100 days of imprisonment

100 days and running. In fact, stampeding. Kashmir remains under siege. Kashmir remains a civilization shutdown. Kashmir remains a land with no laws. Kashmir remains in news but with such stale familiarity of the state of oppression that futility is in danger of triumphing over opportunity. The rise of futility is the fall of humanity. That is why it is so essential to write, discuss and debate the ongoing atrocities in Kashmir as without keeping it in the minds of people it will not stir hearts enough to stand up for it for too long.

The recent report by the international Human Rights Watch is a scathing hit on the Indian government being responsible for the increasing violence in Kashmir. The report highlights the abuses in Kashmir but more importantly it backs the stance of Pakistan. The report clearly says that violence is being instigated by the Indian security forces excesses and blaming Pakistan for it is denying the truth. This is a big moral victory for Pakistan that has been traditionally and presently blamed not only by India but by international media for the escalation of violence in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

As the Kashmir imprisonment crosses the century mark the Indian refusal to lower the siege has created an unprecedented focus on the inhumanity in the region. The HRW report is significant as it clearly says that State is instigating violence in the valley. The report states, "Indian security forces have often used excessive force to respond to protests, including using pellet-firing shotguns as a crowd-control weapon, which have caused several protester deaths and many serious injuries. Indian troops have seldom been held accountable for human rights violations that have occurred during counter-insurgency operations."

The Indian government is very confident that time will make the issue too stale and repetitive to make breaking news. They are relying on the comfortably numb state of the world to become immune to more and more torture of the same nature. This reliance on memory short circuiting is prudent in a way as the world of current affairs is not too bothered after a while for news that are neither current nor new. Despite this humanity amnesia the currency of the news on Kashmir stems from the new realization that State is itself involved in terrorism and thus presents a unique case of creating its own form of pending civil war. The HRW report presented to the US Congress states clearly "Indian troops have seldom been held accountable for human right violations that have occurred during counter-insurgency operations."

In 100 days many themes have been tried to highlight the Modi atrocities and let us assess how they fared:

1. Moditler Comparison- Perhaps one of the most prominent one was comparing RSS and Modi to Nazi Hitler. This factual portrayal of Modi being a follower of Hitler got traction in the European and international media. Several articles were written to highlight this similarity. In 1920 Hitler founded the Nazis Party While RSS was formed in 1925. The Nazi and RSS mission was the same - annihilation of Jews and annihilation of Muslims, respectively.

This was highlighted enough to win over support from many important countries. The German Chancellor Merkel made a very bold statement after landing in India on Kashmir and even the Israeli newspapers gave coverage. This is a powerful theme and needs to be continued:

a. Social media platforms need to be engaged to show the Racism, Supermacism, that Modi is trying to highlight in defining racial purity of Hindus and racial superiority of Hindutva.

b. The Jews massacre and the Muslim massacres need to be spotlighted in seminars and media to horrify the comfortably numb media and society.

c. The fact that both want to dictate their own themes and their own superiority needs to be researched by think tanks. Hitler's "Greater Germany" and Modi's "Greater India" are the ones relating to their vicious occupation designs. This is a major threat to world peace as it was when Hitler was given political leeway, and thus needs more research and discourse.

The next strong campaign that has taken traction is the human right abuses of the highest level going on in Kashmir in the last 100 days:

a. The curtailment of all basic human rights has created a stir in many countries. Nearly all rights have been violated. The right to speak, the right to assemble, the right to protest, the right to educate, the right to health all are in suspension for over a 100 days. This has made international human right bodies like HRW and Amnesty International write, report and speak on it.

b. Pakistan raised the human right angle at UNGA and it has resonated with even the most indifferent of countries. A more closer engagement with key human right activists who have a global repute is required to be made a broader appeal. Actors like Angelina Jolie and singers like U2 who have spoken boldly on social issues need to be engaged in this process.

c. Children are a universal soft spot. 100 days of schools shutdown not only means education rights abuse but a lack of physical and mental development through sports, etc. Many letters have been written to UNICEF without much ado from their side. A more social media campaign with kids expressing their support to Kashmiri kids is required to create pressure on these bodies to fight for the right of Kashmiris. All is not lost. It may seem an endless repetitive chorus on an issue that has long been considered a point scoring between two warring neighbours. But it is not. The biggest gain out of the 100 days has been that it has been taken out of being a narrow cross border tiff to Kashmir being an international issue. It is now accepted that Kashmir is more about being human than about being political. This makes the 100-day imprisonment sadly and fortunately an issue that will remain in news.

With each passing day the Indian government will find it more difficult to lift the curfew fearing a reaction. As the days pile up so does the discontent. The Indian government is in a defensive mode. It is important to keep on persistently writing, speaking, protesting, raising you voice for the Kashmiris to move the unmoved. As the Chinese proverb says "Persistence can grind an iron beam down into a needle".

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])