Black laws in Indian Occupied Kashmir

Impunity given to Indian armed forces in occupied Kashmir has been one of the main causes of brutal operations against the people in the occupied territory. Black laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Disturbed Areas Act provide immense powers of arrest without warrant, search and custodial killing to armed forces personnel and no action can be taken against them despite illegality of their intentions unless approval is obtained by the puppet regime of occupied Kashmir from New Delhi.

There have been protests from the people of occupied Kashmir and even from some elements within India for abolishing these black laws but with no results. The international human rights organisations including those in India have been demanding the repeal of this inhuman piece of legislation but New Delhi government refused to budge even an inch. The Amnesty International in its reports also highlighted the necessity of abrogating Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) but this act remains in tact. Consequently this law has provided impunity for perpetration of grave human rights violations including extra-judicial killings, disappearances, rape and torture. India's human rights commission though has been investigating cases of human rights violations, but the commission has not been very effective in this regard because it lacks jurisdiction to probe complaints of violations by the army and paramilitary forces. Meanwhile New Delhi continues to deny permission to various human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and other crimes to visit occupied Kashmir and investigate the violations. Even if disciplinary action was initiated in certain cases no witness would dare come forward to give evidence against the forces personnel for fear of brutal retribution. The action taken against army personnel is never made public. A handful of military personnel involved in heinous crimes like rape were persecuted but in majority of cases of rape the erring personnel were not persecuted or punished. The Human Rights Watch stated that it was not aware of a single persecution in a case of torture or summery execution of a detainee in the last yen years. The fact that the army officer indicted in the 1996 murder of human rights lawyer Jalil Andarabi has not yet been arrested stands in sharp contrast to Indian government's claim that it has ensured greater accountability from its forces in occupied Kashmir. The result of investigation carried out by police and CBI is Shopian dual rape and murder case adequately proves deliberate covering up of the forces personnel involved in the crime. Armed Forces Special Powers Act has been imposed to keep the Kashmir in a state of fear and terror perpetually. But the people of Kashmir continue to suffer all kinds of brutalisation and repression perseveringly hoping that sooner or later their sacrifices will bear fruits and the day of freedom shall dawn with full glory and splendour.