Geneva: Members of Kashmir delegation here on Sunday during a briefing at UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) told diplomats and representatives of international rights organizations that India was virtually at war against an entire generation in Kashmir.
“India is at war against the youth in Kashmir. This is a war on an entire generation,†Ahmed Quraishi, member of Kashmir Delegation said while speaking at a sideline event titled, ‘Youth in Conflict and Right to Education’. “The world’s largest movement today for civil and political rights, including the right to self-determination, is underway now in Kashmir. Young men and women are leading it. India hopes to stop the movement by crippling the younger generation through torture and murder,†he said.
“Instead of welcoming peaceful protests by women, world’s largest democracy responded to unarmed women using brute force,†Quraishi said.
APHC leader Hassan al-Banna said schools and universities were the biggest victims of India’s assault on young men and women of Kashmir. “Amnesty International has researched this issue and concluded that New Delhi is targeting Kashmir’s younger generation under an undeclared policy,†Banna said.
“Like other parts of the world Kashmiri youth undoubtedly are very talented,†Banna said, adding, “Unfortunately, the space they need to grow and work is being squeezed and narrowed. The young boys and girls of today’s digital world are great admirers of Social media but Kashmiri youth is deprived of all these facilities as the internet is being suspended in Kashmir day in and day out by the Indian government.â€
Senior Kashmir freedom leader Altaf Hussain Wani gave a detailed presentation of India’s current predicament in Kashmir. One of his key findings was the high ratio of civilian deaths in Kashmir at the hands of Indian army as compared the numbers of alleged militants. The civilian casualty rate in World War II was five percent, he said, but in Kashmir it has reached up to eighty percent.
The eight-member Kashmir Delegation for UNHRC’s 35th session consists of Altaf Hussain Wani-Delegation leader and senior Kashmir freedom leader, senior APHC leaders-Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, Hassan al-Banna and Advocate Pervaiz Ahmed Shah, Sardar Amjad Youssef Khan-Executive Director Kashmir Institute Of International Relations (KIIR), senior woman Kashmiri leader Mrs. Shamim Shawl, Ahmed Quraishi-Executive Director YFK–International Kashmir Lobby Group and Prof. Shagufta Ashraf-Human Rights Defender working with women & children.