Kashmir Has Witnessed ISIS Level Of Horror For 30 Years: Sunanda Vashisht
Mumbai: Pakistani-trained militants “introduced ISIS-level terror and brutality” into the Kashmir Valley long before the West also “introduced the brutality of radical Islamic terror” columnist Sunanda Vashisht told a US Congressional hearing on human rights in Washington.
“We have seen the ISIS level of horrors and brutality in Kashmir, 30 years ago the West was also exposed to the brutality of radical Islamic terror. I am glad that these hearings are happening here today because when my family and everyone like me Has lost our family. The world remained silent, our way of livelihood and our lives,” she said.
“Where were the human rights advocates when my rights were taken away?” Vashistha asked the panelists present at the hearing.
“Where were they on the night of January 19, 1990, when voices were coming from all the mosques in Kashmir that they wanted Kashmir with Hindu women but without Hindu men?”
“Where was the savior of humanity when my frail old grandfather stood with a kitchen knife and an old rusty ax ready to kill our mother and me to save us from a worse fate?” She inquired further.
She said, “My people were given three options by the terrorists: fleeing, changing or dying in the same night.”
Today, even after 30 years, I am not welcome in my home in Kashmir. I am not allowed to follow my faith without fear. My house is illegally occupied in Kashmir as my relatives have homes. Those not in possession are mostly burnt. Thousands of our temples have been broken into ruins.
Every effort has been made to eradicate Hinduism from Kashmir. Today Kashmir is home to only one religion. This is by design and is a final violation of human rights. Diversity and acceptance of different views is the basic principle of any democracy. In Kashmir, these very basic tenets have been uprooted and this has still not changed. This is not just for Hindus. Sikhs have been massacred.
In January 2012, an edict was announced against Christian schools in Kashmir for “greed of Muslims to Christianity”. What human rights are we talking about when all minorities are either thrown out or silenced? The Islamic State of Kashmir where other religions would not be welcome and tolerance for any other viewpoint would be absent, there is no stronghold of human rights. This is a society that is being created in Kashmir by people who are talking about human rights. Is this what we want?
There has been so much concern around Article 370 in the world that there is indeed a restoration of human rights. The Indian Constitution, based on the US Constitution, is the most liberal document in the world. This constitution did not come into force until the provisional provision of Article 370 came into force. After the abolition of Article 370, Kashmiri women and the LGBTQ community in Kashmir have been given the same rights as other Indian citizens. Anyone who opposes the repeal of Section 3 who supports archaic laws such as child marriage has given way to child trafficking. As a mother and a woman, it has been very important to me that child marriages have now become illegal in Kashmir.
Today, I am happy that Kashmiris have the same rights as Indian citizens. If a woman’s right to own property as serious as her and LGBTQ rights, among many others, has been accomplished through the repeal of Article 370, then it is safe to assume that some of Kashmir There is no restoration of internet and phone service in the remaining districts. Very far.
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