Indian terrorism in IIOJK goes on

The state terrorism in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the largest open air prison in the world, continues in several forms. The Valley has become the new settler colonial project with over 12,000 civilians in custody of the Indian government or forcibly disappeared since August 5, 2019. Widespread rape, torture, blinding by pellet guns and extra-judicial killings are being reported, showing the brute power of Indian democracy.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has issued a scathing report on human rights abuses in Kashmir by Indian security forces besides Amnesty and other human rights organizations.

The founder of Genocide Watch, a global organisation dedicated to the prevention of genocide, while speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) on 10 Stages of Genocide & India’s Muslims said that genocide was more than killing people. “It is also causing serious physical and mental harm to members of the group. That is intended to destroy the group. Driving them out. Not to let them have food or water and lot of other basics. Taking away children of the group. Preventing births within the group. We see all these things already happening in Kashmir. These types of killings going on in Kashmir are genocide in nature. Why are the 600,000 Indian troops in Kashmir? This is for a very small population compared to rest of India. And yet why are there?”

Not surprisingly, the Indian government is unfazed. To give one example of Indian state terrorism, people belonging to the Bakarwal nomadic Muslim community on outskirts of Jammu city are being displaced. They had been living in the area for generations.

Some 12 percent of the population of the region comprises Bakarwals, which is significant in number. Now the axe of Indian terrorism has fallen on them. To give another example, Jammu and Kashmir’s resources are now being plundered by the Indian government on a large scale. One such issue came up recently when Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti said she was stopped from visiting a site where illegal sand mining was being carried out. Taking to Twitter, Mufti lashed out said: “I was stopped from visiting Rambiara Nalla today by local admin. This is where sand extraction through illegal tenders has been outsourced to outsiders & locals are barred from the area. Our land & resources are being plundered by GOI that has nothing but contempt for us.” In another tweet she added: “This is their warped idea of Naya Kashmir. Sand mafia is operating in broad daylight yet we are expected to remain quiet. As a leader, its my responsibility to articulate these grievances. But BJP is brazenly violating my rights & curbing my movements under guise of security.”

The third example is about illegal detentions. The security forces are helping the Bharatiya Janata Party by locking up local politicians and innocent hardworking people citing security concerns.

Yet another example is India's controversial legal changes allowing outsiders to buy non-agricultural land in the disputed region. The seven-party Kashmiri alliance, jointly called People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), has termed the order of the Indian Interior Ministry allowing Indian nationals who are not residents of Jammu and Kashmir to buy non-agricultural land in the region as to push in and implement the agenda of effecting "demographic change and disempowering" the people of Jammu and Kashmir. "The laws now introduced through amendments by Indian Government are not only against people of Jammu and Kashmir but undemocratic, unconstitutional and backward looking with only aim to disempower people and change the demography," it recently said. Omar Abdullah, a veteran Kashmiri politician added: "Unacceptable amendments to the land ownership laws of J&K. Even the tokenism of domicile has been done away with when purchasing non-agricultural land & transfer of agricultural land has been made easier. J&K is now up for sale & the poorer small land holding owners will suffer."

Not all developments concerning the region are going India’s way. New Delhi received a jolt when the United States Department of Defense submitted a report to the US Congress showing maps that refused to accept India’s claim over the disputed region in Kashmir. This prompted a strong protest from the Indian government. But the Pentagon did not move an inch. According to analysts, the US administration is still not endorsing India’s position over Kashmir though India remains a strategic partner of the US.

Meanwhile, indigenous resistance against illegal Indian rule continues. Twelve people were injured in a grenade attack by local militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama whereby the aim was security forces personnel. More and more people are being picked up by Indian security forces and being killed extra-judicially in encounters, shown as terrorists or militants. The night of Indian state terror goes on in held Valley.