August 30 is celebrated around the world as the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/133 of December 18, 1992, and every year August 30 is marked as International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances to promote the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
After being abducted and removed from the protection of the law, the victims of enforced disappearances actually lose all their rights and remain at the mercy of the abductor. Some of the human rights of the missing person which definitely being violated are:
- The right to recognition as an individual before the law;
- The right to liberty and security of person;
- The right not to be subjected to violence and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;
- Right to life, when a missing person is killed
- Right to Identity;
- The right to a fair trial and court bail
- The right to effective treatment, including compensation
- The right to know the truth about missing persons.
It had been 29 years since this declaration, but yet it has not been implemented in Kashmir. Don’t know why these rights are reluctant to knock in Jammu and Kashmir?
Recently, the UN Human Rights Council has released a report blaming India and Pakistan for serious human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. Every literate person should read this report. Besides, any human rights report is picked up and read on Kashmir; In that case, the result will be that neither India nor Pakistan is interested in upholding Kashmir’s fundamental rights. The world is also a silent spectator on this issue.
Kashmiri, who tries to give an opinion that deviates from India’s or Pakistan’s statements, is intimidated or subjected to torture, or else the person goes missing.
In Kashmir, any citizen who tries to give his opinion by deviating from the statements of India or Pakistan is intimidated or subjected to torture, or else the person goes missing. A hybrid system is run in both regions; whether it is Indian-occupied Kashmir or Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the whole system is controlled so that the people of this region cannot think freely. Violence against freedom fighters and their enforced disappearances is commonplace. There is no guarantee when someone’s life will come to a standstill.
It should be borne in mind that people of every area of Kashmir are deprived of fundamental human rights. No one is safe, be it the ordinary people of Jammu and Kashmir or Kashmiri Pandits, women or children or gypsies. Everyone is standing in a line. Everyone has driven away like a flock of goats. It is clear that the power of confiscating the rights of all of them is the same. What is the fault of these poor working-class people?
Today on the observation of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, I express as a member of the Jammu Kashmir Peoples National Party (JKPNP) and international human rights activist solidarity with the disappeared people, their family, relatives, and friends by drawing attention to the fate of individuals imprisoned at places and under poor conditions unknown to their relatives and/or legal representatives.
Finally, I would also like to remind the intellectuals who used to say that after ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the situation will improve. It has been two years since the removal of Article 370, but instead of resolving of issue, it is escalating more. Unemployment is in double digits, the system of life is scattered, there is no business, no jobs, mental and physical health has been destroyed, 4G internet is in the dustbin and the people are constantly being killed and abducted. Even the most basic human right to breathe is in danger, and hope is replaced by despair.
