HRW slams Modi's policies in Indian occupied Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: The Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday slammed the Modi government’s restrictions on the Kashmiris living in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), ARY News reported.

“The [Indian] government’s unwarranted restraints on the rights to free speech, access to information, health care, and education have been intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic,” read a statement from the HRW.

The report stated that Indian government had detained thousands of people, shut down telecommunication services and imposed restrictions on freedom of movement and public meetings.

Terming India’s notorious Public Safety Law as ‘draconian’, the HRW noted that thousands had been arrested in occupied Kashmir and three former chief ministers as well as more than 140 children, had been held in custody ever since the unilateral move was undertaken by the Modi government.

The human rights organisation mentioned allegations of torture and ill-treatment against the Indian security forces and the misuse of sedition laws to clamp down on peaceful, dissenting voices.

“In June, the government announced a new media policy in Jammu and Kashmir that empowers the authorities to decide what is “fake news, plagiarism and unethical or anti-national activities” and to take punitive action against media outlets, journalists, and editors,” read the statement from the HRW.

The HRW noted how the coronavirus pandemic, its crippling economic effects due to the lockdown in the territory and the suspension of internet services by the Indian government, had made life difficult for people especially in countering COVID-19.

“Doctors have complained that the lack of internet was hurting the Covid-19 response. “It is a new virus – research, studies, guidelines and updates are changing every other day,” said one doctor, according to the HRW.