I feel so proud of the Gambia, a small Muslim country at the
world map. The country has made the entire Muslim community proud of its action
by making Aung San Suu Kyi face the first legal action over the Rohingya
genocide. I hope the International Court of Justice will indict the Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a war criminal for his unprecedented crimes
against humanity in Gujrat and Kashmir one day.
This tiny African country has taken the case of oppressed
Rohingyan Muslims to the world court who were butchered like Kashmiris and
buried in mass graves. It has filed a complaint in the form of a lawsuit at the
top court of the United Nations formally levelling the charges of genocide
against Myanmar. I gave the same suggestion to the present government. I asked
the government to move a petition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drag
him as a war criminal for his crimes against humanity in Kashmir. Nevertheless,
I was disappointed to see that the government of Pakistan has taken no action
so far.
The ruler of Gambia, which is 7000 miles away from the
Rohingya, felt the pain of his Rohingya Muslims. He came forward to rescue them
by knocking the door of international court against those who are responsible
for mass genocide of Rohingya Muslims. Whereas, our rulers few kilometres away
from Indian Occupied Kashmir could not show the courage to make such a move.
It is unfortunate that none from the Muslim Ummah, including
my own country Pakistan, could take any initiative against India’s latest
belligerence. Though I suggested to the government to use this option many a
time on the assembly floor, but to no avail. Subsequently, on Sept. 26, 2019, I
penned a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan urging him to take the Kashmir
case to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In the letter, I had noted the
procedure for referring the case to ICC under the Rome Statute. It reads, “Any
individual, group or state can send information to the OTP regarding alleged
crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the court. To date, the OTP has received
more than 12,000 of such communications, which can form the initial basis of
the Office’s preliminary examinations. The OTP conducts a preliminary
examination to decide whether there is a reasonable basis to initiate an
investigation.”
Moreover, in the said letter to the Prime Minister Imran
Khan, I had clearly stated “I would like to invite your attention to the only
option left for Pakistan and Kashmir to move the matter to the International
Criminal Court (ICC) under the Rome Statute where in the oppressed Kashmiri
victims through the representatives in Azad Kashmir and other parts of the
world would come forward to file this petition in ICC to drag PM Modi as War
criminal and you have very rightly stated that PM Modi is a war criminal. I
have already advocated my point of view in the Senate Standing Committee for
Foreign Affairs in the presence of our Foreign Minister and meeting with
Foreign Secretary Foreign Affairs.”
In another letter to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on
Oct. 19, 2019, I again urged him to take the case of continuous unprovoked
ceasefire violation and targeting of the civilian population by India to the
United Nations General Assembly and International Court of Justice. Apart from
this, on Sept. 16, 2019, I moved a resolution in Senate Standing Committee on
Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan which was unanimously passed. I demanded
to take Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a war criminal to the International
Criminal Court under the Rome Statute. I informed the audience that the
Kashmiri leaders as “direct victims” can file a petition for this trial,
according to the Rome Statute. The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has
passed dozen of resolutions demanding the government to file a petition against
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ICC and ICJ. Despite all efforts to
approach ICJ and ICC, sadly no action has been initiated by the government till
today.
The Gambian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Mr
Abubacarr Marie Tambadou picked the courage. They presented the case before the
UN quoting one of its reports compiled with graphic details as to how army
troops brutally conducted a crackdown. They presented evidence of how the heartless
Buddhist-majority of Myanmar killed thousands of Rohingyan while the women were
raped and properties destroyed in 2017. This forced more than 800,000 Rohingyan
to take refuge in Bangladesh and some other neighbouring countries. Mr Ba
Tambadou visited a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh in May 2018 and
interviewed many displaced families. The research with many untold stories
compelled him to take a stand against this brutality.
It is a fact that Indian troops under PM Modi replicate the
same model of genocide and brutalities in Kashmir which were done by Myanmar’s
heartless soldiers against Rohingyan Muslims. Indian Army is busy committing
the same war crimes against oppressed Kashmiris in terms of mass murdering,
mass graving, mass blinding through pelleting, rapes, tortures, enforced
disappearances, political repression and locking down of the whole valley
through brutal curfew. The resemblance in the modus operandi of both oppressors
is uncanny. It was shocking to see the visit of PM Narendra Modi to show his
solidarity to Myanmar during the days of genocide there. And we heard not a
single word of sympathy for Rohingya Muslims.
