Speakers at a seminar have asked India to fulfill the commitment of giving Kashmiris their right to self-determination by holding plebiscite in the Jammu and Kashmir under the supervision of the United Nations. Speaking at the seminar organized by the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights Jammu and Kashmir here on Friday, the speakers expressed serious concern over the ongoing gross human rights violations perpetrated by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir.
They said that Indian occupational forces have recently expedited massacre of Kashmiris to press them to accept Indian occupation.
"The latest round of killings and brutalities, fake encounters, inhuman treatment meted out to political detainees, molestation of women, and detention of people without producing them before the courts even on the hearings fixed by the courts are going on without any let-up," they pointed out.
The speakers included Senator Lieutenant General Abdul Qayyum (retd), All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) leader Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Sheikh Tajammul-ul-Islam, Syed Faiz Naqashbandi, former President Azad Kashmir Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan and others. They condemned the use of pellet guns to quell peaceful protestors by Indian forces as well as use of chemical substance for killing people and destroying structures during search operations. They expressed concern over the continued illegal detention of Hurriyet leaders and unlawful restrictions imposed on them by Indian authorities in the territory.
They deplored that the Kashmiri students are being deprived of their educational rights as they are being beaten mercilessly on roads. They demanded the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and elected representatives in the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries to conduct an independent investigation into human rights violations by the Indian troops in Occupied Kashmir.
They said that India is using its investigation agencies like National Investigating Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate, besides its black laws like Public Safety Act (PSA), to put Hurriyat leaders behind the bars, harass them and prevent them from reaching the masses.
They also paid glowing tributes to thousands of Kashmiri martyrs who laid down their lives to achieve inalienable right to self-determination. They expressed concern over the Indian machinations to turn the overwhelming Muslim majority population in Occupied Kashmir into a minority by settling Indian citizens as well as plans to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A of the Indian constitution.
The participants denounced the tactics being employed by India to force the Muslim population in Jammu to migrate from the region, particularly the recent rape and subsequent murder of an 8-year-old girl, Aasifa, by Hindu extremists in Kathua district of Jammu.
They expressed concern over the disappearance in custody of over 10,000 Kashmiris with their fate unknown and took note of the discovery of unnamed and unmarked mass graves in the territory.
A resolution passed during the seminar called upon the United Nations to assume its responsibility of organizing the plebiscite in occupied Kashmir under its supervision in accordance with its resolutions in this regard.
It demanded all international bodies including the United Nations, International Committee of Red Cross and other human rights organisations to mount pressure on India to release all illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists and repeal black laws.
The resolution urged the United Nations and other relevant international fora to investigate all massacres, gang-rapes, fake encounters, forced disappearances, willful blinding of youth by using pellet guns and use of chemical substances during military operations by the Indian forces and Hindu terrorist organizations like RSS and BJP, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
It called upon the United Nations to take serious note of Indian designs to convert the Muslim majority in Occupied Kashmir into a minority as these designs are intended to defeat the essence of Kashmiris' inalienable right to self-determination.
The resolution appealed all international organizations including the OIC and EU, etc, to play a meaningful and effective role in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and urged India to cease forthwith all human rights violations, stop bloodshed of Kashmiris and release all illegally detained Kashmiris and revoke false and fabricated cases against Hurriyat leaders and activists.