In a message on the eve of International Human Rights Day 2015, Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that on December 10, 2015 when the entire world is going to reiterate its commitment to promote and protect the Human Rights of the people and when the United Nations is going to launch the campaign “Our Rights, Our Freedoms, Always” it gives the forlorn people of Jammu and Kashmir a ray of hope, though flickering, that in keeping with the spirit of the declared objectives of the campaign the Human Rights violations of the people of Kashmir will also be taken notice of and United Nations will play its role to end the suffering and worst violation of Human Rights in Kashmir.
The message reads:
The United Nations has decides to launch a yearlong campaign on International Human rights Day 2015, 10 December “Our Rights, Our Freedoms, Always” to promote and raise awareness about Human Rights especially with reference to International Bill of Human Rights which describes, the civil, political, economic, cultural and social rights as the birth rights of all human beings. The Bill underpins freedom from fear, freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and freedom of want at its core.The decision to this effect by the United Nations is by all means encouraging especially at a time when in many parts of the world the growth of hate speech against religious and racial minorities, the justification of rights violations in the name of combating terrorism and the failure to respect other right of the people is growing.
We welcome the launch of this campaign and hope that it will focus its attention on Kashmir as well where all the freedom set out in the International Bill of Human Rights is violated flagrantly by the state apparatus.Killing of unarmed persons especially youth, terrorizing of population by the use if indiscriminate force, denial of freedom of assembly and protest, preventing people from offering prayers, even the weekly Friday prayers at the most important and central mosques like the historic Jamia Mosque in Srinagar Kashmir have become a routine affair.Instead of making laws, as required by the provision of International Bill Of Human Rights and other International Covenants, laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Disturbed Areas Act and Public Safety Act are in force in Kashmir which give legal protection and immunity from prosecutions to the personnel of Indian army and other government forces who indulge in the worst crimes against humanity in Kashmir. These laws are also meant to give authorities the power to deny the people their liberty and the rights of freedom of speech and expression by detaining them for years without any trail whatsoever.
On December 10, 2015 when the entire world is going to reiterate its commitment to promote and protect the Human Rights of the people and when the United Nations is going to launch the campaign “Our Rights, Our Freedoms, Always” it gives the forlorn people of Jammu and Kashmir a ray of hope, though flickering, that in keeping with the spirit of the declared objectives of the campaign the Human Rights violations of the people of Kashmir will also be taken notice of and United Nations will play its role to end the suffering and worst violation of Human Rights in Kashmir.This day reminds us and infuses in us the confidence of our struggle being just and based on the universally agreed principals of justice, equality and fundamental freedoms of human being. (KNS)