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NEW YORK, Dec 11 (APP):The World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF), a prominent advocacy group, Tuesday highlighted the grave human rights violations over the years by Indian occupation forces in Jammu and Kashmir, and called on the United Nations to use its influence in putting an end to those abuses.
Marking International Human Rights Day, the forum drew attention to the 77 year-long rights crisis in Kashmir. With over 100,000 civilian deaths and nearly as many missing as well as suppression of civic, political and economic life, the Kashmiri people are facing erasure from history.
To amplify the cause of Kashmir and the rights of the occupied people, the forum rented digital advertising trucks in New York City to remind the United Nations and representatives of major NOG’s of the political and human rights situation in Indian occupied Kashmir
The electronic screens on the digital trucks flashed messages such as: “Indian Atrocities at its Peak: Kashmiris Want World to Speak; “Election in Kashmir is Ruse: India Committing Human Rights Abuse”; Indian Forces on Killing Spree: Kashmir Needs to be Set Free”; “Kashmiris Reject Indian Occupation: UN Resolution only Solution”; “Indian Brutality in Kashmir Galore: World Community Cannot Ignore”; “Kashmir Facing Existential Threat: United Nations Needs to Act”; “Hold India accountable for war crimes in Kashmir”; “Land Grab Operation in Kashmir is Economic Terrorism”; “Freedom for all: Freedom for Kashmir,” and “India: Stop Demographic Terrorism in Kashmir.”
The digital advertising trucks drove around the United Nations headquarters, the Indian Mission; the Freedom Tower; the Times Square; the Indian Consulate and various other Missions to the UN.
Dr. Ghulam N. Mir, President of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum and Chairman of the Kashmir Diaspora Coalition, said that the proclamation of Human Rights Day by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, was a major achievement, but the world body has failed to protect the basic rights of Kashmiri people.
“The world is drifting inexorably towards total dehumanization of Kashmiri and Palestinian people, and there are no signs of their plight changing for the better, ” he said, adding that it was time to do something to ameliorate their situation.
Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman of the World Forum for Peace & Justice underscored the role the right of self-determination in resolving festering disputes and bringing freedom the occupied people.
“Let us hope that the stage is set to put the Kashmir conflict on a road to a durable and permanent settlement,” Dr Fai said.
“Too often,” Dr. Fai said, “the international community closes its eyes to the brutal reality of Kashmir because of India’s hegemony in South Asia and its potentially attractive consumer market. It has crowned India with a veto power over outside intervention. A shocking affront to the Security Council itself. Yet, India has the temerity to seek a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.”
In this context, Dr. Fai said, “Kashmiris are facing an existential crisis.”
Professor (Dr.) Imtiaz Khan, a Kashmiri American scholar said that “On Human Rights Day, the situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice and the need for accountability in the region, underscoring the importance of respecting the basic human rights of all individuals, including the right to life, liberty, freedom of expression, and protection from arbitrary detention.”
Dt. Imtiaz Khan added that, “The observance of Human Rights Day can be an opportunity to amplify the voices of Kashmiri civilians, human rights defenders, and activists who continue to call for the protection of their rights and for international attention to the ongoing crisis. It also serves as a call to the Indian government to uphold its commitments to human rights, both in Kashmir and beyond.”
Sardar Sawar Khan, former Advisor to the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, warned that the silence of international community over this long-standing issue was heart- breaking.
He regretted that India is being given a free hand to inflict atrocities on the people of Kashmir.
Raja Mukhtar, senior leader of JKLF, North America; Advocate Sardar Imtiaz Khan Garalvi; Sardar Taj Khan, Vice Chairman of the Kashmir Mission, USA; Sardar Zarif Khan, Advisor to the President of Azad Kashmir and Sardar Shoaib Irshad, General Secretary of the Kashmir American Welfare Association (KAWA) also expressed their
indignation over the denial of the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.