Exploitation of Human Rights : CASE STUDY OF CHILDREN IN INDIAN OCCUPIED KASHMIR
Exploitation of Human Rights : CASE STUDY OF CHILDREN IN INDIAN OCCUPIED KASHMIR
By Ayesha SiddiqueSummary
The current conflict in Jammu and Kashmir is among the United Nations' longest unsettled disputes. The systematic and institutionalized abuses of human rights by the Indian military troops against the civilians of Jammu and Kashmir are well recognized and recorded. The focus of monitoring rights violations, however, has remained largely on people and not subs - groups such as women, children and students, etc. In acknowledging the atrocities faced by children in Jammu and Kashmir more than the three decades of armed conflict, one of the big difficulties faced is that India still does not accept the international or non-international armed conflict law system. However, India is signatory of international conventions and treaties for the protection of children but the bigotry of India had remained the same. There are draconian laws of Public Safety Act PSA and Armed Forces Special Power Act AFSPA, which has added fuel to the fire and these acts, has safeguarded the heinous crimes of Indian troops against innocent Kashmiri youth. The children of Kashmir are deprived of basic rights provided by the international or mentioned in the constitution of India; children have been targeted by the Indian military troops regardless their age. Kashmiri children have been abducted, harassed and killed mercilessly by Indian troops and they are deprived of education, they are supposed to earn bread and butter for the family as half of them are orphan. The situation has even deteriorated after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35a in the Indian Occupied Kashmir, which is alarming for not only Pakistan but for the international arena.
About the Author
Ms. Ayesha Siddique has done M.Sc. in Peace & Conflict Studies from National University of Sciences & Technology, Islamabad. She has successfully completed 6 weeks internship at KIIR from 06th Sep- 16th Oct, 2020.Abstract
Children are the innocent beings who are supposed to play with their fellow mates and enjoy their golden period of life of leisure and easygoingness to the fullest as there is no worrisome of anything in childhood. In childhood care is taken by parents and they provide every facility of life and with the passage of time rights of children have been addressed but mainly were taken into the consideration in 20th century. With the passage of time those rights were modified according to the circumstances and situations encountered by the countries, so international law defined the children by determining the age furthermore strengthening the rights of children by signing the covenants and treaties. Kashmiri children have been facing killings atrocities, brutalities and illegal detentions by the Indian government and troops. The purpose of this paper to explore the brutalities and violence faced by children of Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir and the impacts on them, to accomplish the purpose secondary resources have been used. The paper aims to look at the situation of innocent children in Jammu and Kashmir during the ongoing conflict. The paper mainly looks at the condition of children in the violence over the last two decades in Jammu and Kashmir. The paper attempts to show that significant crimes and their effects on children have been committed in Jammu and Kashmir by reviewing data on murders, detention, and the effect of exploitation on children's education. In order to conduct the useful research methodology has significance, for the purpose qualitative method was adopted, based on secondary research collected from different reports, surveys, articles and journals available online and in KIIR. To understand and explain conceptual framework is applied. This research explored the “Military interventions of Indian troops in Indian Occupied Kashmir and exploited the basic rights of human rights of Children in IOK.”
Introduction
Children are the asset of every country and community, as long as a Golden Age is associated with honesty, freedom, enjoyment, play and the like, Children and childhood around the world have been adequately interpreted.1 The children are most insecure and helpless, they must be mindful of and protected from outside and across the cruelty of the world. This being so, it is clearly said that the adult child's link with parents offers 'treatment and wellbeing' representing the 'best interest of the child' accordingly and addressing their daily 'survival and progress needs. The current conflict in Jammu and Kashmir is among the United Nations' longest unsettled disputes. The systematic and institutionalized abuses of human rights by the Indian military troops against the civilians of Jammu and Kashmir are well recognized and recorded. The focus of monitoring rights violations, however, has remained largely on people and not subs - groups such as women, children and students, etc. In acknowledging the atrocities faced by children in Jammu and Kashmir more than the three decades of armed conflict, one of the big difficulties we face is that India still does not accept the international or non-international armed conflict law system.
