SRINAGAR: On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a report from the Kashmir Media Service sheds light on the systematic use of torture by Indian forces in occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), resulting in severe disabilities for thousands of Kashmiris.
The report reveals disturbing tactics, including the firing of bullets, pellets, tear gas, and PAVA shells on peaceful protesters. Such brutality has left over 200 individuals with the loss of eyesight in one or both eyes within the occupied territory.
The most heinous methods employed by Indian troops, paramilitary forces, and police personnel include severe beatings, electric shocks, muscle crushing with a wooden roller, burning with heated objects, and even hanging individuals upside down in interrogation centers. Booby traps, landmines, and mine blasts have also been used, causing numerous deaths and disabilities among the Kashmiri population since 1947.
The report underscores the alarming increase in disabilities since the introduction of deadly pellets, with over three thousand Kashmiris now on the brink of losing vision in one or both eyes. It calls on the international community to take notice of the Indian government’s systematic use of torture and the resulting disabilities inflicted upon the Kashmiri people in IIOJK.
Leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, including Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, Syed Bashir Andrabi, Khawaja Firous, Zamruda Habib, Yasmeen Raja, Farida Behanji, Dr. Musaib, Chaudhry Shaheen Iqbal, Ghulam Nabi War, Hakeem Abdur Rasheed, and Muhammad Aaqib, along with the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party and others, have issued separate statements condemning the actions of Indian troops and police personnel. They highlight the arrest of innocent youth and children in the territory, subjecting them to torture that leaves them physically disabled.
Despite reports from international organizations like Human Rights Watch exposing Indian brutalities in Kashmir, the oppression in IIOJK continues to escalate. The leaders appeal to the United Nations and world powers to intervene and put an end to the ongoing Indian state terrorism in the region.
