US court seeks explanation from Modi on IoK annexation
Modi is scheduled to address a joint rally with President Donald Trump in Houston on Sept 22.
WASHINGTON (Web Desk) - A US court has asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other members of his government to respond within 21 days to the charge that they have illegally occupied the internationally–recognized disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir and are committing gross human rights violations there.
According to Kashmir Media Service, a US district court in Houston, Texas, has taken the action on a complaint filed by the Kashmir Khalitsan Referendum Front. Modi is scheduled to address a joint rally with President Donald Trump in Houston on Sunday (September 22).
The Front has complained that the Modi-led government illegally annexed Kashmir on August 5 in violation of international laws. It has also nominated Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah and another functionary, Kanwal Jeet Singh, as the accused responsible for this illegal occupation and for committing gross human rights violations in the territory.
The human rights abuses include imposition of a prolonged and unprecedented curfew, complete communication lockdown, denial of basic necessities to the inhabitants, illegal detention, enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings.
The complainant has quoted a September 14 report by the Associated Press news agency, which describes the situation in the occupied territory as alarming. It quotes personal accounts of violence and intimidation committed by Indian soldiers.
In more than 50 interviews, residents in a dozen villages told AP that the Indian government has imposed a severe security crackdown in the region and Indian soldiers have been beating up the local people and, in some cases, subjecting them to electric shocks. AP reported that people in Kashmir had been forced to eat dirt or drink filthy water.
