Speakers Call For End To HR Abuses Against Women In IIOJK

Speakers at a KIIR-sponsored seminar hosted in the federal metropolis on Wednesday urged global community to stop human rights violence against women in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir being leveraged as a weapon of war by the Indian occupation forces to suppress Kashmiris' legitimate struggle for right to self-determination

MIRPUR (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2020 ) : Speakers at a KIIR-sponsored seminar hosted in the Federal metropolis on Wednesday urged global community to stop human rights violence against women in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir being leveraged as a weapon of war by the Indian occupation forces to suppress Kashmiris' legitimate struggle for right to self-determination.

The seminar titled "Remembering the women and girl victims of State terrorism in Indian occupied Kashmir" held under the auspices of the Kashmir Institute of International Relations, a world-reputed Kashmiri think tank, to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against women.

KIIR chief Altaf Hussain Wani, Rukhsana NAVEED Parliamentary Secretary, Senator Sitra Ayaz, Noorian Farooq Abrahim Khan MNA , Abida Raja MPA Prof Atia Anwer Zoon , Shamim Shwal, Dr Saira Shah Abdul Hameed lone and APHC convenor Muhammad Hussain Khateeb and several others addressed the seminar.

In his opening statement, the KIIR chairman while highlighting the plight of Kashmiri women said, "HR violence being leveraged as a weapon of war by the Indian forces in the region has been grossly overlooked at the international level".

Despite growing awareness of the urgent need to empower women in the conflict-hit areas he said that prolonged Indian military occupation and massive troop buildup in the region had created a fertile ground for violence against the women.

"Being a vulnerable part of the society, the Kashmiri women have been the worst victims of this long-drawn unresolved dispute that has left behind a harrowing legacy in the person of rape-victims, widows and half widows", Wani said adding that the continued conflict, bloodshed and violence have shattered the life of women so much and so that today thirty-six percent of women in the troubled region suffer anxiety disorder.

"Rape, outrage of modesty and other forms of violence by the occupation forces has inexpressibly shattered the lives of Kashmiri women living under a constant threat of assault from the Indian army", he added.

Speakers, on the occasion, paid rich tributes to Kashmiri women for their resilience, courage and determination in the face of Indian brutality and state-repression. Expressing deepest concern over an alarming increase in levels of mental health disorders in AJK they said, "The massive troops' concentration and fast spreading structures of violence continue to foster an environment of violence against women who have been caught in a whirlwind of violence and uncertainty".

The participants of the seminar expressed their complete solidarity with women and girl victims of Indian state-terrorism and half-widows whose husbands have been subjected to forced disappearances by the Indian army.

Recalling the international covenants the speakers demanded the international community to hold Indian army accountable for the war-crimes what they had committed against women in Kashmiris. They stressed the need for empowering of Kashmiri women who continue to be the Primary victims of large-scale systematic sexual violence being unabashedly used by India as a war-tactic.

The seminar appreciated the International human rights organizations, members of Indian civil society and international media for documenting HR violations in the region and raising the alarm on the growing humanitarian crisis in the Indian occupied Kashmir.

Rights activist, members of civil society, intellectuals, legal experts, University students and leaders hailing from both sides of the line of control were also addressed the seminar.