The interpretation of “children” has been taken in this paper is from the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), that describes children are below the age of eighteen.' 2As clearly stated in the document, adolescents in Jammu and Kashmir face all six serious abuse of human rights as highlighted in the CRC, i.e. executions and atrocities, recruitment in any militant group and use, exploitation, kidnapping, assault on educational institutions, and rejection of assistance on humanitarian bases. 3 In the persistent brutalities in Jammu and Kashmir, children are by far the worst categories impacted. Since the start of the fighting for freedom against India in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989 and the extremely military reaction of the state, children have endured as more than just indirect casualties of the conflict, but at the end of the day children also became the target of India’s oppression.
The International Humanitarian Law IHL provides the rights in the CRC during armed conflict notably; the CRC assures the most basic right ‘survival rights’ which includes right to life of child in Article6(1), a better standard of living in Article 27, right to health in Article 24. The rights which are mentioned in Conventions of Rights of Children CRC are mainly relevant during armed conflict, as the child is most vulnerable and his life is on stake. The CRC has highlighted and given Right of Protection in Article 19, which is proposed to protect the children against all types of exploitation, brutality, neglect, and abuse. The Articles 38 and 39 addressed the special protection right in time of conflict or war. Then CRC has given the right to education in Article 28 for development of a child during the conflict, Article 17 has given the right to access the information and Article 14 assures the freedom of thought, sense of right and wrong, and to practice the religion. 4 These rights are especially connected to children in violent conflict situations, as they facilitate their involvement in peace talks or development cooperation.. Finally, the Paragraph 4 of Article 38 CRC also enforced a universal requirement on member states to “take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict,” in accordance with their under IHL5 .
Children have been abused by the legislation in Jammu and Kashmir. The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have unlawfully and under the draconian Public safety Act (PSA) arrested juveniles. The paper analyses the effects of unfair use of oppressive legislation on children's rights and disregards any protection provided by different legislation to children. The study also shows that in Jammu and Kashmir there are no legislative and administrative mechanisms or policies protecting the rights of juveniles, as those set out in the JK Juvenile Justice Act, 2013 are not implemented by state authorities.6 Meanwhile the ruling party of India BJP chose to annex the disputed territory Kashmir to include in India unilaterally on 5th August 2019. The situation has a been deteriorated after the strict curfew was imposed in the disputed territory of Kashmir to oppress the protest against Indian troops.
Conceptual Framework
Concept of Human Rights: The subject of military conflict is a difficult field of research since there is much debate and intense discussion. It may be useful to discuss some core themes to help explain current thinking on the subject. The armed conflict, regardless of the type, affects the rights of the populations explicitly. The Guide to International Law for Human Rights Armed Conflict affect liberty of children and individual rights are universal legal protections that safeguard people and families from violent acts or negligence. They include needs that everyone has a right to encounter (including proper food, privacy, protection and education) but also others, such as involvement and non-discrimination, which are important aspects of life. The power over the territory and the citizens and resources within it are at the core of most armed conflicts. The notion of universal human rights that a set of fundamental rights should be safeguarded for all individuals everywhere, on the basis of equality and freedom from discrimination, irrespective of state, nationality and citizenship, gender, age, colour, ethnicity, religious belief, impairment or any other feature or status.7 The right to life, the right not to be subjected to torture or to brutal, inhuman or abusive treatment or punishment, the right to engage in fair elections, the right to an acceptable living standards and the right to health care and education are aspects of human rights that are widely asserted and quoted.
Concept of Security: In the structure of nation states the contest for power is key. The Nation State structure resides in those states that accept two basic concepts: 'territory' and 'sovereignty.' Armed parties are battling for territorial power, but people will continually affirm that their willingness to see stability and security go hand in hand with their everyday lives. In the late 1990s, the United Nations Security Council appeared to concentrate on a campaign to reconception security beyond geographical and strategic boundaries. This campaign emphasized the value of the wider definition of human security. This concept corresponds to defending basic freedoms and protecting people from vital and widespread threats and circumstances, using mechanisms that are embedded in people's abilities and expectations to tackle these challenges in the Commission on Human Security. Human security stretches far beyond mere lack of violent conflict; it includes civil rights and economic opportunities and education, as well as health.8 Human security supporters have questioned national security’s conventional notion that the right comparison should be the citizen instead of the Country. Human security notes that national, global and regional stability needs a people-centered vision of security. At the core of humanitarians and human rights work has always been attempts to protect citizens and allow them to live without fear. Over the past few years, a program was implemented to reframe the concept that a state is responsible for protecting all citizens from certain acts in conflict (the Geneva Conventions approach). In 2006, the Council reasserted its pledge to protect the population from massacres, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humankind, by resolution 1674 of the United Nations. On 14 September 2009 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted by consensus the first resolution on the issue. The resolution confirms the overall commitment to this issue, yet very brief and formal.
