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The Culture of Kashmir: Future Prospects

An important conference and an exhibition would be organized at Brussels Parliament on Tuesday, 26th of January, 2016 in order to highlight the Kashmir cause through peaceful means.
 
The Kashmir Cultural Day program titling, “The Culture of Kashmir: Future Prospects” to be hosted by Member of Brussels Parliament Dr Zahoor Ellahi Manzoor and would be organized by International Council for Human Development (ICHD) and Kashmir Council EU.

 

The welcoming address by Dr Zahoor Ellahi Manzoor would be an official opening of the exhibition which would be followed by a lunch with specialties from the reign.

Along with the exhibition, a conference would also be held with participation of MPs, MEPs, Scholars, Journalists and members of civil Society who will discuss Kashmiri Culture and its future prospects.

Organizer of the event, Ali Raza Syed who is Chairman of International Council for Human Development (ICHD) and Kashmir Council EU said, main objective of the event is to highlight the Kashmir issue through cultural and peaceful means. The Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) is witness of severe violations of human rights. Indian authorities deny the basic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the people of the region are suffering from state terrorism for a long time.

People want to have right of self-determination and settlement of issue according the desire of the people is extremely crucial for peace and prosperity in the region.

European Union follows the developments in Kashmir

The Vice President of European Union, Mrs. Baroness Catherine Ashton said that the Union was following the developments in Kashmir very closely. She was responding to a recent letter by the Chairman of the ICHD, Ali Raza Syed, which drew attention of the Union over the current critical situation in the Indian held Kashmir. In the letter, he had urged the Union to take serious notice of the situation in the Indian Held Kashmir especially recent killings of youth by the Indian forces. 


She said that the Union had been a longstanding supporter for the reconciliation process between India and Pakistan with the involvement of Kashmiris themselves. Mrs.Ashton who is also high representative of the Union on external affairs and security policy said that the EU was aware of the situation and that the EU ambassadors in Delhi had held many visits to the vulnerable region. She said that they had developed over the years, a dialogue with Indian authorities over the human rights, which allowed raising any human rights related issues. She said that the EU was deeply committed to making the best possible use of that dialogue to advance cases of human rights in the region. 

EU role should be significant

The ICHD demanded significant role of the EU institutions in the current situation of the Indian Held Kashmir especially related to the human rights violations. In a letter addressed to EU High Representative for foreign Affairs, Ms. Catherine Ashton, Vice President of EU Commission, Mrs. Viviane Reding, Chair Subcommittee on Human Rights, Ms. Heidi Hautala and EU parliament Chair of the delegation for relations with South Asia, Mrs, Jean Lambert, the ICHD urged active EU involvement in bringing the positive change in the circumstances that were shocking for every peace-loving citizen of the world.

“We are writing to express our concerns over the recent increase in human rights violations in Indian held Kashmir. We would urge the EU intervention in the affair”, wrote the ICHD in the letter. The letter also indicated the fresh statement of UN Secretary General in which Mr. Ban Ki moon described the situation as a security risk.
 
The letter further mentioned that, “the operations such as those carried out on the 25th of July 2010 lead to the deaths of Tariq Ahmad Dar and Farooq Ahmad Bhat in police custody. Their killings raise serious concerns and questions as we see this pattern repeated over the last year. We also bring to your notice that in the last three months the figures of young innocents targeted by the troops has reached over 100. The EU has the moral responsibility to play a role to stop the killings of innocent unarmed Kashmiri youth”.
 
Meanwhile, the ICHD chairman, Ali Raza Syed, in his statement said that appalling human rights abuses and atrocities had been committed against the civilians. He said that according to recently published Human Rights report, between 1989 and 2010, the number of Kashmiris killed at the hands of Indian security forces stood at 93,274. He said that the actual number could be much higher considering the lack of the right to information and speech in the Kashmir. The facts and figures show the reality. For example, there had been 6969 custodial killings, over 107,351 children had been orphaned, 22,728 women had been widowed and 9920 women had been gang raped during the period. He said that thousands of Kashmiris had been arrested on fake charges and a large number of houses and other buildings were devastated.

He said that the discovery of 2900 unnamed mass graves in the three districts of the occupied territory in the recent years had proved that all of these innocent people were killed in the different fake encounters by the Indian army. “The current situation shows that freedom movement of Kashmir is taken up by the Kashmiri youth and they are not ready to accept continuation of occupation of their homeland by the Indian forces. The youth started to protest in the streets over the Indian atrocities but Indian forces started to conduct crackdown against the innocent and peaceful demonstrators” said Ali Raza Syed.

