An eminent lawyer and member of Indian Supreme Court Bar, Prashant Bhushan was ruthlessly beaten by Hindu extremists on October 12 during a media interview in New Delhi. The Hindu zealots attacked Prashant Bhushan in his chamber for criticising draconian laws in occupied Kashmir and calling for resolving the Kashmir dispute through holding of a plebiscite.
This in not the first incident when a person has been victimized for speaking on Kashmir, challenging the Indian stance. Earlier, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Muhammad Yasin Malik and Shabbir Ahmed Shah have been the victims of Hindu fanatics. Even Indian rights activist Arundhati Roy was assaulted by the people of same clan. She was also charged for sedition by the government of India. Gautum Navlakha had to face life threats for supporting Kashmiris' liberation struggle and highlighting the Indian state terrorism in occupied Kashmir.
Same is the attitude of the Indian governmental bodies and virtually, New Delhi has banned the entry of world rights defenders in India and particularly in occupied Kashmir. Recently, David Barsamian, a US radio-journalist, was deported after his arrival on New Delhi airport. Earlier, Professor Richard Shapiro, an anthropologist from San Francisco was also deported from the same airport in November 2010 without being given any reason.
Ironically, India claims to be the largest democracy of the world but its democratic credentials stand exposed when it comes to people's right of expression. Indian authorities have made the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir a no-go area for the world human rights organizations and they use every undemocratic tactic to censor the news about the gross human rights violations and atrocities being perpetrated by Indian police and troops in occupied Kashmir. In the so-called largest democracy of the world, freedom of expression is the most usurped fundamental right of the people.
The deplorable aspect of the situation is that so far no one has been brought to justice for assaulting the people who raise their voice in support of the Kashmiri people. This indicates that such attacks are carried out by or on the behest of Indian secret agencies.
Human rights activists and local media are working in the most unfavourable circumstances in the occupied territory, as they are not allowed to work freely and report the events in factual manner. New Delhi is suppressing any rational voice that highlights the Kashmiris' suffering, supports their just struggle for right to self-determination and challenges Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir. It is the right time when India must acknowledge the fact that the sacrifices of Kashmiri people have attracted the world attention as well as of the sane people within India. The sooner New Delhi realizes this reality the better it will be not only for India but also for the billions of people inhabiting South Asia. India needs to read writing on the wall.
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