Concept of Vulnerability: Armed conflict-affected civilians, by explanation, are vulnerable to a variety of difficulties, abuses and issues of civil rights. Humanitarian vulnerability consists of limited access to basic commodities and facilities in relation to the individual's needs.9 The International Committee of the Red Cross claims that vulnerability is “a result of precarious conditions of existence of individuals or collectives in combination with the threat of a brutal change in their environment.”10 Where economic restrictions or other penalties have been enforced or where humanitarian access is sporadic, the vulnerability of the communities concerned should be assessed in order that an appropriate framework for tracking the potential impact of an armed conflict can be established. Ultimately, this data should help to better address marginalised people's needs. In a crisis, the living conditions of a population can change, particularly when natural catastrophe and armed conflict collide. Vulnerability must be constantly controlled. 11 This needs humanitarian access to the people who may be affected by the disappearance of humanitarian aid and security, and it can be a huge barrier. Conflicting Parties can refuse or delay access to or make it so hard to force a humanitarian organization 's removal to safety. The end result deprives civilians of their fundamental rights, including the rights to live, regardless of whether the aim is to mask the worst of its Recommendations on International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law on children in the event of armed conflict. Access is further complicated by mislabeling an armed group as obsolete, poor or unable to participate in humanitarian protocols, thus excluding them from the humanitarian negotiation or the negotiation of the peace. These complexities would possibly hinder access to helping communities. Responsibility of protection studies have suggested the inability of nation-states to make sure that violence and human rights abuses, including the child's rights, prior to and during the armed conflict, are not a central obstacle to its execution. The scholars of a study suggest that amongst global powers, “the will not to intervene”.12 The primary aim is to avoid armed conflict, if accomplished, the lives of children and their families will be impacted in a million ways. However, prevention is not a choice for anyone or nothing.13 Community-based peace building efforts at the micro-level are a worthwhile contribution, allowing societies to circumvent conflict or mitigate its impact. National and regional policies at macro-level were also important for helping to conflict prevention to promote social stability. The United Nations Peace Building Commission aims globally to avoid conflict repeat by means of, inter alia, legal, economic and social reforms.
CULTIVATING RESILIENCE Postcolonial Theory
Most academic literature addressed only one dimension that was motivated by bio-medical paradigm, that categorized children as ‘victims’ because they are vulnerable for many decades. Henceforth, in the recent times there has been shift in the approach as the psychosocial aspects of children’s life and their experiences in the time of conflict are taken into consideration more seriously. Although still dealing with children's abuse, the increasing body of research stresses the importance of also focusing at their resilience and coping capacity of children with persistent and severe violence situations. The impact of violent conflict and abuse on children directly and indirectly, affecting them physically and emotionally, inhibit their educational progress. In these cases, the ICRC gets involved in collaboration with the local groups, at societal level to enact or support initiatives.14 During a violent conflict, children's feelings and sentiments are profoundly affected and the consequences of trauma intensify their sense of alienation. Therefore, most services understand the value of integrating fundamental psychological assistance into planned operations.
The psychosocial approach encompasses psychological as well as social facets of the lives of children. Armed conflict and abuse directly or indirectly impact children's health, mental growth and development. Children are always at the threshold either of losing their immediate family or being separated from themselves in violent conflict and other abuse and violence or harassment is witnessed to by many children. The psychosocial programmes, through an improvement in confidence, play and tolerance among children, seek to improve children's resilience and relieve their suffering. after the experience of any hardship and problematic situation the resilience is the capability to ‘bounce back’.15 The resilience is not confined for some people rather it is a development or progression towards normal after experiencing trauma, pain and agony. The coping capacity could vary person to person as some people are mentally strong and the external environment might help them to lead a normal life.