The actions of both armies – that of India and Myanmar – are
nothing but “Crimes against Humanity” speaking in the jargon of international
law. I hope the United States will describe the actions of the Indian army as
“Ethnic Cleansing” the way the USA described the excesses of Myanmar troops as
“Crimes against Humanity.” Modi should also face similar charges what Myanmar is
to face over the allegations of genocide in ICJ and ICC. It is for the first
time that the court in Hague has also investigated genocide claims on its own
without relying on the findings of other tribunals like Bosnia commission. The
ICJ clearly states, “the application argues, member states can bring actions
against other member states over disputes alleging breaches of international
law.” The Gambia has invoked the 1948 convention on the prevention and
punishment of the crime of genocide in this matter.
Therefore, Pakistan also needs to do the same even Pakistan
is not a signatory to Rome convention. Myanmar being not the signatory has been
roped in the investigation for trial. Hence, India will not be able to refuse
inquiries given the precedent set with the initiative of The Gambia. I appeal
before other Muslim countries to support The Gambia in this noble cause and
endorse the actions of Gambia through their respective legal teams by showing
their presence on the first hearing of the case in December this year. I
propose that Prime Minister Imran Khan should also direct his Ministries of Law
and Justice and Foreign Affairs to become a party in this matter before ICJ.
The state should let the Attorney General of Pakistan be present in the
hearing, as this is a God-given opportunity to help directly and indirectly to
the oppressed Kashmiris.
The vice-president of the Gambia, Isatou Touray describes her
state as “a small country with a big voice on matters of human rights.” Indeed
The Gambia with a big voice stands taller than any other Muslim country and all
the so-called champions of human rights. Indian troops started “Muslim
Cleansing Operations” by imposing a curfew on Aug. 5, 2019, first to keep the
entire acts of brutalities as secret. The soldiers are systematically killing
the Kashmiris through forced disappearances, rapes, gang-rapes, sexual
assaults, detentions, torture on Kashmiris and destruction of their houses,
mosques, madrassas and shops. These Human Rights Violations include gang rapes
and mass disappearances of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people by the Indian
military. Also, as many as 100,000 Kashmiris have been killed and several
thousand wounded and blinded through torture tactics in custody.
While over 70,000 Kashmiris have been killed by the Indian
forces in the last three decades, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been
killed by the Myanmar state forces since August 15th, 2017. More than 34,000
Rohingya were burnt alive and over 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped.
The figures showing brutalities against the Kashmiris are more or less the same
as of Rohingya Muslims hence, ICJ should not ignore the genocide in Indian
Occupied Kashmir (IOK). The international court of justice is the ultimate
authority to act against the violation of “Genocide Convention”.
I hope these two International courts, the ICJ and the ICC,
will take cognizance and demonstrate full responsibility. I hope they will come
up to the expectations of the oppressed communities in the world, especially
the Kashmiris who are facing the brutalities of Modi Government in Kashmir. The
world community needs to raise their voices against the crimes being committed
by the Indian Army against in Kashmir just like the representatives of The
Gambia which couldn’t remain silent on genocide of Muslims in Myanmar.
It is encouraging to note that the prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) under Rome Convention has already opened a
preliminary investigation of Myanmar Genocide, though Myanmar is not even a
signatory to the Rome convention. Let us hope that the ICC also orders a similar
investigation against India in the near future. I hope the government of
Pakistan takes the Kashmir case to ICJ and ICC on humanitarian grounds, based
on the pieces of evidence I have provided to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I
do not find any reason for the government to delay moving against the Indian PM
Narendra Modi for his war crimes against humanity. I also propose to the
government to invite Mr Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, the Gambian Minister of
Justice to Pakistan to award him with the highest civil award of Pakistan.
The Article was published in The Nation on November 18, 2019 and the link to the original article is https://nation.com.pk/17-Nov-2019/it-s-modi-s-turn-now
No comments:
Post a Comment