Article 5 of the Universal Dec­laration of Human Rights (UDHR), urges that “No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrad­ing treatment”. Contrary to that, the people of Indi­an Illegally Occupied Jam­mu and Kashmir (IIOJK) are subject to atrocities at the hands of Indian occu­pying forces, where they are being subject to killings, torture and degrading treatment for the past seven decades. The world is witnessing the persecution of many generations of Indians who illegal­ly occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the children have grown young and the old have left the world, but the Kash­miris could not get freedom, and the world’s largest and so-called democ­racy has usurped the basic human rights of millions of Kashmiris.

However, there is no doubt that a day will surely come when Kash­miris will get freedom, Kashmiris will expel the Indian occupational forces from their paradise, just like the Afghans have forced the Amer­ican forces to flee, India’s situation will not be different. The Kashmir issue is currently one of the ma­jor conflicts in the world, a conflict that may even lead the world to a nuclear war. Since this conflict is between two nuclear powers, de­spite understanding the sensitiv­ity of the issue, world powers are turning a blind eye, but this cannot always be the case.

Meanwhile, the history of glob­al conflicts that led to two “World Wars” and a long-running “Cold War” shows that if issues are not re­solved at the right time, things spi­ral out of control and when things go out of control. Then, if there are, channels of communication are blocked, ground realities and hu­man needs are ignored, one is sup­pressed by force, and as a result, wars occur. Once a war starts, it is not limited to a specific country or region. It is a fact that a war between two countries anywhere in the world affects the whole world, the current example is the Russia-Ukraine war, and another is the US-China stand­off on Taiwan. It should be noted that if the world ignores the basic is­sues between the two countries for the sake of its interests, then it has to bear the consequences. This is what is happening in the Indian ille­gally occupied Jammu and Kashmir case. The international community is ignoring the Kashmir issue for the sake of its interests. And for its inter­ests, they are forgetting that this is­sue is a conflict between two nucle­ar powers and it requires no more patience, or tolerance to find ways to resolve it. Media, human rights organizations, and people associat­ed with international organizations have been reporting human rights violations from time to time. But no action has been taken yet.

Moreover, the hollow statements from the world powers show that the so-called human rights activists have given India a license to massa­cre Kashmiris. Influenced by Hin­dutva fascism, Indian forces roam the valley like cannibals, oppress­ing innocent Kashmiris, and the world merely issues a formal state­ment and remains silent if any in­cident happens in IIOJK. The Indi­an occupational forces, offenders of massacring thousands of Kashmiris, also have the worst record of com­mitting arson crimes to religious places and houses in Indian illegal­ly Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, as exposed in an investigative re­port issued by a UK-based law firm in January 2022. The discovery of mass graves has made it clear why India does not allow international human rights organizations and the media to visit Indian illegally Occu­pied Jammu and Kashmir.

In this regard, Pakistan frequent­ly appeals to the international com­munity and asks that the interna­tional community should urge India to stop the atrocities, oppression and gross human rights violations in India’s illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan demands that the resolution of the Kashmir issue should be done according to the res­olutions of the United Nations and that India should release all Kash­miri political leaders on an imme­diate basis. Global powers should keep in mind that, if such incidents continue to happen, then there is a strong possibility of war between two nuclear-armed countries and even minor mistakes in war can lead to a major catastrophe in the region. Since the world powers and the in­ternational community have certain responsibilities to take serious no­tice of serious violations of human rights in the disputed valley. How­ever, the only solution to the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kash­mir (IIOJK) issue lies in holding a plebiscite under the UN resolutions to decide the fate and destiny of the people of the occupied valley. This solution to the Kashmir issue will be a practical step toward making the world peaceful and secure. Sub­sequently, it is beneficial for Kash­miris, and the whole world will ben­efit from this peace.

Muhammad Akhter
The writer is a freelance columnist. He Tweets at
@MAkhter_