Brutalities faced by Children
Torture and violence: Certainly Kashmiri children were targeted, being the part of civilian citizens without any excuse. During the nineties, Indian brutality against children was not confined to them, as brutality was aimed against people in common. Children were primary victims of regular general state brutality against civilians during the 1990s in the form of extra-judicial killings, targeted shootings, custodial executions, bombings, and forced disappearances, disproportionate use of force, arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, as well as sexual violence.16 The abuse resulted in many children losing their parents and thereby looking for socioeconomic assistance to live in orphanages or with the help of humanitarian organizations. The report of Save the Children 2012, a charity headquartered in the United Kingdom, found that valley of Kashmir has more than 200,000 orphans, around 37 percent of whom lost their parents either one or both due to the ongoing dispute. 17 The effects of orphan-hood have a significant impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of children and directly hindered their access to schooling and health care. Children rose in orphan houses and lacking maternal help have contributed to multifaceted social issues.
Violence against civilians, especially children, during the 1990s must be understood within the framework of impunity concerning the exploitation and abuse of basic human rights perpetrated by the Indian army. In Jammu and Kashmir, the existence of state reaction was practiced through the defence of the legal system that prevailed in the region. According to legitimize structure of Armed Forces Special Powers Act AFSPA adopted in 1991, the impunity provided to the Indian Armed Forces led to the normalization of lack of accountability for basic human rights violations and permitted the Indian troops to inflict brutality without discriminating among combatants and civilians, let alone children and adults. The legal system that still remains in Jammu and Kashmir until today provides armed forces with wide-ranging powers to execute on doubt, and provides defining codes of behaviour during combat exercises with a great deal of liberty. 18 This authoritarian legal framework has had a significant effect on all over the people, which have suffered the force of the brutality of the Indian state in the conduct of military operations. Torture remains to be used by the armed forces as a means of inducing significant harm and causing death, since then many children have been killed in the last 15 years as a result of torture.
Torture is one of the most common and under-reported crimes in the trend of brutality committed against Kashmiri civilians. Children have not been given protection from this occurrence because the armed forces, which are scornful and skeptical of any resident of Jammu and Kashmir, have seen and regarded them as adults. All the deaths connected to torture were triggered after victims were cruelly assaulted in Indian troops and Jammu & Kashmir Police prisons. The torture of civilian prisoners in detention is not widely thought about until it results in the death of the hostages. Much of the suspects, many of whom are minors, mention being tortured in police stations or army bases whilst in detention. From the very beginning of the armed conflict, the use of disproportionate force against common people, and particularly children, has been a tradition of the Indian armed forces. No distinction between young and old has been made by the armed forces and the use of force against children has been unrestrained. There is a horrifying case study of a 12 years old boy named Nauman Khan, resides in Natripora, student of Grade 7th was detained by the Indian police on the accusation of stone-pelting. One day when he was going to buy food for his cat, when he was on his way Indian forces accused him being stone-pelter and he was put inside the cab. He started crying and told them the cause for being out of the home, but he was treated as most wanted adult criminal. His mother told that he was put in dark and small room, where he could not even breathe properly. At that he was thinking that he might be die in that congest room cause of suffocation, when he was released he felt that it was a great injustice done to him. His father stated that after his release his behavior has changed, he reacts impulsively on small things and they have become cautious about him. His father approached Psychiatrist for counselling as he wanted him to deal with past experience in such young age. It is important to note that, with the exception of the guidance provided by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in 2010 for the Protection of Children's Rights in Areas of Civil Unrest, the disproportionate and uncontrolled aggression on children without hindering them in Kashmir, children were attacked by the Indian troops to create a phobia of terror among the resisting populace.
The series of murders of children over the last two decades shows that, as element of its declared offensive to suppress protest and freedom fighting, young boys were primary targets of state brutality. At least 144 kids were murdered in Kashmir valley by the Indian military troops and state police, who constituted half of the total number of young boys, were murdered. In numerous acts of abuse, most of the children got killed in state violence, were shot dead and no less than 8 children died as a result of injuries caused by pellet shotguns fired by Indian troops. Following the fall in freedom fighting in the mid-2000s, several efforts were made in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2016 to rally people for mass demonstrations against the killings and the settlement of the Kashmir conflict. The reaction of the state to the mass uprisings was militaristic and authoritarian again. In these revolts, the extent of state brutality against civilians peaked when around 550 civilians were executed by Indian military troops. In 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated, the year witnessed the massive killings of Kashmiri people, more than 360 people were killed in different incidents of violence. In the year of 2019 children were continuous victim at least 8 children were killed, in addition to extra judicial killings, torture and violence.21 While, the early 6 months of 2020 has witnessed 229 killings in various incidences of brutality, 3 children became victim of those atrocious incidents. These two years have witnessed the massive violence, atrocities, extra judicial killings’ and torture in the history of Kashmir.
