GEVENA: In a passionate appeal at the 54th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Kashmiri representative Altaf Hussain Wani has called upon the international community to acknowledge the oppressive tactics employed by India’s Modi government government in the Indian illegally-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Mr. Wani urged the UN Human Rights Council to take effective action to address the longstanding human rights crisis in the region.
Altaf Wani emphasized that India has utilized its military might to suppress the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people, whose lives have been devastated by over three decades of conflict. Tragically, nearly one hundred thousand lives have been lost in this protracted struggle for justice and self-determination.
Wani pointed out that New Delhi has consistently employed repressive policies to stifle dissent within the occupied territory. Peaceful activists and those advocating for their right to self-determination are unjustly charged with sedition and detained under draconian laws. Fundamental freedoms such as freedom of speech, the right to protest, and peaceful assembly remain severely curtailed, with the media effectively silenced in the region.
Highlighting India’s use of international platforms to misrepresent the situation in Kashmir, Wani condemned the nation’s policy of deceit and deception. He called upon the UN Human Rights Council to recognize the need for a fact-finding mission to visit IIOJK, as recommended by the OHCHR report released in 2018. Wani urged the Council to reassess its understanding of the situation in the region and take a bold stance by releasing a comprehensive report on the situation in IIOJK.
During the same general debate, another Kashmiri representative, Shamim Shawl, voiced her concerns regarding the dire human rights violations occurring in IIOJK. She expressed hope that the UN Human Rights Council would thoroughly deliberate on the grim situation prevailing in the occupied territory.
Shawl stressed that the challenges in the conflict-ridden area are escalating daily, with the Modi regime actively altering the demographic composition of IIOJK. Basic freedoms and rights have been suspended, and the entire political leadership has been unjustly incarcerated without fair trial.
Furthermore, Shamim Shawl lamented that despite more than seven decades passing since the promise of the right to self-determination was made to the people of IIOJK, it remains unfulfilled. The voices of Kashmiri residents, yearning for justice and self-determination, continue to be unheard on the international stage.
