Rights groups condemn Indian government’s crackdown on Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir

Rights groups condemn Indian government’s crackdown on Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir
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January 29, 1446
April 8, 2024 AD
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Indian security forces continue to pursue repressive policies in Jammu and Kashmir, including arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, and other serious violations, Human Rights Watch said.
The group added that Indian authorities have tried to justify violations by claiming that political violence in the region has decreased significantly over the past five years and that civilian casualties and the number of security personnel have decreased, noting that 15 soldiers and nine civilians have been killed in the region’s mainly Muslim inhabitants since June.

The rights group said that five years after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was abolished on August 5, 2019, the Indian government is still restricting freedom of expression and association in the region.

Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said "Indian authorities have persisted in curbing violence in Jammu and Kashmir but have done little in five years to end government violations of fundamental freedoms.".

The group said Kashmiris "They are unable to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly because they fear they will be arrested and imprisoned for months or even years without trial.".

It noted that hundreds of Kashmiris, including journalists and human rights activists, remain detained under detention and anti-detention laws. "terrorism" strict.

According to Watch, since August 2019, at least 35 journalists in Kashmir have faced police interrogations, raids, threats, physical attacks, restrictions on freedom of movement, or trumped-up criminal cases for their reporting.

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