Half Orphan: On the other hand, there are many unfortunate children who do not know whether their parents are alive or dead, those women whose husbands are disappeared, those are known as ‘Half Widow’ and the term was coined in the era of 90’s for the first time by the local press of Kashmir, and their children are known as ‘Half Orphan’. Those children are living life of misery in dismay as there is no decisively information about their fathers, so somehow the term is appropriate in the sense. Some of the children have golden memories of their fathers; they shared a bond with them, they narrate the situations which lead them to missing their fathers. The lackness of their fathers has shattered their lives as they are living in dual state of mind, sometimes they feel that their fathers would return back home safely, sometimes they think of themselves as orphans. The impacts of these Enforced disappearances have been extensive on Half Orphans as their education has been affected, but the worsening of the economic situation has been the main hurdle. However, in Indian Occupied Kashmir the term ‘Half Orphan’ is not only confined to those children whose fathers have disappeared but there are many children whose both parents are in jail serving the price of freedom. There is case study of Ahmed Bin Qasim who is the son of political prisoners Ashiq Hussain Faktoo and Aasiya Andrabi. His father has been one of the longest-serving political prisoners in Kashmir. Ahmed was born in Srinagar in Indian Occupied Kashmir and was the student of international relations and literature. He wrote an opinion article “Birthdays as half Orphan in Kashmir” in which he narrated the story of his parents that his both parents have been suffering in imprisonment, but his mother was not imprisoned for consecutive years as his father was constantly remained in jail. His opening statement was that the day was his birthday, his both parents are alive but the conflict has made him orphan.
His father was put behind the bars on the basis of baseless murder accusation of Hriday Nath Wanchoo, an activist documenting the crimes of the Indian state in Kashmir that allegation was denied by his father straightway. He was being held in capture for six later he was released but after that when he was born, he was merely three of four months his father was detained by Indian forces again although court ordered his release but soon after decision was changed into lifetime imprisonment consist of fourteen years then overextended for twenty-two and later to death. He wrote that he has no family photographs but he could see his father behind the bars, he mentioned about his parent teacher meetings at school and his birthdays, the days usually brings joys and happiness in one’s life, those were always difficult and they bleed hope out of him. In the absence of his father her mother stayed strong and she raised both kids but there was a time When both were absent, he and his brother lived as half-orphans, as proud but devastated children. He mentioned about early six years of schools in which there were police raids and they used to capture his mother, sometimes she managed to escape but in odd times she gets caught. His house was a more orphanage rather than a home because he and his brother used to live alone in that house. Although he had a very harsh childhood but in the end he chose hope over dismay, he stated very proudly that his parents are fighting for them, for other Kashmiri children and Kashmir.
On the contrary, India is signatory of “International Convention for the Protection for All persons from Enforced disappearance” along with sixty countries, and the convention was adopted by the General Assembly of United Nations in December 2006. In 1992 “Declaration on the Protection from Enforced Disappearance’ was adopted, that was not binding in nature while the Convention adopted in 2006 has binding nature as Article asserts that “No one should be subjected to Enforced Disappearances.”
Illegal Detention: One of the characteristics of the authoritarian system in Jammu and Kashmir is the use of the authoritarian Public Safety Act (PSA) to arrest young people, Hurriyat leaders or anyone questioning or opposing the government. The terms of the PSA authorise the Jammu and Kashmir officials to imprison people without trial for more than two years at a time and to deprive those people of the fundamental human right granted under international law and domestic law. The 2011 Amnesty International Report A 'Lawless Law': Detentions under Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act reported that 8,000-20,000 civilians were detained under PSA in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two decades, and children are also included among those detained under PSA.26 Via the JK Right to Information Act, the Jammu Kashmir Civil Society Alliance was able to gather information on prisoners at least more than 5500 detained between 1990 and 2013; dozens of these prisoners are children who have been detained. In fact, since 2008, the imprisonment of children under the PSA has seen an increasing trend, since many mass protests against the Indian atrocities occurred. Governments in Jammu and Kashmir have been using the PSA in recent times to arrest several young children accused of being stone-pelters and taking part in demonstrations. In the past, United Nations Task Force on Illicit Arrest has condemned the illegal detention of children in Kashmir, arguing in November 2008 that the imprisonment of 16- year-old Mehraj ud Din Khanday was the violation of Article 14(para4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
After the revocation of Article 370, the territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been under the siege of military lockdown, soon after the announcement many people were detained under the heinous law of PSA. In 2019, more than 195 search operations were done under Cordon and Search Operation, more than 5000 people were detained, and there is no official statement of India that how many people are detained under PSA.28 There are many children who were detained under 18 years were illegally detained in accordance with the draconian law of PSA. A report of March 2020 declared that more than 400 people are in detention across India in different jails.29 Many people were detained on the basis of suspicion that he was protesting against Indian troops and Indian government there are many examples like 19 year old boy Uzair Maqbool was arrested by Indian troops when they were cordoning off Shopian district, to enter in the region of South Kashmir. He was detained without any trial, his parents eyes are waiting for him to come back home, his brother is trying his every possible to get him out of jail.
