The Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik Monday petitioned the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and urged him to play his role in “putting an end to extreme repression” in Kashmir and take “urgent steps” for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
According to a statement, the JRL petitioned the UN chief in view of the “recent spree of killings and blatant abuse of human rights in Kashmir and immense atrocities committed on civilian population under the ruthless cordon and search operations (CASOs) across the length and breadth of Kashmir by forces.” The petition, according to the statement, urged Guterres to “stop being a mute spectator and play a role in putting an end to extreme repression that people are subjected to by New Delhi by taking urgent steps for the resolution of Kashmir dispute which is the main cause of all suffering and human rights violations of the people of Kashmir.”
“The Kashmir dispute being on UN agenda—with umpteen resolutions passed on it in the august body—it is the binding responsibility of the United Nations to resolve this dispute as soon as possible in the light of the resolutions. UN can in the meantime ensure that human rights are protected in Kashmir and grave repression is stopped,” the JRL statement read.
“On 21 October 2018, seven unarmed civilians were ruthlessly killed and hundreds injured by pellets, bullets and bombs at Laroo area of southern Kulgam district. On October 17, in the heart of Srinagar City, as per family sources, a young man Rayees Ahmad Sofi was taken into custody by forces, tortured whole night in front of his family and then killed in cold blood during custody,” the petition read, adding: “On October 19, a five-month pregnant woman was killed by government forces in Pulwama. The slain was identified as Firdausa Akhtar, wife of Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, of Qasabyar, Pulwama. The destruction of residential houses by planting explosives or by burning them down, devastation to vehicles and household goods, besides killings, has become order of the day. Even women are ruthlessly beaten and harassed. Despite repeated closure of educational institutions by the state government to prevent protests, students repeatedly hit streets against killings, atrocities, crackdowns, illegal detentions and space for expression.” The petition, according to the statement, further reads that “there is no semblance of any civilian authority, even in the name, in Jammu and Kashmir. The state is run by a New-Delhi appointed Governor with military, paramilitary and police force at his command who are hell-bent upon crushing the popular political movement of self-determination of Kashmiris by bullets and batons.” “The overwhelming 95 percent boycott by people of Kashmir in the recently-held urban local body elections has further frustrated the Indian authorities who have stepped up their vendetta against the people. The horrible incidents of the past including Kunan-Poshpora mass rape, Shopian, Machil, Chattisinghpora fake encounters, massacres at Hawal Srinagar, GawKadal, Handwara, Sopore, Kupwara, Bijbehara, killing of hundreds of youth in 2008, 2010, and 2016 mass uprisings, besides countless unabated incidents of grotesque human rights violations in the form of fake encounters, forced disappearances, rapes every day, killing of unarmed civilians and destruction of property by forces, have inflicted deep wounds on the collective existence of the people, the scars of which are etched on their conscience,” the petition read.
The JRL appealed in the petition to the secretary general and through him to all member nations of the UN “to intervene effectively to stop government of India from committing crimes against humanity in Jammu and Kashmir and take all possible measures to address the festering wound i.e. Kashmir dispute so as to protect the population of the territory from the atrocities which is essential for establishing permanent peace and stability in the region.” “The petition is published online and can be accessed at http://ipt.io/O22MA. All the justice-loving people across the globe, in particularly the people across LOC and Kashmiri diaspora are requested to sign it,” the JRL statement read. “The copies of the petition have been sent to the representatives of permanent members of United Nations Security Council—US, UK, Russia, France and China in New York—and to the ambassadors of these countries in New-Delhi also to high commissioner for United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) and secretary general OIC.”