Mirwaiz’s letter to UN Secretary

General seeking intervention in Kashmir

Hon. Ban Ki Moon

Secretary General,
United Nations
New York.
Excellency,
India has declared an open war in Kashmir. There is blood of innocent children
and teenagers spilled on the streets of Kashmir who are being shot dead for
demanding the imple¬mentation of the solemn pledge made to them by the world
community that they would be allowed to decide their future. The entire
population is swelling the streets to protest which the Indian state is crushing
by using lethal force and other repressive measures - curfew, mass detention… In
less than two months over 45 protesters mostly children and teenagers have been
mercilessly killed, and the killing spree continues. Such is the height of
oppression by the “biggest democracy on earth”, that we are even denied the time
and space to mourn our dead. The situation is getting worse and uglier by the
day for the hapless people of the valley and can only become disastrous for them
unless the U.N. intervenes and fulfills its moral and legal obligation towards
the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
Sir, it is highly regrettable that the United Nations, the apex world body, has
so far not only failed to honor and implement its commitment to the people of
Jammu and Kash¬mir, but has also become a mute spectator to the unparalleled use
of force by the Indian occupation forces against the people of Jammu and
Kashmir. Let me remind you that it is this forum that passed 23 resolutions on
Kashmir, pledging to the people the right of self determination to decide their
future dispensation. But even after six decades, the pledge remains unfulfilled,
making it the oldest unresolved conflict pending with the U.N. These past six
decades have been for the people of J&K a saga of subjugation and oppression.
Yet the resistance movement has been alive despite facing the most repressive
modes of operation at the hands of Indian occupation forces, more than seven
hundred thousand in number. Hundreds of cemeteries across the length and breadth
of the valley with tens of thousands of our dead bear witness to India’s
response to dissent. Massacres, coercion, arbitrary detention, defilement and
desecration of the chastity of women, deaths in custody, fake encounters,
torture and maiming at interrogation centers, extra judicial killings, declared
and undeclared curfews and other restrictions on public mobility, gagging the
local media, implementation of draconian laws has been the Indian state’s
constant and standard response to the people’s aspirations for decades now. Any
form of engagement on people’s part with the Indian state for the resolution of
the dispute has proved futile due to India's intransigence towards the issue.
The silence and indifference of the international community including the U.N
against India’s massive human rights violations has only emboldened the Indian
state to carry on the reign of terror with impunity, and has pushed the young
generation of Kashmir who have run out of patience with the world’s bystander
attitude, to come out on the streets infuriated, defiant and ready to die. They
are disillusioned and dismayed. Such is the irony, and misfortune for the people
of Kashmir today that any concern expressed over the gross human rights abuses
here by any international forum is pressurized into silence by India.
Sir, the current upheaval and unabated killing of Kashmiris is a reminder to the
U.N. to intervene at the earliest and resolve the Kashmir issue once for all. It
is only a full fledged U.N. intervention that can end the crisis. We the people
of Jammu & Kashmir also request you to appoint a U.N. representative to Kashmir
to take stock of the situation here and pressurize India to put an immediate
stop to the massacre in Kashmir.
Sincerely,
Mirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooq
Chairman, All Parties Hurriyat Conference
Kashmir