ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Human Rights organised an online seminar on Wednesday on the human rights crisis in India-held Kashmir (IHK).

The webinar was held to mark Aug 5, the day the Indian government revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status a year ago.

The ministry also showcased a film on the lives of Kashmiris in IHK to launch its Reels for Rights Digital Film Festival.

Faryad: A Wail from Kashmir explored intergenerational violence suffered by Kashmiris at the hands of Indian forces by delving into the story of a journalist speaking out for the rights of Kashmiris. The film won the Award of Merit at the 2016 Indie Film Festival and Best Film at the Los Angeles Film Fest in 2016. The film was followed by the panel discussion.

Panelists included Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Youth Forum for Kashmir Executive Director Ahmed Quraishi, advocate Syed Ali Mohammad Zafar, Ijaz Masih and Research Society of International Law Conflict Law Centre Director Mohammad Oves Anwar. Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari moderated the event.

At the event, the ministry condemned deteriorating civil liberties in IHK. Participants of the webinar said that the revocation of IHK’s status has been followed by a stringent lockdown, wide scale arrests and an unprecedented communications blackout.

They said 1.5 million Kashmiri children in IHK have endured extreme forms of violence since last August. Citizens live in fear of forced abductions, arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings and debilitating injuries from pellet guns, they said, adding that they also suffer from restricted access to medical assistance, the internet, information and educational facilities.

Speakers said the right to live and prohibition of torture, as well as the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly are protected under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which India is a party.

Dr Mazari said Prime Minister Imran Khan played a role in changing the narrative of Kashmir in the international community by equating Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s human rights abuses and refusal to comply with international law with Hitler’s fascism.

“Now that Modi’s fascism has come to light, the narrative has changed. We should move forward with active diplomacy,” she said.

Mr Zafar said Pakistan’s case is based on self-determination and in today’s world, that principle would win against arms and boots. He said justice has been denied for 70 years, taking the basic human right to life away from Kashmiris.

“There are numerous incidents of sexual abuses, their voices have been silenced due after blocking of internet connectivity and they have no right to trial,” he said.

Mr Anwar shared a presentation exploring the issue through the perspective of international humanitarian law. He said India has been turned into a war zone where villagers are used as human shields and hundreds of rape cases have been documented between 1989 and 2017.

He said that the issue should be framed in humanitarian terms to appeal to the international community.

The ministry said that along with being a political issue, the Kashmir issue has become an appalling human rights crisis that requires the attention and active participation of the international community to restore justice and freedom to IHK.

Mr Qureshi said the world had seen the narrative shift to India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from disputed Kashmir.

He said: “There is now a sense of hope that we are in a state where the issue can be talked about on international forums and it’s a good sign that the international media has started to talk about and take notice of the Kashmir issue.”

In conclusion, Mr Chaudhary said that there was a lot of support for Pakistan inside Kashmir, the Indian army has committed numerous human rights violations in IHK and the next year is monumental for all, as well as Kashmiris.

Mr Masih said that it has been 70 years since India has committed human rights abuses in Kashmir and the Modi government has committed human rights violations that have affected women, children and the elderly.

“The silence of the United Nations is truly alarming in these times,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2020