#ichd

On August 20, 2010, the chairman of Kashmir Council-EU and International Council for Human Development (ICHD), Ali Raza Syed strongly condemned the killing of an 8 year old boy by Indian troops in Islamabad (Anantnag) town of the held Kashmir (IHK). In a statement in Brussels, he said that the murder was an example of the state terrorism by the Indian establishment, in the valley. He said it was a worst kind of the barbarianism and part of the plan to commit genocide of the Kashmiris. The eight-year-old boy namely Milad Ahmad Daar was shot by Indian paramilitary forces CRPF in Laizbal area of South Kashmir’s Islamabad town. The boy succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning.

Mr. Ali Raza Syed said Indian troops and police personnel were targeting the young boys to suppress the pro-freedom sentiment in the held territory. He termed it genocide of Kashmiri youth and said that the use of brute force couldn’t weaken the ongoing Kashmiri movement. He also denounced the killing of another teenager namely Mudassir Nazir in Sopore. The 18-year-old youth who was injured in the firing of Indian troops had succumbed to his injuries. Mudassir and two other people were injured when the troops of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) opened fire on peaceful protesters in Chinkipora area of the town.
He expressed condolences with families of both the martyred youth and pointed out that the Indian troops were killing the Kashmir people as a calculated design. He said the number of civilians killed by police and paramilitary CRPF personnel during past 70 days of continued unrest in the valley had reached 60.

Chairman Kashmir Council-EU stressed upon the need of a grand initiative by the international community to address the human rights’ crisis created by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir. He urged international human rights organisations to pressurize India to stop the reign of terror unleashed by Indian troops in the occupied territory and redeem the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

A press statement by ICHD on August 5, 2010 gave salient features of its letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron at the eve of his visit to India. The letter was critical to the UK policy of silence over the Kashmir issue despite the historic fact that the British Empire was one player of the game that left behind outstanding conflict over Kashmir in Sub-Continent. 

The letter says that the UK as a major power and particularly as important member of European Union should be willing to protect the human rights in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) and help in the achievement of a negotiated and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The letter emphasized upon the importance of international role in the solution of the issue since the two big nations of the Sub-Continent; India and Pakistan could not solve it during six decades and many wars. 

In the detail of the letter drawing attention of the Britain Prime Minister towards the latest developments in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK), the Kashmir Leader said, Kashmir is burning, Indian Security forces are killing the kids, and more than twenty people including the eight year old Sameer Ahmed had been killed recently.   Is it not human right violations?   Why is there silence on this state terrorism?   Is it  not your  country's   moral responsibility to  speak against this genocide of  Kashmiri people by  the  so  called biggest democracy  of the world; India?  Are the business interests above the human rights?  Are the Kashmiri not human being by your standards?  Is it not true that Kashmir problem was left behind by your country? If your country can speak about human rights violations in Zimbabway and other parts of the world than why not about Kashmiris’ rights?  Please help the people of Kashmir because the peace with justice for all and rights for all is in the interest of your country and the entire world.  
  
The letter further said, since 1989, Indian forces have killed more than 100,000 Kashmiris and Kashmir was many times described as the most dangerous place in the world. Since May this year, when the fresh wave of protests started, nearly 50 Kashmiris have been killed, many of them were teenagers. Hundreds of civilians have also been injured, which has created perpetual chaos in Kashmiri hospitals as medical supplies dwindle under prolonged curfew and an embargo on goods.

Focusing on the fresh incidents, Mr.Ali Raza Syed added, since this Friday, more than two dozen people have been killed, including an eight-year-old boy Sameer Ahmed, who was allegedly beaten by police. In another incident, a teenage girl, Afroza, was killed when police fired on protesters at Khrew, on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of the disputed region. At least 25 people were wounded, two of them critically, when troops resorted to indiscriminate firing and tear gas shelling in Naaman village in South Kashmir. Nearly 100 miles away, in Baramulla, Indian troops fired at another group of protesters, injuring two more youths. During the fresh wave of protests, India has adopted an uncompromisingly militant posture towards Kashmiri civilians protesting against human rights abuses.

Criticizing over UK’s Prime Minister statement about Pakistan, Mr.Ali Raza Syed asked him, Instead of talking about human rights violations committed by the Indian forces    in Kashmir, you blamed Pakistan for producing terrorism. In fact, Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism. Suicide bombings and other outrages in major cities and fighting with terrorists in the tribal areas caused a huge loss for Pakistan, and according to an estimate 3,021 people died in terrorist attacks in 2009 in Pakistan, compared with about 2,000 in Afghanistan. Since 2001, officials say more than 2,700 Pakistani security force members have died.