In addition to consistently breaching these laws, the Jammu and Kashmir government has maintained a complete contempt for the rules-as the detentions of children in recent years clearly show. It is not readily possible to arrive at an actual figure of detainment of children under PSA in' Jammu and Kashmir as the government has not maintained any such details because all PSA seizures, whether of children, young people or elderly folks, are carried out in such a way that the age of the detained person, in the case of children, is almost always intentionally held above the age of 18 on the 17 dossier prepared for the detained person, in the case of children. This means that the age of the captive is still over 18 years in his age in the official documents. Numerous examples such as this illustrate the reality that the Indian police force and district management, particularly for children, purposely do not take the age of the detainee into consideration and regularly book them on fraudulent, unfair and draconian charges under the PSA. The allocation of incorrect data on PSA documents, particularly in the case of children, is done to avoid the likelihood of their arrest occurring. A thorough examination of the PSA forms of usage to prosecute children shows that children's arrests are undertaken to threaten and punish them. In some instances, these arrests are the beginning of the 'anti-India aspect' cultivation process, in which police will constantly threaten and detain these innocent kids anytime there is an anti-India demonstration in the region.
The consequences of persistent abuse and arrests have a significant impact on their schooling and on their social behavior. The abuse of child rights in Jammu and Kashmir also exists, in addition to other causes of exemption from punishment and lawlessness, due to the absence of any juvenile use boards, as required under the Jammu Kashmir Act of Juvenile Justice 2013. All adolescents in clash with the law, and in particular juveniles convicted under PSA, are tried in regular courts and incarcerated with other detainees and offenders. The continued abuse of rights of children in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly of adolescents in conflict with the law, is a strong indicator that safeguards and security given by the United Nations Convention for Child Rights (CRC), of which India is a member state, are not provided to the adolescents of Kashmir valley, the detention also leaves these children traumatized. The children are at the discretion of law enforcement authorities in Jammu and Kashmir and can be convicted illegally, charged with serious offences and sentenced to lengthy periods of imprisonment.
Impact on Education: The extensive military troops in Jammu and Kashmir in general, and the Kashmir Valley especially, has a significant effect on the unhindered access of children to education, as in the last three decades of violent war, hundreds of schools and other educational facilities have been seized by the Indian armed forces. The existence of Indian military troops in residential areas jeopardizes not only the safety of the innocent civilians, but also hinders and inhibits the secure and unrestricted access of children to schools. In the close surrounding area to educational infrastructures, the existence to Indian army camps creates fear in the situation. The extent of such militarization also contributes to the violation of the rights of the civilian population, particularly of adolescents. There are some consequences of armed forces occupying schools or the immediate relation of educational institutions to neighboring military bases and garrisons. In addition to the danger to protection posed to children by the widespread militarization of educational institutions, the near presence of armed forces bases makes children and the schools subject to monitoring and sexual abuse. In Jammu and Kashmir schools, colleges, and other educational infrastructures were used as military bases, detention centers, and army bases. In Jammu and Kashmir, the continued military use of educational institutions not only violates the right of children to education, but also pushes them to be at risk of physical abuse, monitoring, and intimidation by the military forces.
The effect of the prolonged dynamics of the conflict and the continuing military use of educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir has also impacted the drop - out rate of school-going students. The Jammu and Kashmir State of Human Rights report (1990-2005) reported that 'there has been a disturbing raise in the dropout rate of school-going kids, mainly from 1st to 7th grade students.
