In a series of tweets, the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called on India to reverse its annexation of disputed Jammu & Kashmir on August 5, 2019.
The tweets by the OIC General Secretariat were sent on the commemoration of October 27 marking the completion of 75 years of the occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India in 1947.
The OIC General Secretariat reiterated its full solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their quest for the right to self-determination.
The OIC General Secretariat said that in pursuant to the decisions and resolutions of the Islamic Summit and OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, the OIC urges India to halt and reverse the illegal and unilateral actions taken on August 5, 2019 and subsequent steps to change the internationally recognized disputed status of the territory and to alter the demographic structure of the occupied territory.
The General Secretariat demanded the respect for the basic human rights of the inhabitants of Jammu and Kashmir.
It also reiterated its call on the international community to step up its efforts to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Repression Persists in Jammu and Kashmir
Indian authorities are restricting free expression, peaceful assembly, and other basic rights in Jammu and Kashmir three years after revoking the region's special autonomous status, Human Rights Watch said in August 2022. The government's repressive policies and failure to investigate and prosecute alleged security force abuses have increased insecurity among Kashmiris.
"Three years after the government revoked Jammu and Kashmir's constitutional status, the Indian authorities appear to be more concerned with projecting an image of normalcy than ensuring rights and accountability," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The government needs to end the assault on fundamental freedoms and act to protect minority groups at risk."
The authorities have invoked the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, as well as terrorism allegations, to conduct raids and arbitrarily detain journalists, activists, and political leaders without evidence and meaningful judicial review. The authorities have also barred several prominent Kashmiris from traveling abroad without providing reasons. Since August 2019, militants have killed at least 118 civilians, including 21 people from minority Hindu and Sikh communities.
Since August 2019, at least 35 journalists in Kashmir have faced police interrogation, raids, threats, physical assault, restrictions on freedom of movement, or fabricated criminal cases for their reporting. In June 2020, the government announced a new media policy that made it easier for the authorities to censor news in the region. In 2022, the authorities rearrested Fahad Shah, Aasif Sultan, and Sajad Gul under the Public Safety Act after they had been granted bail separately in other cases filed against them in retaliation for their journalism work, Human Rights Watch said adding:
"Since 2019, the security forces have been implicated in numerous abuses including routine harassment and ill-treatment at checkpoints, arbitrary detention, and extrajudicial killings. There has been no accountability for these recent alleged extrajudicial killings or past killings and abuses by security forces, in part because of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which gives members of the armed forces effective immunity from prosecution. Since the law came into force in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990, the Indian government has not granted permission to prosecute any security force personnel in civilian courts. Rights groups have long documented that the law has become a tool of state abuse, oppression, and discrimination, and called for its repeal. Affected residents, activists, government-appointed committees, politicians, and UN human rights bodies have also criticized the law."
Repression on the pretext of security operations
Not surprisingly, Amnesty International reported in June 2022, that since the revocation of Jammu & Kashmir's special status in 2019, the Indian authorities, have arrested many human rights defenders including journalists and activists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, India's primary counter-terrorism law. At least 36 journalists have faced interrogation, raids, threats or physical assault for their reporting until now. According to Access Now, people in Jammu & Kashmir faced at least 85 internet shutdowns in 2021 - one of the highest in the world. The shutdowns were imposed for long periods of time and in violation of India's Supreme Court that held that internet shutdowns must satisfy the tests of necessity and proportionality. According to the digital rights organization, these shutdowns were imposed as part of "counterterrorism" measures.
In the name of security operations, security force personnel have historically committed many grave human rights violations - including torture, rape and extrajudicial executions - which have gone unpunished. The failure to address these abuses have violated the rights of the victims to justice and remedy, which is enshrined in the Constitution of India and the international human rights law.
"It is not too late for the Government of India to take meaningful steps towards creating an inclusive and safe society instead of peddling a false notion of normalcy in the region and encouraging the perpetration of more abuses. Until then, the Indian government's historical failure to protect the people of Kashmir will keep feeding into this never-ending cycle of abuses and impunity," said Aakar Patel, chair of Amnesty International India.
