THE STRUGGLE OF THE KASHMIRI PEOPLE
AND THE PROBLEM OF DISAPPERANCE
 

By: Sheik Ahmed Parvez
Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP)

 

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:

I welcome this Conference which I see as an achievement in itself, due to the sum of experiences of the other NGOs in the fight against involuntary disappearances in their respective countries.

We are from the APDP—the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons. It is an NGO which was formed in Kashmir in 1994. Because most of the delegates are not very familiar about Kashmir, I would like to briefly acquaint you regarding the present imbroglio which has brought instability in South Asia.

 

Kashmir is under the occupation of two countries—India and Pakistan. In 1947, India was divided after the end of the British Mandate. So therefore, the Kashmiris were told that they would be given two options: either join India or they join Pakistan.
 

Because a dispute soon developed between the two, the then newly established United Nations passed two resolutions stating that the Kashmiris shall be given the right to self-determination: whether they stay with India or they become part of Pakistan.

In 1947, Kashmir was divided, in much the same way like North and South Korea; with 2/3 going to India and with 1/3 of the territory under the occupation of Pakistan. These two countries are denying Kashmir’s freedom. Moreover, India has also denied the holding of a referendum in the said region.

In the last 50 years, the Kashmiris are under the occupation of India and Pakistan. And in the last 11 years, the Kashmiris have started their armed resistance against Indian occupation. They could see that India has deployed the law-enforcement agencies in the area. There are about 700,000 security forces present in Kashmir with a tiny population of only 5 million, just to neutralize the armed resistance.

In the past 11 years or so, massive and unprecedented human rights violations have taken place in Kashmir. 2,500 disappearances have also been reported during the said period, while all other forms of human rights violations (such as extra-judicial executions, tortures, rapes, etc.) continue unabated.

The situation in Kashmir is not only a concern for Kashmiris but it has already become a concern for the entire South Asian region, especially after 1998, when India successfully exploded its first nuclear bomb and there was an equal response from Pakistan, since both countries are fighting officially. It is not only a territorial competition between the two countries but a technological dispute as well. With the nuclearization of both these countries, there is a threat to peace in South Asia. At present, Kashmir
Has become a flash-point in the globe.

 

India is not in favor of granting self-determination to Kashmir, in a much different way that Indonesia granted it to East Timor. The present conflict in Kashmir is likely to continue in the future. The present conflict means that human rights violations, with disappearance in particular, will continue. While in other countries in Asia such as in the Philippines, disappearances have become a past phenomenon, this still continues in Sri Lanka and Kashmir. Unfortunately, India, being the largest democracy in the world and a country that is much respected by the world community, can very well project the nice yet blurred picture that there are no human rights violations in Kashmir.

India claims to be fighting Pakistani-sponsored fundamentalist groups in Kashmir. Indeed, there are some Islamic groups who are fighting a jihad against the Indian government.

Even the Indian media, which is caught up between patriotism and professionalism, is unable to relay the correct picture and true information to the Indian masses. In other words, the stand of the Indian government and the Indian media is the same. Despite the glaring reality, the latter is not stating that security forces dividing Kashmir are committing human rights violations.

Even the judicial system of Kashmir, behaves like a true colonial judicial system and refuses to address the issue of involuntary disappearances. We have observed that since 1990, when there were hundreds of habeas corpus petitions filed by the relatives to the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, not a single case of disappearance has been resolved; not a single perpetrator has been punished; and not a single victim of involuntary disappearance, up to this time, has received compensation. Only in two or three cases did the courts rule that the victims’ families be given compensation, but the State government has refused to release the said allocation.

We, at APDP, have been campaigning for the past six years, despite the fact that several human rights defenders have already been killed in the past and that our own members have already experienced intimidation. In fact, one of our members, after launching a press conference two years ago, was killed along with her daughter. To be more effective, we have brought campaign against involuntary disappearance to New Delhi. We would like to expose disappearances so that it will be an issue, both nationally and internationally.

The government has not accepted our demand that a Commission of Inquiry be created to investigate the disappearances that took place in Kashmir since 1987. But there has been some impact on the State government. Though disappearances still continue, it has already become an issue for government. In one instance, the government has approached and invited our chairperson and said that they are willing to give 10,000 rupees (which is equivalent to $2,500) to each family. But they said that we should not ask for the prosecution of the perpetrators because they could not punish any law-enforcement agent. Government believes that they are fighting a patriotic war in Kashmir and prosecution of any official will demoralize the security forces. Nonetheless, we have already made an impact; but surprisingly, we are unable to finally stop it.

Whether a government is democratic or dictatorial, they are all united as far as impunity is concerned. In Kashmir, there is a special law called the “Armed Forces Special Forces Act”. Under Section 6 of the law, no prosecutor can investigate a law-enforcement official who acts in his official capacity.

I believe that for our Association to succeed, we need the backing and support of other NGOs. I suggest that Asian human rights groups should mobilize or picket the Indian Embassies in their respective countries to further project this issue. Finally. I hope that this Conference of ours will be a fruitful one.

Thank you.