The United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCR) has released a comprehensive report on the prevailing political and human rights situation in Indian held territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which over the past several decades has been reeling under a vicious cycle of state-sponsored violence. While highlighting the deteriorating human rights situation in the region the 49-page report contains graphic documentation of rights violations committed by Indian military and paramilitary forces in the UN recognized disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir under Indian occupation. The report pinpoints the dangerous aspects of colonial era strategies and tactics adopted by the Indian State in Kashmir. Referring to lack of access to justice and impunity the report points out that the impunity for human rights violations and lack of access to justice were key human rights challenges in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. About a regime of Black Laws enacted in the state the UNHCR report says that special laws in force in the state, such as the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, PSA, have created structures that obstruct the normal course of law, impede accountability and jeopardize the right to remedy for victims of human rights violations. The report reveals that Military courts and tribunals have been impeding access to justice, whereas the administrative detention is being used by the Jammu and Kashmir authorities to circumvent the protections of ordinary criminal procedure. Citing the incidents of excessive use of force to quell the voice of dissent in the region the report points out that the most dangerous weapons used against protesters by Indian military and paramilitary forces during the uprising in 2016 was the pellet-firing shotgun. “The killing of civilians between 2016 and 2018 raises the question of whether security forces resorted to excessive use of force to respond to protesters, some of whom were throwing rocks”, the report said. The UNHCR report on Kashmir is indeed a significant development that on one hand has vindicated Kashmiris’ stance that Indian occupation forces deployed in the length and breadth of Kashmir were involved in gross human rights violations while on the other the report is seen as biggest breakthrough to break world’s silence over the unending sufferings of Kashmiri people as it takes lid off the cauldron of crimes, which the India has been hiding from the world since a long time. Pertinently, it is for the first time that the world body had produced such a detailed report that besides discussing the political dimension of the dispute divulges the details about human rights violations and highlights a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by Indian occupation forces. One hopes that the report will serve as an eye-opener for international community particularly to those influential governments who for their petty economic interests have maintained criminal silence over the crimes committed by Indian troops against the hapless and defenseless Kashmiris. The report also provides a strong basis to launch a full-fledged inquiry against ongoing human rights violations and abuses being committed by the men in uniform. The report prepared by the UNHCR could be presented as a whitepaper against the BJP government to hold it accountable for the crimes its forces have committed against Kashmiris during the recent years.
