Since October 1989, the mass uprising has taken strong roots and
the entire population is in revolt against Indian occupation.
What started as a peaceful protest movement demanding implementation
of a U.N.-supervised plebiscite, as promised by India, turned
into a full-scale insurrection; the Indian response to this protest
has been extremely bloody. Since October 1989, the brutal troops
have massacred thousands of unarmed innocent Kashmiris; hundreds
of women have been raped, scores of villages torched, schools,
places of worship and hospitals destroyed, business and industry
ravaged and normal life completely disrupted.
The Crimes of Indian occupation forces, numbering wellover
600,000, against the people of Kashmir have now reached genocidal
proportions, presenting the worst example of state-sponsored terrorism.
Over the past seven years in particular, the suffering of the
Kashmiri people has reached an indescribable intensity and magnitude.
All human rights enshrined in the Charter, the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, and Human Rights Covenants have been flagrantly
violated by the Indian security forces. An estimated:
*47,455 Kashmiris dead (since October 1989);
*6,300 women raped;
*thousands maimed;
*thousands detained without recourse to legal bid;
*torture, extrajudicial executions, and disappearance is a daily phenomenon;
*wilful destruction of property and forced displacement are all too regular occurrences;
*the Vale is dotted with torture and interrogation centres, all designed to break the will of the Kashmiri people; and
*the story is just beginning to unfold.
Because the
people of Kashmir demand an end to the military occupation of
their land by India;
Because they demand what was pledged to them by
both India and Pakistan and guaranteed by the U.N. Security Council,
with unequivocal endorsement of Canada, namely demilitarisation
of Kashmir and a free vote organised impartially to ascertain
popular will.