[Reader-list] against continued repression of the people of Kashmir

[Subhash]

Dear Rajen786uppinangady

Yes, Subhash is very much a genuine name and I am very proud of it,
although its difficult to say if I am converted or not (and converted
to what, I don't know).

cheers

Subhash

On 7/11/10, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi <rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com> wrote:
> why not a petition against those inhuman fanatics in kashmir, who, for money
> get their own children killed in stone pelting, unlawful protests with
> violence as main ingredient of protsts, has subhash a converted name or
> genuine, ?
> Is it not the duty of the citizens to live with rule of laws, protest in
> legitimate democratic, non violent protests, or is it fair to make others,
> innocents "martyrs" for few dollars.? Security forces are also humans like u
> and me, and have been entrusted to maintain order, so this petetion against
> such lawful action is atrocious, uncalled for.regards,
> rajen
>
> On Sun, Jul 11, 2010 at 12:19 PM, Subhash <subhachops at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Please sign a petition against continued repression of the people of
>> Kashmir and killing of innocent civilians by Indian paramilitary
>> forces
>>
>> http://www.petitiononline.com/ksn2un/petition.html
>>
>> Please sign and forward to your networks
>>
>> For more information on the situation in Kashmir,
>> http://kafila.org/2010/06/30/if-protest-could-kill-what-would-bullets-do/
>>
>> http://kafila.org/2010/06/29/iptl-statement-on-military-governance-in-indian-administered-kashmir/
>>
>> This summer Indian troops and police have systematically murdered
>> around 20 people in the streets and forests of Kashmir. In April,
>> three innocent youth were shot in cold blood in Machil forests of
>> north Kashmir, and then portrayed as terrorists, to earn rewards
>> instituted by the Indian government for troops who kill insurgents in
>> Kashmir. It was only after incessant protests by local people that the
>> bodies where exhumed and identified as local youth. Just before this
>> fake encounter, a 70-year old man was also killed in the same area,
>> and projected as a foreign terrorist. His son identified him after his
>> picture appeared in the newspaper. In a similar incident in April,
>> Indian soldiers shot dead a local villager carrying firewood from the
>> forests of Kellar in south Kashmir.
>>
>> In protest against these killings people in Kashmir initially
>> attempted to stage peaceful demonstrations. They demanded that the
>> culprits be brought to book. The government, instead of assuring
>> people that impartial enquiries into the incidents would be conducted
>> and those responsible would be punished, launched a full-scale assault
>> on protest demonstrations and clamped down heavily against any
>> dissent.
>>
>> Indian paramilitary forces (CRPF) have killed more than a dozen
>> teenage boys and a young woman while protesting against this recent
>> spate of fake encounters in Kashmir. One of those killed is 9-year old
>> Tauqeer Ahmed, who was not even part of the protests. In Anantnag,
>> where three boys were killed, eyewitnesses claimed the teenagers were
>> dragged out of their homes and shot in the courtyard of one of the
>> houses. A 24-year old woman was shot in her chest by CRPF in Srinagar
>> while looking at the street protests from a window of her house. The
>> authorities have also incarcerated dozens of teenagers, some as young
>> as 12 and 13.
>>
>> For the last three weeks the government has imposed strict curfew on
>> people’s movement. There have been reports of mass beatings and
>> molestations in a number of localities. Many people, especially in
>> Srinagar and other towns, are facing extreme shortages of food and
>> medicine. The sick and injured have been barred from reaching
>> hospitals. Staff members of various hospitals have said they were
>> beaten up and their curfew passes torn.
>>
>> Indian government has imposed a gag order on the media in Kashmir,
>> only letting a select few pro-establishment journalists to report.
>> Local journalists and cameramen in a joint statement said their passes
>> were snatched and their equipment broken. Government has refused to
>> issue new passes to them. As a result very little information is
>> flowing out of Kashmir. Some Kashmiri activists who uploaded videos of
>> street demonstrations have been sent to prison. Cell phone services
>> have been jammed at various places, while the government has banned
>> short messaging services as well (third time in the last three years).
>>
>> Around 700,000 Indian soldiers patrol the streets and villages of
>> Kashmir. Together they occupy almost 100,000 acres of land. For a
>> population of 5 million Kashmiris the soldier to civilian ratio of
>> around 15 to 1 is extremely disturbing and fraught with heavy risk to
>> civilian life. The Indian government first deployed a significant
>> chunk of its military to battle militants fighting to liberate Kashmir
>> from Indian rule. The armed insurgency itself had resulted from a
>> violent quelling of popular pro-freedom protests of the early 1990’s.
>> For the last 7 years, however, the Indian government has repeatedly
>> said that not more than a few hundred ragtag militants remain in the
>> fight. Yet India maintains a massive military manpower and
>> infrastructure in Kashmir, which has created structural conditions of
>> oppression of Kashmiris.
>>
>> Everyday life in Kashmir is highly militarized. People continuously
>> face risks to their lives and are subjected to threats and
>> humiliation. The Indian government, instead of taking action against
>> human rights violators, shields them from prosecution. Draconian laws
>> like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Disturbed
>> Areas Act have been put in place to give immunity to security agencies
>> against any civil prosecution. Over the last 20 years, tens of
>> thousands of Kashmiris have been killed or forcibly disappeared.
>> Thousands are languishing in jails for demanding a political solution
>> to the Kashmir issue. Under the Public Safety Act hundreds of
>> activists remain in jail without trial. For the last few days, law and
>> order in the Srinagar has been handed over to the army, raising fears
>> of increased civilian casualties.
>>
>> The international community has largely remained silent on the plight
>> of Kashmiris. Apart from a few exceptions, the international news
>> media has failed to report on the systematic nature of oppression in
>> Kashmir. It is time the human rights and global justice activists
>> express their solidarity with the struggling people of Kashmir. It is
>> time that we collectively put pressure on the Indian government.
>>
>> We call upon the UN, which has a long association with the Kashmir
>> issue, to press the Indian government to:
>>
>> *End its militarized governance of Kashmir, and withdraw army from
>> populated areas,
>> *Revoke the draconian Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), which
>> gives Indian troops immunity from civil legal action and promotes HR
>> violations,
>> *End oppression of Kashmiri people, release political prisoners and
>> young boys from jails, and lift the overwhelming security apparatus
>> from Kashmir,
>> *Initiate meaningful plans to democratically resolve the issue, and
>> include Kashmiris as the primary party to such a process.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Please sign the petition at
>>
>> http://www.petitiononline.com/ksn2un/petition.html
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>
>
>
>
> --
> Rajen.
>