International Al Quds Day 2020
May 20, 2020
53rd Year of Occupation – Reclaiming Al Quds is a Priority
June 7, 2020
We are shocked and utterly angered by the recent attack on at least 15 residential houses in Srinagar in the India Occupied Kashmir (IOK) on the 19th May 2020 .
The attack reduced the homes to debris, rendering several dozen families homeless amid the coronavirus pandemic and in the holy month of Ramadhan where Muslims are observing their fast.
The report depicted a neighbourhood of 15 houses in India-occupied Kashmir was gutted by a devastating fire. The local media reported that Indian forces destroyed their homes using high-intensity explosives, as well as stealing jewellery and cash from some houses.
It is depressing that the victims reported ,“They stole everything, even cooking gas cylinders.” The Indian Occupation Forces ransacked and looted 15 Muslim owned homes in Srinagar.
We condemn the Indian police and paramilitary forces which conducted an operation targetting non combatants. This is obviously not a clean operation with no collateral damage as claimed by the Indian official. This is a contravening of the law of war which amongst the five fundamental principles that are inherent to all targeting decisions in a war : unnecessary suffering, proportionality, distinction (discrimination), and honor (chivalry).
In fact the Indian military has continued persistently its war crimes against Kashmiri civilians when it intentionally killed civilians and destroy civilian property, and seriously violates the principles of distinction, proportionality.
This is barbarism at its worst. It defies international law and violates human rights. The Indian military justifies this as ‘form of punishment’ and this cannot be accepted. In other words it is not just about collateral damage to collectively punish a target group, but a deliberate decimating of civilians. We condemn unreservedly for India’ s disproportionate force” in a bid to take out the freedom fighters.
The approach of devastating homes and bussiness premises has been the normal operation standard of India. Between 1989 and 2001, at least 5,368 buildings, including shops, houses and other privately-owned properties in the region, have been heavily damaged in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir, according to data collected by local authorities.
India is binded by the Geneva Convention 1949 which is considered as an international customary law punishable under the International Criminal Court. With abundance of evidences of war crimes, by the Indian troops in IOK , India must be forced to answer in the international court.
What the India army has executed is undisputedly war crime . The UN should intervene to stop the India’s culture of impunity against Kashmiri defenseless civilians. It is time for the UN to act with concrete actions to hold India accountable to the decades of war crimes against Kashmiri civilians.
Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President MAPIM
