Kashmiris being brutalised: Mirwaiz petitions envoys... the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, while terming the situation in Kashmir as worrisome and grim has urged the ambassadors and high commissioners of various embassies in New Delhi to use their diplomatic influence to impress upon India to desist from brutalising the Kashmiris and respect their internationally acknowledged basic human rights.The APHC Chairman in an open letter to these dignitaries said, “While we have been gagged and forcefully confined to our homes or put behind bars, the repeated acts of invasion on the lives of innocent youth at the hands of Indian armed forces on the streets of Kashmir, compel me to write to you and draw your attention towards the pain and agony of the people of Kashmir.” The Mirwaiz said in the letter that on September 7, 2013, when Zubin Mehta’s concert organized by the German Embassy in India was in progress in the famous Shalimar Garden in Srinagar, four innocent Kashmiri youth were murdered in cold blood by the CRPF troops at Gagren in Shopian. He said that there was anger and shutdown in entire Kashmir and public protests against these killings. “On 11 September 2013, the personnel of the same CRPF camp without any provocation opened fire on a 27-year-old youth, Rafi Ahmad Rather, a resident of Saidapora, Shopian, killing him on the spot,” he added. The APHC Chairman maintained that earlier on July 18, 2013, in Gool area of Ramban district four persons, including an engineer, were killed when personnel of BSF opened indiscriminate fire on the people. “60 persons were injured in the shootout out of which two succumbed to their injuries later,” he wrote. “Be it Gagren Shopian, Gool or any other place armed forces present in every nook and corner of the territory have turned into killer forces. The armed forces are spilling the blood of innocents at their will and without any accountability. Such gory incidents have become the order of the day for the hapless people of Jammu and Kashmir. The continuous imposition of black laws like AFSPA, Disturbed Areas Act and Public Safety Act provide complete immunity to the Indian armed forces against the prosecution of the crimes committed by them in Kashmir,” the letter read. “Though we have repeatedly demanded repeal of these black laws and removal of these killer camps from populated areas but the authorities seem to be hell bent upon inflicting maximum pain and agony on the people of Kashmir. We do understand that having no large scale economic attraction, the pain and agony of Kashmiri population does not attract the attention of the international community the way it should have been, however, being a nuclear flashpoint in South Asia, Kashmir has the potential to affect the peace of region and thereby the whole world in a big way. Besides being signatories to the international charter of human rights it is the moral responsibility of every nation to ensure that these basic human rights are adhered to by all,” it added. “The situation in Kashmir is grim and greatly worrisome. Authorities in power are either mute spectators or collaborators to the killings in Kashmir, who conveniently provide the facade of democratic rule in the territory. Even a scant respect for basic human rights is not relevant for them. With every passing day the situation is turning more and more volatile. It is high time that killing of innocent Kashmiris is put an end to so that the people of this land get entitled at least to the basic human right, the right to life,” the Mirwaiz wrote in the letter.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 13:19:59 +0000
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