Campaigning for truth and justice

Campaigning for truth and justice

by: Marjan Lucas 

Before engaging in support to the lobby for truth & justice of the families of the disappeared in Kashmir, I was working – for over a decade – with the survivors of the Srebrenica-genocide of 1995 in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Anno 2012, so almost two decades after the war in Bosnia, most of the ca. 10.000 disappeared and killed persons have been identified by name, place of birth, sex and age, profession and hobbies. Years before, their remains were dumped in, and revealed from mass graves on the slopes of Bosnian forests but their families could finally bury them in the cemetery of Potocari, close the small town of Srebrenica and in the region where the massacre took place in 1995, despite UN surveillance. The Potocari Cemetery is nowadays an open-air-memorial-centre: a place to mourn the dead, and to reconcile the living. 
Families of the Bosnian disappeared persons persisted in their struggle for truth and justice despite political discouragement, if not harsh obstruction, by national and international power enters. However, international donors, e.g. the Dutch government, granted millions of dollars to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) for DNA analyses to identify of the remains of the victims in Srebrenica and set up judicial investigations. The survivors’ truth- & justice campaign did produce results indeed.

 The Kashmiri families of the disappeared, organised in local NGO’s as e.g. the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), show a likewise persistence and courage in their own specific struggle for justice and truth. Kashmiri human rights defenders and civil society activists reported to have revealed 2.000 unmarked graves, in detail described in ‘Buried Evidence ‘(2009) and ‘Facts Underground’ (2008). They want the remains in these unmarked graves to be identified and to analyse if, and if yes how many, of these corpses are the remains of the 8.000 enforced disappeared as previously registered by lawyers as Advocate Parvez Imroz c.s. 
And yes, of course: the plight of the Bosnian victims is a different story then the one of the relatives of the enforced disappeared persons in Kashmir. But what is similar for all of them is their need to know the truth and that perpetrators of crimes will not be simply set free. And that a past and presence of fear and injustice, can be transformed in a future of justice and peace.


But, how far from that future are the Kashmiri i.c. the families of the disappeared and the human rights defenders who revealed the mass graves? A milestone is that India acknowledges indeed the existence of the thousands of bodies in the thousands of unmarked graves. However: India strongly refuses identification. Why? What does India fear for? And can Europe play a role? This week here in Brussels, a seminar is planned to elaborate on this issue. 


Let’s meet again then. 
As for now, I wish you well and hope (and am sure) you enjoy this unique event! 

International Human Rights Day, Malala and APDP

On the International Human Rights Day (10th of December 2012), ICHD issued a statement in the favour of UNESCO decision to appoint Malala Yusafzai as advisor to enhance the level of education to the girls of Pakistan. The ICHD termed Malala as the hero of Pakistan fighting against the ignorance and religious extremism. At the other hand, the ICHD, in the same statement, expressed grave concerns over the recently launched report by the Association of the Parents of the Disappeared Persons (APDP). 

Attending the UNESCO event for Malala, at the eve of international human rights day, Ali Raza Syed endorsed the words of the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari as saying that the people of Pakistan needed a progressive country with complete constitutional guarantees. He said that the International Human Rights day reminded every human rights activist that the struggle for a just and peaceful world was an international obligation irrespective of the nationality or religion. He said that the women and children of the conflict ridden regions were living under great stress while paying huge costs for supporting the demands of their rights. He said a Pakistani child; Malala had showed a path for everybody to follow. 

“The presence of the UNESCO head, prime minister of France, president of Pakistan, amongst other high level dignitaries, to appreciate and acknowledge the great vision of a Pakistani child proves the fact that the great nation of Pakistan is a progressive nation that believes in human rights including right to education for all. This is an achievement of all the peace loving Pakistanis and their friends in the world”, said Ali Raza. Speaking about the ongoing struggle of his organisation, he said that Kashmiris were suffering from great injustice and human right violations at the hands of Indian security forces. He said that the children in Indian Held Kashmir were living under duress and fear of life while pursuing their educational careers. He stressed upon the international community to work together in order to free the people of Kashmir from the oppression and suppression. 

