In an important and detailed interview with the Geneva Times, Habib ur Rehman, secretary for international affairs of the Jammu Kashmir Peoples National Party (JKPNP), writer and political leader, called for the immediate attention and intervention of the United Nations and the international community over the grave human rights violations, state repression and popular resistance in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
In this interview, conducted in Geneva by three women journalists, Habib ur Rehman exposed state-level violence against peaceful popular political movements, communication restrictions and the human rights crisis in the region.
Habib ur Rehman revealed that the state, by proscribing (banning) the peaceful movement of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC), which began for economic justice, subsidies on electricity and flour and basic rights, and by using unjustified force, has turned it into a full-blown human rights crisis.
Referring to direct firing on protesters and internet blackouts in Rawalakot and other districts, he said the state imposes communication restrictions so that the facts of the brutality and human rights violations committed by security forces do not reach the world.
He demanded that the state administration immediately release citizens detained solely for peaceful political expression, protest or assembly, end enforced disappearances, and carry out independent and transparent investigations into the forces’ violence.
From a distinctive point of view, Habib ur Rehman made clear that real democracy is not just about speaking up for one’s own rights; the true requirement of democratic ethics is protecting the basic and democratic rights of one’s political opponents and those who hold dissenting views.
The purpose of raising this voice in Geneva is that the United Nations and international human rights bodies should not become active only when violence or loss of life in the region becomes excessive, but should establish continuous and active monitoring to secure for the people of Kashmir and Gilgit the right to a life free from fear and to decide their own future.
