No religion of the world, internationally recognised codes, and conventions of human behavior either approve of or condone an act by an individual or a state policy that purports to politicise or take advantage of the sufferings of human beings. I am afraid that it is not true of India under Modi as it is fast becoming a dehumanised state. A young boy from Rawalakot (AJK) named Usama, unraveled the inhuman face of the Indian authorities before the media persons in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The boy along with his parents narrated the episode in gruesome details. He said that he was diagnosed with advanced stage liver cancer, and needed immediate surgery. Since the medical facility was not available in Pakistan, his parents decided to take him to India for the treatment. When Usama applied for Indian visa on medical grounds detailing the nature of his sickness and the urgency involved, the Indian government told them that being a resident of Kashmir he was an Indian citizen and did not need any NOC or visa. The boy and his parents saw through the Indian mischief and its likely repercussions and did not take the bait. Later he was told that he would be given the visa provided the foreign minister of Pakistan wrote to the Indian foreign minister requesting for the favour, being unmindful of the fact that the delay could have taken the life of the young man. It was an unusual demand by the Indian authorities. Given the perilous situation of the boy, a letter did go out from the Pakistani foreign minister to the Indian counterpart. Even then, the response was not as quick as the situation demanded. It is pertinent to note that the family was not asking for any charity or concession in the treatment of the Usama in India and was prepared to bear all the estimated expenses.

The Pakistan government perforce had to contact the Turkish embassy that immediately issued visas to Usama and his family members to visit Turkey for his treatment. Usama who has returned to Pakistan after successful operation with a new hope for life was all praise for the doctors and para-medical staff of the hospital, where he was operated upon, and the officials of the Pakistan embassy in Ankara who looked after them and extended all possible help and assistance that the family required.

The deplorable delaying tactics on the part of Indian state indicate how dehumanised state India has become under BJP rule, headed by Modi who in its enmity with Pakistan is prepared to pummel all human values. A similar mindset is at work in the occupied Kashmir. The reign of terror and oppression let loose in IHK in the backdrop of the murder of Burhan Wani, and the ensuing uprising is yet another ranting testimony of Indian disregard for human rights and inhumane behaviour. Since the start of this new wave of uprising 7700 Kashmiri protestors have partially lost their eyesight because of use of pellet guns and hundreds of them have been killed. The bloodletting goes on unabated. And to cover up what its security forces were doing in the occupied Kashmir, India was relentlessly campaigning to isolate Pakistan and continuously violating the ceasefire line along the LOC and the working boundary, the highest in ten years.

As regards human rights, the situation in India itself is also very precarious due to the policies based on communalism pursued by the BJP government. A report compiled by the ‘US Commission on International Religious Freedom’ regarding constitutional and legal challenges faced by religious minorities in India reveals that the religious minorities in India and Dalits have suffered discrimination and persecution under Congress and BJP regimes due to a host of ill-defined laws, an inefficient criminal justice system, and lack of jurisprudential consistency. Since 2014, hate crimes, social boycotts, assaults, and forced conversions have escalated dramatically, in the backdrop of victory of India’s right-wing BJP in May 2014. The religious communities feel increasingly insecure as the radical Hindu nationalist movements are having a hay day under the BJP-led government. India faces severe challenges to its pluralistic traditions. Low caste Hindus known as Dalits and classified as Schedule castes or tribes are also increasingly being attacked and harassed.

Such practices of Hindu supremacists with tacit approval from the center virtually constitute an indictment of the Modi regime, which is favouring communal politics in India. One after other incident is a testimony to the growing intolerance in the country. Not only the human rights groups have criticised the policies of the BJP government, but also the intelligentsia is nervous for Modi’s government is trying to change the secular face of India. Some of them have even rescinded the awards given to them by the Indian government, as a protest and resistance to Modi’s plans. Saner voices in media have also expressed strong disapproval of the machinations of the BJP government and its inability to check discriminatory acts against religious minorities.

Human Rights organisations within India and international organisations like Amnesty International (AI) have also been regularly monitoring the situation in occupied Kashmir and making their reports public. According to these reports, Indian security forces in Kashmir have killed nearly 94 thousand Kashmiris during the last 26 years, raped more than ten thousand women and killed more than seven thousand persons while in custody. The latest report of the AI gives a hair-raising review of how the Indian Armed Forces have let loose a reign of terror against the people of Kashmir with impunity under the protection of AFSPA, particularly section 7 of the Act, which grants immunity to members of the security forces from prosecution for human rights violations. The report hurls a scathing criticism at the Act for having created an ambiance of impunity for Indian security forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir and enabling them to commit human rights violations without any fear of being tried.

But regrettably, the world community remains oblivious to what is happening in the Indian occupied Kashmir in regards to the violation of human rights and its obligation towards the people of Kashmir as enshrined in the UN resolutions. They are criminally indifferent to it without realising its consequences. The non-resolution of Kashmir dispute is a grave threat to peace and stability in South Asia. Its resolution in line with the UN resolution is imperative to avoid chances of possible strategic miscalculation.