In support of his arguments, he referred to the recently launched report by the Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian Held Kashmir in collaboration with Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). He said the report had proven beyond doubts that the Indian security forces, including high ranking officials, had been given complete impunity for the brutal acts like murders. He said a cursory look at the details of the report reflected the lawlessness in the IHK. He said that according to the report 500 army and police personals had been named as the perpetrators of heinous crimes against humanity. He said that the report was not an allegation since it was based on the evidences gathered from the government documents. “Out of 214 cases, a list emerges of 500 individual perpetrators, which include 235 army personals, 123 paramilitary personals, 111 Jammu and Kashmir police personals and 31 government backed militants”, said Ali Raza. 

He criticised the Indian state as saying that many of the perpetrators were rewarded with medals and promotions. He said that the culture of impunity to the security forces had been instrumental in unabated violence on the people of IHK. He vowed that his organisation shall support the human rights activists of the world in denouncing such atrocities and demanding the Indian state to take legal action against the perpetrators. 

Black Balloons to mark the black day

The demonstration was first ever of its kind in the political sphere of the struggle for Kashmiri rights. Hundreds of black balloons, marking the black day, were release to denounce the Indian hypocrisy that claims to be the biggest democracy of the world. On August 15 (the independence day of India) 2012, the demonstrators gathered in front of the EU office in Brussels and marched on bicycles towards the European Parliament where hundreds of the black balloons were released. The two hours drive of the cyclists carrying the black balloons attracted the attention of the pedestrians passing through the different avenues. 

The main slogan of the event was, “peace with justice in Kashmir” while placards contained slogans such as, “peace for all”, “peace for Kashmir”, “stop human rights violations in Kashmir”, Kashmir needs help”, “we want freedom” and “free Kashmir”. 

On the occasion, the chairperson of ICHD, Ali Raza Syed said that holding black day on the independence day of India shows that Kashmiri shall not accept the imperial occupation by India of their land. He said that India claims to be the biggest democracy and claims that its independence was achieved after a long struggle against imperialism. He regretted the fact that immediately after independence, Indian state opted to become the imperialist and curb the legitimate right of self determination of Kashmiris. He condemned the continuous killings of the Kashmiris by the Indian forces. He termed the killings as barbaric. “the Indian authorities have given their troops free hand to undertake the genocide of the Kashmiris”, said Ali Raza. 

A large number of Kashmiri expatriates and their sympathisers were present at the occasion. Meanwhile, the volunteers of ICHD collected signatures for their One-Million Signature Campaign as well. One volunteer of the ICHD demanded of the international community especially the human rights organisations to put the pressure on India to stop the rein of terror unleashed by the Indian troops in the occupied territory and redeem the right to self determination to the people of Kashmir. 

Solidarity Day in Hague

The International Council for Human Development (ICHD) and Kashmir Centre-Holland jointly organised a demonstration on 5th of February 2012 marked as the Solidarity Day. The demonstration was organised in Hague, Holland. A large number of participants including human rights activists, women, students and general people attended the event. 

The Solidarity Day is celebrated across the world to renew the commitment with the Kashmiri people who are fighting selflessly against a huge military force protected by the worst black laws. The participants raised slogans for the right to self determination of the Kashmiris.

Addressing the rally, chairperson of ICHD, Ali Raza Syed said that they expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri brothers leading miserable lives in Indian Held Kashmir. He said that Kashmiris were struggling for more than six decades for their legitimate right to self determination and in response they are being murdered, raped, imprisoned, tortured and humiliated. He said that the life conditions in the IHK are a scar on the collective conscience of the humanity. He said that the India authorities were no longer able to hide their crimes under the carpet as the entire world is becoming aware of the facts. He referred to many reports by the international human rights organisations that exposed the atrocities and human rights violations committed by the Indian authorities. Referring to unnamed mass graves, he said that it was only the tip of the iceberg as there were much more murders and disappearances in Kashmir. 

The executive director of Kashmir Centre-Holland, Dr. Zaib also condemned the fact that Kashmiris were not getting their right to self determination despite the fact that entire world community has, directly or indirectly, has validated their just demand. He mentioned numerous documents including UN resolutions in support of the Kashmiri demands. 