The ongoing conflict in Jammu and Kashmir has indicated that schools have also come under assault and become targets for violent acts. The Jammu and Kashmir State of Human Rights (1990- 2005) cited a mid-nineties study found that 400 schools were damaged during the fighting, and owing to the continued violence, more than 60 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 were deprived of education.32The destructive burning of schools caused panic, and all this kept the student society indoors while reducing the academic year by half. While the government of Jammu and Kashmir retained that, some people accountable for the destruction of schools were arrested, but no revelation in inquiries was done, and the riddle behind the burning of schools still shadows the detection of the culprits. The violent attacks during the rebellion were not confined to educational institutions only, as at least 650 buildings were destroyed in burning incidents over the six-month period.
The brutalities against students are a normal exercise of the extensive use of force used by the state to quench revolt and oppose in the framework of a long-drawn conflict in Jammu and Kashmir. During the nineties, cases of violence against students, most of them juveniles, were very frequent. Cases of abuse against students, ranging from mass murders, bashings and intimidation to sexual assault, have seen a sharp increase as educational institutions were invaded by the Indian armed forces, and military camps and bases sprouted up around schools and educational institutions. Children have not been treated differently by the armed forces during military operations or when committing mass brutality against people. Students were treated as adults and brutality against them indicates that, even children and students, the brutal counter-insurgency movement initiated by the Indian government has overwhelmingly influenced the civilian community.
In different acts of violence in Jammu and Kashmir, 185 students have been killed during the years (2003 to 2017) under review. A singularly high number of them have been executed by the Indian military troops and Police of Jammu and Kashmir around 130 children in the specified era, constituting for 73 percent of the total student kills. The death of students due to blasts counted for 20 deaths, while no less than 12 children were murdered by armed militants. Freedom fighters are blamed for the murder of five students, while three children have been killed as a result of cross LOC firing.34 In 2019 the revocation of Article 370 was done because Indian government asserted that valley of Kashmir would witness great future. Meanwhile Kashmiri student could not witness any silver lining during the lockdown rather there is bewilderment that what would be the academic and professional aim in the time of uncertainty and ambiguity. In Srinagar, a six year old girl stated that she was panic to go to school because she was scared of Indian troops that he would fire her and parents are also scared to send their children to school and Indian forces had occupied higher secondary school since August. However, the right to education is given by the CRC in the time of conflict though it is difficult to maintain; though after the abrogation of Article 370 if Kashmir is considered as Union of India; ironically India is signatory of CRC and India as a state also ensures the right to education through Right to Education Act (RTE, 2009) according to the Act, Right of children to free will and compulsory education and would be guarantee their privilege to quality elementary education by the state with the help of families and systems. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA, 2000) under RTE Act 2009 ensures elementary education for all regardless their gender or social class.35 So, where is the right to education of Kashmiri children as per Indian constitution and being signatory of CRC?
Effects of Indian atrocities on Kashmiri Children
Indian military troops operating in the Indian Occupied Kashmir have consistently violated international law of human rights by targeting mates and unarmed citizens without recourse to legitimize proceedings. Over the past 26 years, extra-judicial killings and disappearances in Indian Occupied Kashmir have increased in their scale. Indian government that is using lethal drives against them has violated the interests of peaceful protesters. The oppressive armed forces rules have granted the soldiers the authority to carry out severe misuse of human rights, such as firing and assassination, in order to defend themselves from revolts. Many of the captives who were captured by the Indian Occupied Kashmir Armed Forces were abused. Torture was carried out to compel inmates to share details and to torture them for being guilty of supporting or being empathetic with freedom fighters and to generate an environment of political detention. Stabbings, electric shocks, flaming with heated items and beating the muscles with a wooden roller include torture practices. Detainees, for the most part, are kept in isolated confines under the influence of numerous armies.36 There is little access to these areas for medical practitioners, barristers and the relatives of detained offenders.
