News Desk
Islamabad: Speakers at a webinar hosted by Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) here on Thursday said that depriving Kashmiris of their inalienable right constitutes a serious violation of the international human rights law and the UNSC resolutions that guarantee right to self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The webinar titled “World Human Rights Day: Agony of Kashmiris” was attended and addressed by noted human rights activist, legal experts, political analysts and journalists hailing from different parts of the world including Ms. Danielle Khan special assistant to Dean Eliot A Cohen at Johns Hopkins Paul H Nitze School of advanced studies, carin Jodha Fisher American human rights activist , Nayeema Ahmed Mahjoor author and columnist from Srinagar, Irshad Hussain Mir Kashmir based journalist, Scottish Human Rights Activist and co-founder of Let Kashmir Decide Ms Clair Bidwell, Ms Marina Zucca Human rights activist visiting faculty Italy, Ms. Sehar Shabir Shah , Irish American Social Worker Mr. Todd Shea, Ms Shugufta Ashraf professor at University of Kotli AJK and others. Whereas the even was moderated by the KIIR chairman Mr. Altaf Hussain Wani.
In his opening statement the KIIR chairman while pointing to the fast deteriorating political and human rights situation in the restive region said that India’s illegal and forcible occupation of the territory has led to widespread deaths and human rights violations in the region. Referring to India’s disregard for human rights he said, “Despite signing Universal Declaration of Human Rights India has miserably failed to uphold its solemn commitments it had made vis-à-vis human rights at international level.
Irshad Hussain Kashmir Journalist said have virtually been under dual lockdown for the past one and half-year. “In Kashmir essential fundamental freedoms including people’s right to freedom of speech and expression, the right to protest and assembly, the right to health and education, remain severely restricted”, he adding that clampdown of human rights and political activists and persecution of journalists, civil society, and media on the other hand continued unabated.
Ms. Danielle Khan Terming Indian tactics of subjugation Kashmiries , as flagrant violations of basic human rights he said, “Virtually, every article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is being flagrantly and brutally disregarded by the government of India and its forces that operate in Kashmir under the cover of black laws such as TADA,, PSA and AFSPA”. Ms. Nayeema Ahmed Majhoor while narrating the appalling human rights situation said Indian state has enforced notorious laws in the state, she said, have in fact facilitated human rights abuses in the region. He lamented that the Indian government has brazenly ignored the recommendations of the UNOHCR report calling for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate human rights violations in Kashmir. She also gave a detailed account of the sufferings of Kashmir women , who have been subjected to rape torture and other inhuman and degrading treatments. Marian Zucca said India’s perpetual denial to grant Kashmiris their fundamental right to self-determination, She said that depriving Kashmiri people of their inalienable right constitutes a serious violation of international law and the UN resolutions that guarantee right to self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Ms. Sehar Shabir Shah appraised the torture and ill-treatment met by Kashmiri political leaders in Indian Jails. The other speakers on the occasion hailed world human rights bodies especially the UN office of the high Commissioner for its landmark report which took the lid off the cauldron of crimes Indian troops have been committing against people in the Indian occupied Kashmir. Urging the world community to redouble its efforts to help stop the ongoing bloodshed and systematic genocide of Kashmiris they said, “The world should realize their moral obligations vis-à-vis the situation in Kashmir and stand up for the rights of the people of who are caught in the crosshairs of a conflict and coronavirus”. Denouncing the Indian actions it had taken since August 5 2019 they said, “Since these actions are in contravention of the international law there is an urgent need that the world community should take effective cognizance and pressure the government of India to rescind these actions and pave a way for holding a referendum in the region to allow Kashmiris to exercise their inalienable right, the right to self-determination, which happens to be a cardinal principle of the UN Charter and other international human rights covenants.
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