Reflections on Kashmir

The Kashmir Council-EU organised a seminar in Brussels titled, “Reflections on Kashmir” in collaboration with the association of Belgian doctors. A large number of doctors, intellectuals and activists, amongst others, participated in the seminar. Addressing the seminar, the chairman of KC-EU, Ali Raza Syed said that six decades of repression could be termed as a long time for any nation struggling against the foreign occupation bent upon committing human rights violations as abductions, rapes, torture, murders and disappearances. He pointed out the fact that the mutilated dead bodies were found everyday in the Indian Held Kashmir while girls and boys were disappeared in routine. He said that the discovery of the unmarked mass graves had shown to the world the real face of the Indian democracy. He lamented the fact that there was no serious response from the international community, which was silent despite knowing that 800,000 strong army was committing grave human rights violations in Kashmir.  He especially pointed out the fact that there was no health facilities for the people that are wounded by the Indian forces. He requested the doctors of the Belgium that they should send their delegation to the Indian Held Kashmir to see the real situation of the people that are facing torture every day. He said that the announcement by the Secretary Interior of India concerning the reduction of 25% army in Kashmir was nullified by an Indian commander. He said that the Indian state had made itself fully discredited.  
The ICHD showed a documentary film that reflected the miserable conditions of the people of Kashmir. Ali Raza Syed said that this film was a documentary proof of the life conditions in Kashmir. He said that the purpose of the seminar was to highlight the health related problems that were faced by the people of Kashmir. He told the participants about the One Million Signature Campaign launched by the ICHD by saying that the campaign was an effort to assemble the international opinion in favor of bringing the Kashmir issue on the agenda of European Union. 
Earlier, the coordinator of the Doctor’s Association, Dr. Adnan Farooqi said that their objective was to raise the awareness of the international community about the grave human rights violations in Kashmir. He said that their main focuse was the health issues espeically the lack of the emergency held to the wounded. He said that their concern was that the situation in Kashmir could bring danger to the entire region since the patience of the Kashmiris, in the wake of the horrendous misdeeds by the Indian forces, was getting thin. He said that it was very important to convey the message to the Indian state that their voice in the favor of the Kashmiris was being heard in the nook and corner of the world. 

Kashmir,Paradise on Earth or a Nuclear Flashpoint

Kashmir; Paradise on Earth or a Nuclear Flashpoint

By: Laura Schuurmans


Kashmir is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is located between the vast mountainous ranges of the Himalayas, the Karakoram and Pir Panjal which once was a popular tourist destination. Kashmir was rightfully called a “Paradise on Earth”. After the British Raj divided India and Pakistan in 1947, they became independent nations free from colonialism. The treaty of partition was based on the ‘Two Nation Theory’ that clearly stated that all parts of India with a majority Muslim population would become part of Pakistan and those with a Hindu majority would become part of Hindustan, today’s India. Then there were also the Princely States. These states had the choice to accede to India, Pakistan or in some cases to become independent nations. Kashmir was one of these Princely States with a majority Muslim population ruled by a Hindu Maharaja. Instead of joining Pakistan as per the will of the Kashmiri people, Maharaja Hari Singh decided to accede to India in August 1947. Fighting broke out in Kashmir among different factions, Indian armed forces positioned themselves in Kashmir and consequently war broke out between India and Pakistan in October 1947.  In January 1948 India brought the Kashmir dispute to the United Nations as both India and Pakistan wanted peace and order to be restored. Both countries agreed to hold a plebiscite for the Kashmiri people to decide on their future as stipulated in the United Nations Resolutions. However, instead of coming to terms, India and Pakistan fought two more full-scare wars in 1965 and 1971, and when both countries became nuclear powers the Kashmir dispute has potentially turned into one of the world’s most dangerous conflicts. Besides the potential dangers of the Kashmir dispute, the humanitarian suffering of the Kashmiri people has increasingly become a more serious concern. Since the creation of India and Pakistan in 1947, the people of Kashmir have been deprived from their right to self determination that has resulted in serious dissatisfaction of the Kashmiris. Kashmir is now one of the heaviest militarized regions in the world where seven hundred thousand Indian armed forces are keeping a Muslim population of seven million under tight control. India has claimed it keeps these troops in Kashmir to fight militancy crossing over from Pakistan. Since the past eight years, however, militancy has been at its lowest and an only estimated 800-1000 militant have been present in and around the Kashmir Valley. Indian armed forces, however, have seriously indulged in human rights violations.

