Children in IOJ&K suffering worst kind of persecution as world observes Intl. Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

ISLAMABAD, Jun 4 (APP):Children in Occupied Kashmir are suffering worst kind of persecution at the hands of Indian occupation forces as the world is observing International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, and the Indian Non-Compliance with Convention on the Rights of Child in IOJ&K is a question mark on the conscience of international community.
The purpose of the day is to acknowledge the pain suffered by children throughout the world who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse. The day affirms the UN’s commitment to protect the rights of children.
The detention of thousands of Kashmiri children has cast doubt on claims life is returning to normal in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K). After visiting Kashmir, activists found around 13,000 boys have been detained since its autonomous status was revoked on Aug 5.
The report, led by the National Federation of Indian Women, detailed claims that boys – some as young as 14 – had been imprisoned for up to 45 days. It also claimed that families were paying up to 60,000 rupees (£678) for their children’s release. Over 13,000 Children, including some as young as 7 and 8-year-olds
According to Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society 2018 report on Indian Army brutalities and killing of Children, children in Jammu and Kashmir are living in the most militarized zone of the world, with the presence of 7,00,000 troopers, which exposes them to the risk of all grave six violations against children as laid out in United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The report by Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society examines the situation of children in the ongoing conflict in Jammu and Kashmir during the last fifteen years – i.e. 2003 to 2017. The report provides statistics, graphs, figures, and the analysis of killings of children in the last fifteen years (2003 to 2017) in various incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
By providing examples of targeted state violence against children, the report demonstrates that children have not been viewed differently by armed forces and have been targeted and victimized as part of the state’s offensive against the general population.
The fifteen-year period from 2003 to 2017, witnessed not less than 318 killings of children (in the age group of 1 to 17) in various incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. The killing of 318 children constitutes 6.95% of the civilian killings in the last fifteen years, as 4571 civilians have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the same period (2003 – 2017).
In the same period, i.e. from 2003 to 2017, at least 16,436 killings were recorded in Jammu and Kashmir, and the majority of them included alleged militants numbering at least 8537 killings. The numbers indicate that in the last fifteen years Jammu and Kashmir in an average year have witnessed at least 1,095 killings, which belies the government’s claims of ‘return to normalcy’.
The pattern of killings of children in the fifteen-year period suggests that children were direct targets of state violence, as part of its stated offensive to curb uprising and militancy. At least 144 children were killed by Indian armed forces and state police in Jammu and Kashmir, which alone accounts for nearly half, i.e. 44.02 percent, of the total children killed.
Most of the children, at least 110 of them, killed in state violence were shot dead in different incidents of violence, and not less than 8 children died due to injuries inflicted from pellet shot-guns fired by government forces. Twenty-seven children died due drowning either caused due to the negligence of armed forces in Wular lake tragedy or being chased by government forces during a protest, where victims find no way of escape from the armed forces and forced to jump into water bodies, resulting in their death.
The report lays bare that there are no legal and normative processes or practices protecting children’s rights in Jammu and Kashmir as hundreds of minors have been booked under the repressive Public Safety Act (PSA), with total disregard to the fact of their being children.
The merciless use of pellet guns in the valley have deprived the children of their eyesight and the picturesque valley is facing shortage of essential commodities including ration and medicines due to the inhuman and prolonged lockdown where milk is not reaching to children.