IIOJK: The World's Largest Human Prison On Planet

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Jul, 2022 ) :The attempt of India to change the legal status of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir with mala fide intentions to bring demographic changes in the state on August 5, 2019 has turned the entire valley into the world's largest human prison for making life there a worst nightmare of terror and trauma.

It was through the so-called resolution of the Indian Parliament which has revoked the special status and autonomy granted to the territory under the Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution. Thus the deliberate action of illegal abrogation of the Articles has unleashed a havoc of woes to the locals of the region. The illegal move has urged the residents to retaliate for rights to self-determination.

Therefore, the Indian government has launched an onslaught against the innocent people which had not only deprived them from getting access to basic facilities of life but also forced them to experience worse brutalities at the hands of the occupied forces � from imposing the longest curfews to fake encounters, killings to rapes, arrests to manhandling and detention to torture.

Other than the unjust treatment on constitutional front, the forces have also made all possible efforts to curb the local uprising against the deployed forces. Therefore, communication lines were cut off, mobility restricted, access to information denied, political leadership either encountered or arrested in fake cases, in the highest military zone of the world.

Referring to recent documented academic researches on Kashmir, Awais Bin Wasi, expert on Kashmir issue and Assistant Professor, Riphah International University Islamabad told APP, "It was the ground reality that the IIOJK has become the largest militarized zone due massive presence of occupied forces where the highest number of human rights violation cases reported." He said that the abrogation of the Articles was against the Indian Constitution, UN Resolutions, Geneva Convention, will of the Kashmiri people, and international laws, adding that the Indian Constitution states that the Article 370 could not be revoked unilaterally. The world bodies, international human rights organizations and UN should play its role to restore the autonomous status of IIOJK, he added.

Kashmiris have suffered too much since 1947 and still suffering at the hands of the occupied forces under their draconian laws and oppressive tactics: from metal pallet gun victims to countless orphans, widows to helpless people.

This manmade crisis in the valley has created nothing but a living hell for thousands of people � to suppress and oppress their free will and subjugate them for snatching away the basic rights of self-determination from them.

Islamabad based working Journalist and academician Sophia Siddique told the news agency, "The deployment of more than a million forces in IIOJK makes manifestation of the fact that the territory has been made the largest human prison for the residents." She said that the ongoing situation caused due to too much militarization in the territory which has made life of common people troublesome. The routine life and business of the people destroyed due to heavy curfews and shutter down strikes, she added.

This month (August 5) is going to be the third anniversary of the India's illegal annexation of the occupied Kashmir � during the last three years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Narendra Modi has set new records of human rights violations in the IIOJK to suppress the desire of freedom. The Modi government has received numerous criticisms from the human rights organizations world over on harsh restrictions and rights violations but much of it has fallen on mum and deaf ears of the government.

Awais Bin Wasi said that the international communities must be sensitized on betrayal and blatant violation of the international agreements on disputed territory by the Indian government. He said instead of defensive strategies, Pakistan should come up with out-of-the-box thinking to formulate its own proactive strategies on Kashmir issue for restoring its autonomous status and rights of the people.

The government of India has also been criticized for changing the demographic structure of the disputed territory: Giving non-Kashmiris and Hindus the rights to purchase property and marry Kashmiri girls. The design to change culture and language of the region has also been criticized. The Indian government is also trying to increase election seats for Hindus in the delimitation process.

Sophia said that the resolution of Kashmir issue is very much linked with the durable peace of South Asia �� if the issue remained unresolved, it could push the two nuclear powers to the threshold of war. She said that the world community and human rights organizations should respond to the crimes being committed against the humanity in the IIOJK.