Senior Turkish lawmaker calls on India to 'immediately' end rights violations in Kashmir

Published September 17, 2019
Head of Turkish parliament's Human Rights Commission Hakan Cavusoglu. — AA/File
Head of Turkish parliament's Human Rights Commission Hakan Cavusoglu. — AA/File

A senior Turkish lawmaker on Tuesday called on the Indian government to end the worsening human rights violations in occupied Kashmir "as immediately as possible".

"Human right violations have shown a massive increase in Jammu and Kashmir since August 5, 2019," Hakan Cavusoglu, the head of parliament's Human Rights Commission, said in a statement.

Cavusoglu mentioned how thousands of troops were deployed to the region in early August before India made the sudden, unprecedented move of revoking the region’s special status.

Indian-occupied Kashmir has been facing a communications blackout since Aug 5, when New Delhi stripped the disputed region of special provisions guaranteed by the Indian constitution.

"I call on the Indian government to end the human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir as immediately as possible," the lawmaker said.

Cavusoglu said the recent incidents in the region "turned Kashmir into one of the most sensitive regions in the world".

From 1954 until Aug 5, 2019, Kashmir enjoyed a special status under the Indian constitution which allowed it to enact its own laws. The provisions also protected the region's citizenship law, which barred outsiders from settling in and owning land in the territory.

After New Delhi's move of scrapping Kashmir's special autonomy, it has been under a near-complete lockdown.

Several rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly called on India to lift restrictions and release political detainees.

Indian authorities claim that daytime restrictions have been lifted in 90 per cent of the region.

Opinion

Editorial

Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...
Tax amendments
Updated 20 Dec, 2024

Tax amendments

Bureaucracy gimmicks have not produced results, will not do so in the future.
Cricket breakthrough
20 Dec, 2024

Cricket breakthrough

IT had been made clear to Pakistan that a Champions Trophy without India was not even a distant possibility, even if...
Troubled waters
20 Dec, 2024

Troubled waters

LURCHING from one crisis to the next, the Pakistani state has been consistent in failing its vulnerable citizens....