Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee. India

Self-Determination is birth right of Kashmiri People
Demand to the Indian Government to Restore Life and Liberty of Kashmiri People
Withdraw the Armed Forces from the Kashmir Valley

Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee India express deep concern over the violation of human rights in the Kashmir valley, the happenings in Kashmir over the past few months need no retelling. The situation has deteriorated to extreme levels with unarmed civilians, mostly young teenagers, being killed by the Indian armed forces with impunity. The toll from June has reached 112, with the numbers of injured, maimed, and blinded much more. Curfews, bullets, tear smoke have become a routine to suppress the peaceful democratic protests.

While many people have shown concern about the recent turn of events it is very important to contextualize the whole situation. We need to ask the question as to why people are getting killed in hundreds, injured in thousands, kept behind bars, tortured and maimed. It is important at this juncture to bring the attention towards the fact that the basic issue at hand regarding the Kashmir dispute is the Self-Determination of the people of Jammu & Kashmir for which they have been steadfast and hence been the target of the repressive military machine of the Indian State. The people of Jammu & Kashmir are clear about the fact that what they want is Azaadi which they have time and again defined in coherent terms of letting them decide their own future.
Once Kashmir was called as Paradise on the Earth, but now its condition is so worse that it has become a grave yard of lakhs of people. Within the period of twenty years one lakh people have been murdered. Within few years, six hundred grave yards have appeared. The violation of human rights is so inhuman that in front of a mother, a girl child is raped and in front of a girl, a mother is stripped naked by the army. Youth are tortured in such a manner that the iron rods are inserted into their legs. One lakh of reward is given for killing one person. Thousands of Kashmiris are lagging behind jails in different parts of Kashmir and in different parts of India without any trial. Army is attacking the civilian’s houses and killing the Kashmiri youths in the name of encounters. There are number of scams that expose the armed forces acts who take the help of kidnappers in abducting people for the sake of fake encounters. It is a matter of shame for the humanity that now Kashmir is a place for giving the rewards and awards for killing the people, giving promotion and monetary benefits on carrying out rapes and atrocities on people of the valley. All kinds of draconian laws exist in the valley.

It is high time for the civil society to pressurize the Indian government, to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), withdraw the armed forces and restore the confidence of the people of the Kashmir valley. The recent violence in the Kashmir in which army killed many youths is a highly condemnable and inhuman act and the using of army and Para military forces against the civilians who are protesting in democratic manner, is a violation of national and international human rights guidelines.

Therefore, Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee states that Kashmiri people are the victims of state terrorism. The demand of Kashmiri people for self determination is a democratic right which is already admitted by the Indian government and international community. By looking at the mass violation in Kashmir valley, one can say that the Indian government’s claim of protection of law & order and human rights are fake. Therefore, we demand Indian government to withdraw the armed forces, end the draconian laws, release the Kashmiri people from the jails, start the peace talks with the Kashmiri leaders and resolve the Kashmir problem according to the will and wish of the people of Kashmir.

Lateef Md. Khan, CLMCI
Prof. SAR Geelani, CRPP
Vara Vara Rao, Revolutionary Writers' Association, AP