Under the Indian State’s militarization of Kashmir among other brutalities, enforced disappearances have been used as a tool to suppress the people and their voices. Nevertheless, APDP has been resisting this suppression for years now and has raised the issue of the enforced disappearances with the world community.   

On 10th of every month, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) stages a silent sit-in protest in Srinagar against Enforced Disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir. As part of its programme, APDP is holding a sit in protest on 10th August 2017, at Partab Park, Srinagar.

In a situation where India has not ratified the International Convention For Protection of all Persons From Enforced Disappearances and the vagueness of India’s Domestic Law that does not enumerate Enforced Disappearance as an offence, the challenges in pursuing legal struggle is insurmountable. There is an official state policy that ensures impunity to Indian Armed Forces and promotes silencing of the past.

We reiterate our demand for ratification of International Convention for Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. The ratification will help to bring out the special nature and circumstances in which such crimes are perpetrated and will make more evident the multiple rights that are violated as a result of an enforced disappearance. We also demand that law on enforced disappearance be passed by the Jammu and Kashmir legislature so that the vagueness and ambiguity in the Indian domestic penal provisions can be overcome.

In the recent past the state forces have been firing live bullet at the peaceful protesters and killing them. The use of the pellets, despite being lethal, continues unabated, thus blinding the youth. Besides, the state forces have been on the rampage and beating the school kids, the recent example being the thrashing of the school kids at the hands of the army at Pahalgam. Similarly, the state forces have been vandalizing the property and barging into the homes of the civilians in all parts of Kashmir especially in South Kashmir districts Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam.

APDP opposes the recent killings, blinding and maiming of the Kashmiri civilians at the hands of the state forces. It asserts that the civilian killings should be stopped.

Besides, it also opposes and protests against the recent vandalisation of the property, barging into the homes of Kashmiri civilian by the state forces in the South Kashmir, especially.

In the recent past, the state government has again and again banned the Internet services in Kashmir, which APDP, opposes and asserts that it is a move by the government to hide its war crimes and the violence that it unleashes on the people of Kashmir, from leaking out to the world community. APDP urges upon the world community to pressurize the government of India to repeal the internet services ban.

 

 

Parveena Ahanger

(Chairperson) APDP, Hyderpora, Srinagar

ENDS HERE

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