A letter to the Prime Minister of Canada

A letter to the Prime Minister of Canada

to invite his immediate attention

The Right Honourable Stephen Joseph Harper

The Prime Minister of Canada

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada,

K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister,

On behalf of the Kashmir Diaspora Alliance, we would like to draw attention to grave humanitarian crisis in Internationally Disputed Area of the Indian occupied Kashmir (IDAJK). The Kashmir question remains one of the oldest, unresolved international problems in the world on the agenda of United Nations. Kashmir today a nuclear flash point and a root cause of poverty and wars in South Asia originated when India  on October 27, 1947 forcefully captured and occupied Kashmir and denied the promised right to Self-Determination as per basic principle of subcontinent division and several United Nations Security Council resolutions. This action divided its land and people by a cruel line of control like the Berlin wall consequently creating a great human crisis in this region and the biggest military occupation on the planet. With the passage of time, instead of finding out the will and aspiration of Kashmiri people through a plebiscite, India kept on cementing its illegal occupation through fraudulent accession and military suppression which changed this paradise on earth into a bleeding vale today usually referred to as the land of atrocities, brutalities and suffering around the world.

The atrocities committed by more than 700,000 Indian soldiers in a small area, virtually devoid of human rights, against the Kashmiri citizens cannot be forgotten. The Indian regime and its armed forces have killed more than 192,802 citizens, made 215,994 arrests, 110,117 individuals have disappeared, 115,782 homes demolished, leaving 122,792 widows and 207,335 orphans. Indian forces have been committing crimes such as rape, torture, and gross human rights violations of the innocent Kashmiris. These cruelties have been documented by international human rights organizations such as United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Educational Development, International Tribunal on Kashmir and many others.  The sad fact behind all of this is that nobody is there to listen to the agony of the Kashmiri people, despite India allegedly claiming to be a democracy, since last 64 years.

Instead of stopping the activities of its armed personnel, the Indian administration has entrenched itself into the lives of the Kashmiris.  Brutality of the army is disguised as defense of the Nation. What nation? The occupying Indian army lives with the dictum that power flows through the barrel of the gun. Since June 11, 2010, one hundred and seventeen civilians (mostly school attending teenagers) have been killed in police and CRPF actions, more than 3,000 people left injured, many of them seriously, and thousands were put behind bars. The shocking discovery of unmarked and unnamed graves in the IDAJK puts serious question marks about the safety of the disappeared or most likely killed youths.  Even the European Union Parliament unanimously passed a resolution in its session in Strasbourg on July 10, 2008 asking India to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the discovery of these graves. This demand is yet to be fulfilled.

We welcome the European Parliament resolution linking the Kashmir issue with signings of Free Trade Agreement with India. This is a positive development as far as the Kashmir issue is concerned. We have been seeking their facilitation for resolving this dispute. The paragraph-33 of the resolution passed by the European Parliament (EP) on May 11, 2011 over the FTA between India and European Union states showed its concerns on the human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. Prime Minister David Cameron admits that, “Britain is responsible for many of the world’s historic problems, including the conflict in Kashmir between India and Pakistan.” Similarly, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on October 29, 2010 has said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir, after so many years of suffering, deserve full respect for their legitimate right to Self-Determination.

As per Greater Kashmir dated June 16, 2011, a renowned Kashmiri newspaper under caption stated “Come clean on AFSPA: Apex Court to Centre.”  The Indian court asked the government to clearly spell out its stand: whether army and paramilitary personnel enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for any penal offence committed in discharge of their official duties including fake encounters and rapes vis-a-vis AFSPA, Section 197 CRPC and Section 17 of the CRPF Act. The Honourable Sir, how long will the Indian army be allowed to enter any home, commit a rape and say they enjoy immunity as it has been done in discharge of official duties.  To suppress the voice of Kashmiris, India has introduced special power acts such as Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Public Safety Act and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act in occupied Kashmir which gives immunity to the armed personnel and paramilitary forces to take any action without being held responsible.  

Based on the same analogy, in view of Canada’s ratification of the human rights treaties we urge that our government should follow course. Canada has been a consistently strong voice for the protection of human rights and the advancement of democratic values around the world. Canada is a party to seven major international human rights conventions, as well as many others, and encourages all countries which have not made these commitments to do so. We as Canadians expect that our government be a champion in the field of human rights by reflecting and promoting Canadian values. Canadians recognize that their interests are best served by a stable, rules-based international system. The UN charter and customary international law imposes on all countries the responsibility to promote and protect human rights. This is not merely a question of values, but a mutual obligation of all members of the international community, as well as an obligation of a state towards its citizens. But the records show that India has not only failed but is also in severe violation of human rights in occupied Kashmir. Our government should not give preference to business with India over moral and ethical values. It should also link any business dealings with India with the condition of immediate withdrawal of military and paramilitary forces from cities within Kashmir, as it has constructed bunkers, checkpoints, and barricades in residential areas creating a province wide jail. What a paradox it is that in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the juvenile age is16 years whereas the rest of the states in India has a juvenile age 18 years and under. 

We therefore solicit that no businesses with India till it resolves humanitarian crisis in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and takes the following measures:

1. To implement the United Nations Security Council resolutions on the right to self-determination; 

2. To uphold the European Parliaments resolution on mass graves in Kashmir;

3. To withdraw the occupational forces from the IDAJK;

4. To put an end to the consistent gross human rights violations through practices such as arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and summary or arbitrary execution, etc.;

5. To respect international human rights norms and treaties which India is a signatory including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

6. To undertake an independent and impartial investigation in all killings including of the ones noted above, custodial deaths, disappearances, fake encounters, rapes, etc. under international law and international auspices;

7. To allow access to major human rights NGOs and humanitarian organizations in IDAJK

8. To stop torture of the relatives of the Canadian Kashmiris and others in the IDAJK due to their protest and free speech about Kashmir problems here in Canada;

9. Draconian Laws such as Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Public Safety Act and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act which violate human rights must be withdrawn immediately.

We look forward to your active role in the resolution of this humanitarian crisis in the IDAJK.

Kind regards,

Habib Yousafzai

Spokesperson

Kashmir Diaspora Alliance