kashmir, released last week by the All Party Hurriyat conference is a severe indictment of the violation of human rights and the conventions of war by the more than a quarter of a million Indian armed forces stationed in Kashmir.

“The 30-page report records 543 deaths, including 161 civilians, 127 security forces and 255 armed Kashmiri youth, during the year 2018.  Besides this, 19 men and 8 women were killed on the other side of the line of divide.”

The UN secretary general met the Prime Minister of India twice and that of Pakistan on three occasions, to emphasize the need for dialogue but nobody is talking to the real stakeholders –the Kashmiris. The APHC has “demanded the establishment of a commission of inquiry to conduct comprehensive and independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir.”

Kashmiris are being addressed through the barrel of the gun and a plethora of draconian laws. They face the burden of “unbridled powers besides legal impunity through laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act ‘AFSPA’, Disturbed Areas Act ‘DAA’ and Public Safety Act ‘PSA’.

The Kashmir situation is an issue of rights and a human issue, India through its armed forces deals with this political question by “indulging in killing of innocent people, extrajudicial executions, torture, outraging modesty of women, destruction of property, illegal detention, denial of the right to protest and suppression of right to speech and expression of the people making the life in Kashmir horrible and miserable.

According to the UN, the Kashmir conflict “has robbed millions of their basic human rights.”

The chairperson of the APHC -Mirwaiz Mohammad Umar Farooq, in the preamble of the report says, “Human rights are universal and everyone needs to be educated on these and understand that no matter where they are born and who they are, by virtue of being born as humans some rights automatically become a part and parcel of their life in a social set up.” But, who is listening except the occasional voice of the UN?

The highlight of the report is that like the previous years, Kashmiris took to the streets in protest against the army’s cordon and search operations during which the forces “ransack houses and damage vehicles” and there is enough evidence on social media where “government forces can be seen damaging public property.”

The report notes that in 2018, on 14 June, “United Nations broke its silence on the continuous atrocities committed on the people of Kashmir. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a detailed report on the situation of human rights in Kashmir.”  The Azad-Kashmir chapter of the APHC highlighted the plight of Kashmir at the 37^th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“The report of the UN High Commissioner focused on widespread and serious human rights violations by Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir. The report also mentions about the state government’s frequent use of communication blockades and suspension of mobile and internet services, as well as restrictions on freedom of expression, targeting of media and journalists. It mentions that in 2016-17 widespread protests, long periods of curfew, frequent strikes, and arson attacks on schools all had a cumulative impact on students and their right to education.” The report also called for a commission of Inquiry to conduct “a comprehensive independent international investigation” into Indian human rights violations in seventy years of conflict. According to the UN, the Kashmir conflict “has robbed millions of their basic human rights.”

The APHC report also talks about the report of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Kashmir in the British Parliament, which while it virtually endorsed the UN findings, it recommended, “ that the Government of India must repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and enable prosecution of armed forces and security personnel in the civilian judicial system; that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir must urgently repeal or amend the Public Safety Act (PSA); that the Government of India must initiate a comprehensive public investigation into the identities of bodies in mass and unmarked graves; that the Government of India should immediately ban the use of pellet firing shotguns; that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir must open its prisons to international inspection; and that the Governments of India and Pakistan should work to resume regularised visa-regulated civilian travel across the Line of Control and reunite separated families”.

The 30-page report records 543 deaths, including 161 civilians, 127 security forces and 255 armed Kashmiri youth, during the year 2018.  Besides this, 19 men and 8 women were killed on the other side of the line of divide.

Out of 161 civilians (140 men and 21 women) killed, 67 civilians were killed by Indian forces during cordon and search operations (CASO), post-encounter clashes or by firing live ammunition and pellets.  34 civilians were killed by unknown gunmen. 32 civilians were killed in firing or shelling across the line of divide in Jammu & Kashmir. 3 civilians were killed by armed youth for being Indian army informers, 14 civilians were killed by blasts that occurred by grenades, shells or by mysterious blasts. 3 civilians lost their life by cardiac arrest due to shock due to the harassment and fear of the security forces. 1 civilian died due to suffocation caused by tear smoke shells. 2 died in Police custody. 1 civilian was used by forces as human shield. 1 person lost his life due to stone injury during a stone-pelting incident. 3 civilians were crushed by government forces vehicles.

Metal pellets fired by the Indian military, ostensibly to maintain peace and keep protestors at bay, have affected 16000 people and blinded hundreds including a 19-month old baby Hiba Jan who has lost vision in one eye.

As per the report, during 2018, nearly 4,524 civilians were injured with at least 724 of them suffering eye injuries. April 2, 2018 was a fateful day when at least 63 civilians were hospitalised with pellet and bullet injuries. On November 25, 40 persons were inflicted with pellet and bullet injuries in Shopian and 17 people received injuries in Laddi village alone on 2 September.

In 2018, 0ver 5,600 Kashmiris, mostly youth were detained at various police stations in the valley. In violation of Supreme Court of India guidelines, 2200 political prisoners with the only crime of demanding the right to self-determination, are lodged in jails outside the valley and in many cases outside the state.

Though the High Court has ordered release of the PSA detenues, the police authorities instead of releasing them, have slapped PSA afresh and then jailed them.

In Jammu Central Jail Kotbalwal, political prisoners and under-trials are maltreated, subjected to psychological torture and lodged in solitary confinement.  Proper food and medical care to Kashmiri leaders, activists and alleged stone pelters in the Tihar prison in Delhi is a huge cause for concern.

The report of the UN High called for a commission of Inquiry to conduct “a comprehensive independent international investigation” into Indian human rights violations in seventy years of conflict.”

Freedom of religion which is guaranteed by international law and declaration on elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or beliefs is blatantly violated in Kashmir.

In the year 2018, Friday Prayers could not be offered for as many as 16 times during the year and restrictions imposed on congressional prayers at Kashmir’s Historic Grand Mosque (Jama Masjid)  in Srinagar, as per the report. The Kashmir’s chief religious cleric Mirwaiz Dr. Molvi Mohammad Umar Farooq and Chairman APHC was barred  17 times during the year from performing his religious obligations by arresting him and curbing his movements. For 113 days, he was under house arrest. The state government also banned the Muharram procession on 8th and 10th Muharram (19 and 21 September, 2018) across Srinagar.

The ordinary Kashmiri people, with even no connections with insurgents, have been terrorised by India’s security forces. Imposing curfew at the drop of a hat, people are deprived the right to peaceful assembly and fearing the state, the media does not cover human rights protests, with many having been assaulted by the security forces.

The report says that the state’s security forces “suppress civil liberties and inflict collective punishment on the entire population.”

Activists holding a candlelight vigils and protests during the Human Rights week from 3 to 9 December were arrested in a massive crackdown which included not only the resistance leadership but also businesspersons who supported the observation of Rights week. Throughout the year, the Hurriyat leadership was not allowed to step into the streets and kept under house arrest.

The conflict on Kashmir is not a frozen one but continues to consume human lives unabatedly since 1947, reads the report. People in Kashmir are living a life with fear. After the ongoing movement started in 1989, Kashmiris have been killed, massacred, raped, tortured, dishonoured, and humiliated. The instability in Kashmir and the continuous curfews disrupt daily life; schools, colleges, and universities remain closed for indefinite periods due to cycle of violence. Indian armed forces are committing war crimes in the Valley and are engaged in an armed aggression against the people demanding their right to self-determination.

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The people of Jammu and Kashmir, like other peoples of the world, have the right to be masters of their own destiny and live a life of dignity fulfilling their social, religious and political aspirations.