MIRPUR (AJK): Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) has voiced serious concern over growing incidents of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests and persecution of Kashmiri youth by Indian forces in illegally Indian occupied Kashmir.
In a address to the UN Special Rapporteur on Summary and Extra Executions, on Monday the KIIR chairman Altaf Hussain Wani while referring to the killing of two civilians Manzoor Ahmed Shalla and Bashir Ahmad by the Indian forces on 12th June in Kashmir’s Sopore town said.
“The cold-blooded murder of the youth in Police custody was yet another sickening chronicle of extra-judicial killings and senseless violence that has taken a heavy toll on precious human lives in the region”.
He said that it was quite perplexing that the custodial killing of unarmed and defenceless Kashmiris in so-called cordon-and-search operations continue unabated despite the ravaging Covid 19 pandemic.
He said that over the past one and a half year 36 cases of custodial deaths have been reported in Kashmir valley alone. “Genocide of Kashmiris under the garb of black laws has become a routine matter in Jammu and Kashmir where men, women and especially the youth of Kashmir have been at the receiving end of the reckless violence being used as a weapon of war by the government of India to suppress the voices of dissent in the region.
“The arrest and illegal detention of Dar shows an alarming level of reprisals faced by the hapless Kashmiri victims and their families who continue to experience the double-edged onslaught of India’s hegemonic authoritarianism”, Wani said.
Urging the UN special rapporteur to take serious notice of the issue to help stop the persecution and illegal exploitation of Kashmiris by the Indian occupation authorities.
Meanwhile, the KIIR chief said he is hopeful UN High Commissioner on Human Rights will release 3rd comprehensive report on the human rights situation of the occupied Kashmir during the 47th session of the UN Human Rights Council . .