Kashmiris in Europe protest outside Geneva UN office, urge action on IIOJK

Kashmiris living in Europe staged a protest demonstration outside the United Nations Office in Geneva on Friday, urging the international community to press for an immediate end to alleged human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and calling on the UN to implement its pending resolutions on the disputed territory to bring peace in South Asia. The protest was organised by the International Kashmir Peace Forum (IKPF) and led by its Chairman Zahid Hashmi who travelled from Paris to Geneva along with hundreds of other Kashmiris. Hashmi said India was violating basic human rights in IIOJK. Describing the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination as an inalienable and non-negotiable right, Hashmi urged the UN Security Council to take effective steps towards implementing its resolutions recognising the people of Jammu and Kashmir’s right to determine their political future. Voicing serious concern over what he described as India’s “imperialist designs” in the region, the IKPF chairman said the Indian government’s pursuit of a Hindu nationalist agenda in IIOJK, including land acquisition, interference in religious affairs and demographic engineering, was aimed at altering the demographic composition of the territory. He also condemned India’s continued use of what he described as repressive laws, including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA). Hashmi said these laws were frequently used by Indian authorities to silence civil society activists, human rights defenders and political leaders. Read More: Kashmir Theater 2.0 He expressed serious concern over what he described as the systematic suppression of political dissent in IIOJK, saying political leaders, activists and human rights defenders continued to face harassment, intimidation and prolonged detention. “The use of restrictive laws and coercive measures has created an atmosphere of fear, severely constraining political activity, freedom of expression and the legitimate exercise of fundamental rights,” Hashmi said. The prolonged incarceration of political leaders, he added, reflected what he described as a broader pattern of suppressing dissent and silencing voices calling for political and human rights reforms. Citing the case of Kashmiri political leader Yasin Malik and other prisoners, Hashmi alleged that judicial and legal mechanisms were being used to silence voices advocating the political rights of the Kashmiri people. Hashmi called for an end to what he described as the misuse of judicial processes and urged the international community to closely monitor the trials, detention conditions and treatment of Kashmiri political prisoners. He also criticised India’s portrayal of its development initiatives in the territory, describing them as part of what he termed a broader settler-colonial project. The protest demonstration concluded with renewed calls for international accountability and an end to what the protesters described as human rights violations by Indian forces in IIOJK.