THE Indian military had to finally admit that the three ‘Pakistani terrorists’ they had announced to have killed earlier were actually innocent labourers. Indian army spokesman Rajesh Kalia admitted that “soldiers exceeded their powers during an alleged fake gun-battle in the Indian occupied Kashmir that killed three men” in the Amshipora “encounter”.

In another case, known as Chhatispura “encounter”, the police picked up five people and later killed them in custody. They had initially blamed them for the massacre of 36 Sikhs at Chattisinghpora massacre.

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti says she was dismissed for daring to expose fake encounters. She called the occupied Kashmir India’s Guantanamo Bay.

Bipen Rawat, then Indian army chief and now India’s chief of defence staff, awarded Major Leetul Gogoi a commendation certificate for tying up a Kashmiri, Farooq Dar, on the bonnet of his jeep and parading him around. Rawat remarked on the incident, “a good job”.

In a video, Farooq is seen showing a voting slip as proof that he was returning home after casting his vote when Gogoi picked him up. Local police investigation confirmed that Farooq’s plea was correct.

Two Indians in Tamil Nadu, a father and his son, were picked up for violating coronavirus lockdown, and were beaten to death. Unlike George Floyd in the United States, their death remained unnoticed in international media.

While the international community always reacts to violations of human rights elsewhere, why is it apathetic to the reign of terror in India?

Aeimen
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2020