Skip to main content

Indo-Pak conflict, adversely affecting Kashmiri women, being used to "reap" political mileage

Counterview Desk
The Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), a leading network of feminist organisations and grassroots activists in Asia Pacific having 236 member-groups from 27 countries in the Asia Pacific, has sharply criticized powerful forces in India and Pakistan getting involved in “unsubstantiated claims and counterclaims that are encouraging hyper-nationalism and religious fundamentalism” following the Pulwama terror attack on February 14.
Holding consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, APWLD regrets in a statement that, following the attack, there have been ‘retaliatory’ attacks on Kashmiri civilians across India, insisting, “Citizens of Kashmir in India have suffered through decades of conflict” and it is time the Government of India stops equating “an entire state with a terrorist outfit as this sets a dangerous precedent.”
Released by Madhura Chakraborty and Neha Gupta, the statement urges both sides to “aim to seek lasting peace solutions involving all parties”, pointing out the conflict particularly adversely affects Kashmiri women.

Text of the statement:

We, feminists from India and Pakistan at the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD) express our growing concern on the escalation of conflict between India and Pakistan.
We note with mounting dismay that the rhetoric deployed by both Governments is aimed at creating an unstable environment where media and social media is used for proliferation of unsubstantiated claims and counterclaims that are encouraging hyper-nationalism and religious fundamentalism. Many lives have already been lost, including those of soldiers and civilians. 
We urge both governments to stop exploiting the spectacle of war to reap political mileage in the two countries at the expense of people’s lives, peace and justice.
We are particularly concerned about the effects conflict has and has had on the women of South Asia, particularly sexual violence, enforced disappearance of male family members leaving women headed households vulnerable and economically insecure, and growing fundamentalism and curtailed civil and political rights leading to abrogation of women’s human rights.
The ‘retaliatory’ attacks on Kashmiri civilians across India in the aftermath of the suicide bombing of the Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Pulwama can never be acceptable or justified. Citizens of Kashmir in India have suffered through decades of conflict. 
By some estimates there are thousands of mass graves, sexual assaults, enforced disappearances, extra judicial killings, torture, blinding and maiming over the decades, as draconian laws like the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (1990) and Public Safety Act (1978) have been enforced in the valley, granting complete impunity to the armed forces. 
Not a single accused armed forces personnel has been prosecuted in civil courts till date. Reports of religious minorities in Pakistan facing violence on account of these transgressions in India are also increasing in ‘response’. In all situations, women, sexual minorities and children are left without means to safeguard their right to live free of violence or discrimination. 
 We note with particular concern that the issues in the upcoming General Elections in India have been completely usurped by the rhetoric of war and ‘revenge’. We further urge the mass media in both countries to act with dignity, abide by fundamental principles and ethics of journalism and restraint instead of propagating fake and unverified news and fomenting conflict.
We urge the Indian Government not to equate an entire state with a terrorist outfit as this sets a dangerous precedent. Further, we urge the Government of India to move away from it’s narrative of blaming Pakistan for waging a ‘proxy war’ and instead acknowledge the root causes of this conflict: the legitimate demands of Kashmiris and the need for demilitarisation of Indian-held Kashmir. 
The Government’s policy in Kashmir in the last few years, including but not limited to use of pellet guns to blind and kill thousands of youth, have only resulted in exponential increase in young Kashmiri boys joining armed insurgency. We condemn the refusal of the Government of India to excoriate attacks on Kashmiri civilians across India until over a week after the Pulwama terrorist attack. 
Meanwhile we have seen a growing environment of insecurity created for Kashmiris and Muslims across India. The Government of India must refrain from jingoism and take action to condemn with equal force the attacks on civilians based on ethnicity and religion just as much it condemns the terrorist suicide bombing. 
As South Asian feminists, we reiterate that peace,security and democracy of the entire region is linked to the just resolution of the Kashmir issue, through a process which centers the voices and democratic participation of Kashmiris themselves.
We urge the Government of Pakistan to investigate the human rights violations caused due to militarisation in regions like Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Pakistan’s use of militants as proxies to fight its wars and suppress dissent. 
The growing militarism and military surveillance and control of everyday lives of citizens notwithstanding, fundamentalism continue to exist and target religious minorities and women. Further, ex-militants have not been held accountable for their actions and in some instances have been allowed to contest in the electoral processes, while disbanded outfits have been allowed to regroup despite their unchanged extremist ideology. 
Importantly, we urge Pakistan government to also prioritise the concerns of Kashmiris in Pakistan-held Kashmir.
We ask both governments to:
  1. De-escalate the current situation, prevent armed confrontation and ensure that rhetoric of hyper-nationalism and religious fundamentalism is curbed in both countries;
  2. Adhere to international human rights and humanitarian laws and principles, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; 
  3. Engage through democratic processes like bilateral peace talks across the Line of Control, especially given their responsibilities as nuclear-armed countries; 
  4. Accept United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 in good faith; 
  5. Accept the offer of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to engage in meaningful mutual engagement to maintain peace and stability in the region. 
As the two largest countries in the subcontinent, both governments must aim to seek lasting peace solutions involving all parties and work together to achieve goals of peace, justice and sustainable development. We condemn any further actions from the both governments that escalates fundamentalism and disaffection among their citizens.

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Regional political dynamics 'leading to' institutional violence in SAARC University

By Sandeep Pandey*  South Asian University is a university set up in Delhi by member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Maldives – which is open to students from all these countries. However, as SAARC is receiving little attention these days because of regional political dynamics, it appears as if SAU has lost significance too. Because of the hiatus in peace process between India and Pakistan, the Board of Governors of this University is dysfunctional.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.

'Vulgar display of wealth': Govt of India using G20 presidency for political, electoral gains

Counterview Desk  Seeking endorsement for a public statement on India's G20 Presidency, several people’s movements, trade unions and other civil society groups have come together to say that not only will G20 and its priorities “will worsen economic, social and climate crisis”, already, India’s presidency is being used “for vulgar display of pomp & for electoral gains.”