Almost 6 million Kashmiris have been subjected to torture presently. One million Kashmiris, 95 percent of whom were peaceful and innocent, have suffered physical torture. In Kashmir, thousands of civilians are also missing. The Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir has been the most militarised state in the world since 1989, as nearly ten lac Indian military and security forces are stationed there. In accordance with estimation, one Indian soldier was stationed in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for every 12 Kashmiri people.37 Nearly 65 percent of Kashmiris experienced bombings, 39 percent of Kashmiris witnessed significant property loss, 85 percent of Kashmiris experienced cross-fire, and 64 percent of Kashmiris suffer from psychiatric disorder and a moderate mental disease, according to South Asian Terrorism Site figures.38 The Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) granted unrestricted authority to Indian forces in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for human rights abuses. On 10th September 1990, this legislation was passed. It is one of the toughest Black laws enforced in Indian Occupied Kashmir. According to Section 4 of this Act, Indian forces are totally allowed to execute house search operations without a search warrant, take into custody anyone without a crime and apprehend warrant, and even torture and killing innocent Kashmiris has no legal repercussions for the forces stationed in Indian Occupied Kashmir by the Indian government. In short, unconstitutional actions of the Indian military troops are labeled as lawful under this oppressive statute.
The month of July has a prominent role in the history of the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir unrest of 2016. The revolt is also known as the aftermath of Burhan Wani, which refers to prolonged protests in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which began with the Indian armed forces assassination of the freedom fighter of the Kashmir-based civil resistance group Hizbul Mujahideen. This horrific incident led to anti-Indian protests in all of the Jammu and Kashmir Indian Controlled Districts. The curfew was imposed due to demonstrations and telephone service was suspended by the Indian Government. Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir had 53 days of continuous curfew, which was lifted on August 31, 2016. Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir police and armed groups used pellet guns, assault weapons, and poisonous gas to murder more than 100 Kashmiris in order to disperse the protesters and about 400 were injured.40 In 2014 there was a political transition, Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir held general elections the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won seats in Jammu, and in the Kashmir region ironically, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) won a majority. In Indian Occupied Kashmir, these two political parties established coalition government and Kashmir and the Chief Minister became Mufti Muhammad Saeed.
Mehbooba Mufti took up the office of Chief Minister after his death in 2016; however this government of coalition increased the impression of the Kashmiris diminishing political space, which amplified pessimistic approach against the Indian government among the native people of Kashmir. The emergence of freedom fighting in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in 2016 became colossal because of the absence of political debate, and the absence of fair economic opportunities, high unemployment rate, excessive abuses of human rights and the marginalization of Muslims.41 There is so much frustration among Kashmiri young people; they are considering their future for armed struggle, while the boys who are too young they also see their future as a freedom fighter.42 In the case of Burhan Wani he and his brother were picked up by the Indian troops and bashed by them, which proved to be a push factor to join group for freedom fighting. 43 When he was killed by the Indian troops there were so many boys who wanted to follow the footprints of Burhan Wani as they are mentally frustrated and have witnessed so many brutalities of Indian troops. There is another example of a young boy who was resident of Kashmir district Shopian, in 2018 he became prey of Indian military forces. He was illegally detained and tortured; his brother stated “It took him almost two months to get up and walk on his own, while we saw the marks of a hot iron on his legs slowly begin to heal” further he said that almost after two and a half year police could not prove anything against him44. When he released from custody of Indian police he joined a group for freedom fighting but unfortunately he was killed in a fight.
Conclusion: The atrocities faced by the Kashmiri people of Indian army have been endured since the inception of that conflict. The vicious cycle of brutalities of Indian troops in the Kashmir has been ferocious and children are the most affected faction of Kashmiri society. As, children are helpless and vulnerable entity in any conflict; so they suffer a lot in terms of losing their parents, deprived from food, shelter, security and education. Indian troops have targeted Kashmiri children without any hesitation despite the fact India is signatory member of CRC and signed every treaty related to rights of children. The international arena has witnessed bigotry of India, when India decided to revoke the sub-autonomous status of Kashmir and deployed heavy military and imposed strict curfew. Before that event India had soft image of secular democratic state with cosmopolitan society living in the country with harmony and peacefully but now image has shaken. Indian troops are in the bulk after the Abrogation of Article 370, and the heinous activities have exceeded i.e. firing pellet guns on peaceful protests, detaining innocent people under the draconian Act of PSA without any warrant, even children could not get spare of those violent acts. Kashmiri children have so much rage and antagonism against Indian government and troops, young boys are frequently joining the freedom fighting groups whom India and world call militant groups. The hatred has been harboring in the hearts of Kashmiri children particularly since last thirty years and now that strong emotion of hatred is getting stronger day by day, as Kashmiri children have to witness the atrocities and violence of Indian government and troops against Kashmiri people. Now, it is high time that other states should take serious steps against India, to stop the atrocities against the Kashmiri people predominantly children.
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