 

Torture, rape and killing of innocent Kashmiris, has deeply frustrated the population as Indian troops have mostly gone unpunished for their committed atrocities. It has been hard to estimate the total number of deaths. Estimates vary from tens of thousands of civilians that have been killed while some human rights organizations have estimated that more than hundred thousand people have died since the insurgency started in 1989. This excludes and estimated 10.000 Kashmiris that have gone ‘missing’ in the conflict. Popular mass uprisings have been taking place in Kashmir, and in the summer of 2010 hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris went into the streets demanding freedom from India. Demonstrating in the streets of Kashmir, however, does not go without risk. Many unarmed and peaceful protestors have been killed by Indian security forces and the Kashmiri youth has increasingly become more angered by India’s occupation. Organizations like Amnesty International have been reporting that “the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is holding hundreds of people each year without charge on trial in order to “keep them out of circulation”. The 2012 Human Rights Watch report stated that “the Indian government failed to hold rights violators accountable or to carry out effective policies to protect vulnerable communities”. It also stated that “the – Indian – government also ignored the urgent need for policy reform despite widespread complaints of torture and unlawful killing”.  After more than sixty years, the people of Kashmir are still waiting for their promised referendum. Although India is fully aware that the Kashmiris never wanted to be part of India and their only way to hold on Kashmir is to keep the population under tight control, to enforce curfews, and to intimidate the Kashmiri youth, India has always claimed that Kashmir is an integral part of India which they claim was legalized by successive democratic elections. It has always accused Pakistan of not having met the preconditions to hold a plebiscite and claims that the 1972 Simla Agreement laid the foundation to solve the dispute through bilateral dialogue. While nations like East-Timor and South Sudan received widespread support from the international community to become independent states, the cause of the Kashmiri people has been ignored and the international community has been closing its eyes over the past six decades. Although the United Nations initially did play an important role in maintaining law and order in Kashmir, it has never been able to press for a settlement. More than 60 years later, the United Nations has barely shown any serious interest in the Kashmir dispute.  


After decades of armed conflict between India, Pakistan and within Kashmir, the Kashmir dispute is ripe for a solution. A solution to Kashmir will significantly improve peace and security of the South Asian subcontinent. Much has to be done, and this cannot be done without pressure from the international community. Human life is very important, human dignity is something we have all been striving for in our democratic environment, but for the people of Kashmir, their vote to determine the right of the future of their state, has often been ignored and forgotten. A solution to Kashmir, however, is possible if the bigger powers take serious interest in the issue and do not brush it aside for political reasons. The Kashmir conflict is a serious human dilemma and needs to be tackled with compassion to restore human dignity and bring back peace to South Asia. 

Kashmiris and Sikhs: Victims of oppression

The ICHD organized protest demonstration on 29th of March 2012 in front of the European Parliament. The protest demonstration was organized to emphasize upon the Indian authorities that the state repression shall not be able to silence the voice of the freedom lovers of the world. The demonstration gathered the participants in front of the Indian embassy in which, a number of human rights organizations and peace activists demanded that the Kashmiris should be allowed to exercise their right to self determination under international laws that are well recognized by the state of India. The political organizations of the Sikh community of India, the Sikh Khalsa and Babar Singh Khalsa movement also joined the demonstrators. 

Addressing the participants, the chairperson of ICHD, Ali Raza Syed urged the United Nations to take serious notice of the massive human rights abuses especially extra-judicial killings being committed by the Indian troops in Held Kashmir. “Indian forces are involved in massive human rights violations and it is our duty to inform the world community about the violations”, he said. He welcomed the visit of the UN Special Rappoteur, Christof Heys on the fact finding mission to India. He urged that the UN representative should meet people from every walk of life including aggrieved families, students, women, youth, labor, journalists, thinkers and artists. He pointed out towards the fact that the socio-political and economic life in Kashmir had been crippled. He said that the presence of the representatives of the Sikh movements proved that Indian government was trying to put the facts under the carpet. “Indian state is an imperialist state that is suppressing the will of people through force, which is not acceptable to any human rights activist”, he said.     

The demonstration was supported by a number of the members of the European Union. The participants raised slogans to condemn the atrocities committed by the Indian forces. One participant said that the Indian military forces were involved in the most horrible anti-human activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Another participant said that Indian state was using established black laws to protect their military personals that were perpetrating horrible atrocities including murders and rape, as the tool of suppression. He urged the UN to pressurize the Indian government to repeal the black laws. 

While talking to the sizeable media representatives, Ali Raza Syed urged European Union to send fact finding mission to India without any delay and play an affective role for peaceful solution of the Kashmir issue.   

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