By Mati Ullah Khan
The unbridled India seems to have fully pushed itself in disarray and reached that level of imprudence wherein norms of human rights and obeying international laws have become irrelevant for it.
Ironically when the entire International Community is observing the Human Rights Day on December 10, India continues to blatantly violating human rights of innocent and unarmed people of Jammu and Kashmir since August 5. The Indian persistent siege of Jammu and Kashmir has compelled the besieged people to observe the International Human Rights Day as Black Day with complete shutdown in the occupied valley.
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It’s been 128 days now when New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of Indian Constitution, depriving the people of Jammu and Kashmir of special status they had been guaranteed decades earlier.
Under the unabated military siege and lockdown, not only Kashmiris are forced to live with a sense of fear as reportedly hundreds of Kashmiri women have been subjected to rape by Indian Occupation Forces and men having been detained, the suspension of communication services also continue to haunt almost all segments of the society in Jammu and Kashmir.
But is it enough for India to unveil its true face to the world? Surely not, especially after what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party in India inspired by Hitler & Nazism and led by Hindu hardliner Narendra Modi, has now once again unintentionally fallen prey to its own evil instinct of hatred towards Muslims in particular, pursuing its hegemonic designs and short-sightedness with the passage of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha on December 9.
Under the Citizenship Amendment Bill, religious minorities from neighbouring Muslim Countries including Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis but excluding Muslims will be granted the Indian Citizenship, once the Bill is passed by both the Houses – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Also Read: OHCHR releases report on Indian Occupied Kashmir; lambasts India over gross human rights violations in the Valley
However the latest move by the BJP government in New Delhi hasn’t been welcomed at all as even the Opposition in the Indian Parliament termed it a discriminatory bill against Muslims and a violation of India’s secular Constitution. Besides a group of more than 1,000 Indian Scientists and Scholars also called for the immediate withdrawal of the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
Separately, hundreds of infuriated people took to streets in northeastern India to register their protest against the bill. The protesters blocked the traffic all over the Assam State and vandalized shops as well as vehicles.
The protesters also burnt effigies of BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Home Minister Amit Shah and the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
Apart from the anguish fueled by the bill within India, it also triggered a denouncement from across the border. The neighboring Pakistan, which had already demonstrated extreme resentment by suspending all ties with India over the imposition of curfew in Jammu and Kashmir, its wrath was further reignited and Prime Minister Imran Khan termed it a “part of the RSS “Hindu Rashtra” design of expansionism propagated by the fascist Modi government.”
We strongly condemn Indian Lok Sabha citizenship legislation which violates all norms of int human rights law & bilateral agreements with Pak. It is part of the RSS “Hindu Rashtra” design of expansionism propagated by the fascist Modi Govt. https://t.co/XkRdBiSp3G
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 10, 2019
Issuing an official statement against the discriminatory legislation in Indian Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad said that it is “in complete violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other International Covenants on elimination of all forms of discrimination based on religion or belief.”
“The latest legislation is another major step towards the realization of the concept of ‘Hindu Rashtra,’ idealized and relentlessly pursued by the right-wing Hindu leaders for several decades,” the ministry said.
In addition to that, an echo against the Indian legislation was also heard from the United States wherein the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said that it was deeply troubled over the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha as it is a “dangerous turn in wrong direction”, and sought US sanctions against the Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah if the bill is passed by both Houses of the Indian Parliament.
Also bear in mind that the Citizenship Amendment Bill was first introduced in 2016 by the BJP government but was withdrawn after an alliance partner withdrew support and protests flared in northeast India.
