British Daily Traces Indian Forces' Brutalities, Torture In IOJ&K

An article appearing in the Independent, a British daily, has traced a number of horrible incidents in which the Indian forces in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) had resorted to the extreme brutality and public humiliation of Kashmiris

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Sep, 2019 ) :An article appearing in the Independent, a British daily, has traced a number of horrible incidents in which the Indian forces in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) had resorted to the extreme brutality and public humiliation of Kashmiris.

The daily said on August 4, IOJ&K governor, during a press conference, had lied to the people that something big was not happening.

The next day, the Modi's administration announced that Kashmir's constitutionally enshrined autonomy was being unilaterally withdrawn, and the state was being downgraded and split into two "union territories".

The announcement on August 5 that the government was reading down Article 370 of India's constitution meant the worst nightmare of many Kashmiris had come true.

The news sent shockwaves across India and the region but in the occupied Kashmir itself, where the Indian government carefully orchestrated communications and travel lockdown to suppress the protests.

It said in such situation an angry backlash was expected. People in Nadapora Parigam, an area of the Pulwama district where a deadly suicide bombing killed 40 Indian paramilitary officers in February, said local boys were tortured by the security forces on the night of August 5.

The daily carried a number of photographs showing Indian forces' brutal use of torture. Mohammad Yasin Bhat, 22, told the Independent that he was dragged out of his bed at midnight by soldiers and brought out of his home to the main road, where he was made to stand naked in line with 11 other civilians.

It became apparent that security forces passing through the neighbourhood had been pelted with stones earlier in the day and the occupation troops were rounding up youths.

An Indian officer in charge questioned Yasin about his views of the Article 370 decision, afterward, he and the others were asked to remove their clothes, and then beaten with canes, gun butts and kicks.

He said there was no one to help them the whole village was cordoned off, and the troops were at every corner.

"During the beating, "many of us fainted", Yasin said. "They would give electric shocks in our private parts, and start the torture again. The family showed pictures of severe bruising on Yasin's backside and thighs, while other families provided images of other youths who had suffered injuries," it added.

During the beating, one man who asked for water was made to drink muddy drain water from the side of the road, Yasin further informed.

Their neighbours gave similar accounts of the incident. One man in his eighties, who asked not to be named, said he watched the beatings from beginning to end and, when the security forces left, he came out onto the street to help rescue all of the victims.

The article said Yasin's incident was not the only one showing extreme torture by the Indian occupation forces.

On the same night of August 5, Indian armed forces arrived at the residence of Mohammad Maqbool Khan in the New Colony area of south Kashmir's Shopian district.

Maqbool's daughter in-law, Shazada Bano said, "They ordered all of us to come in the courtyard. All of us gathered and they started asking our Names. As soon as they heard the name of Amir Khan, a 27-year-old man who runs an electronics shop, they dragged him outside." The next morning when they reached the nearest police station, they found Amir in lockup. Maqbool asked officials the reason for his detention and they replied simply that he would be released after August 15, which never happened, and on August 18, when Maqbool went to see Amir, the commanding officer told him he had been moved to the central jail in Srinagar.

The family traveled to the city to find out that he and three other men from their village had been booked under the Public Safety Act an emergency law that allowed Indian authorities to imprison a person for up to two years without charge or trial.

One of the other youths detained was Shahid Ahmad Bhat, a 25-year-old boy whose father Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat is a pharmacist who lives a few metres away from Maqbool.

But unlike Maqbool, Mushtaq did not even know where his son was being held. For some time he was in the police station, later he was shifted to Srinagar. But at the central jail, officials said he was not there.

"I have no idea where my son is, or if he is dead or alive," Mushtaq told the daily.

The article said the Indian government officials would not comment on the specific cases, but they were not shy about the scale of the arrests carried out since August 5.

An Indian official told the Independent that more than 4,000 people had been detained since the announcement, though they could not give an exact number.

Many, like Shahid and Amir, faced the prospect of potentially years in jail without any recourse to justice, the article added.