MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2022) The Indian government has intensified the repression of human rights in the Jammu and Kashmir region during the last three years since New Delhi revoked the region's special status, with journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders facing increasingly harsh and repressive measures, a prominent international human rights organization said on Friday.
"For three years now, civil society and media in Jammu and Kashmir have been subjected to a vicious crackdown by the Indian government, which is determined to stifle dissent using draconian laws, policies and unlawful practices in their arsenal," Aakar Patel, chair of the board of Amnesty International India, said in a statement.
The rights organization said that at least 27 journalists had been detained and arrested since August 5, 2019, with several of them, including Fahad Shah, Aasif Sultan and Sajad Gul subjected to the so-called "revolving door" arrests, which imply the initial arrest under one law, discharge on bail and then an almost immediate re-arrest under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The watchdog reviewed 1,346 cases available on the website of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and found that by August 1, 2022 "the number of writ petitions have increased by 32%, indicating an increase in unlawful detention in the last three years," the statement read.
Amnesty International also analyzed the data published by National Crime Record Bureau and found that "there has been a 12% increase in the use of UAPA in Jammu & Kashmir since 2019," it also said.
"The government's use of unlawful measures and unjust barriers impeding various rights in the region must be removed without further delay. The Indian authorities must end the long-drawn repression in Jammu and Kashmir immediately," Patel added, as quoted in the statement.
In 2019, the Indian government announced its decision to strip the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir region of its special status and split it into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The decision provoked a harsh reaction from neighboring Pakistan, which claimed that New Delhi was mistreating the region's Muslim population that was fighting for its rights. New Delhi, in turn, has accused Islamabad of backing separatists, who allegedly undermine the region's security.
