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| The little Kashmiri girl who has lost her both eyes by pelleting by Indian Forces |
In the Pulitzer-winning picture recently gaining traction,
the eyes of a female child have been taken away as a result of pelting from
Indian troops. This brutal act has pushed this young child into the dark and
she will never be able to see her loved ones and the beauty of nature for the
rest of her life. The photographs taken by photography journalists, who managed
to sneak into areas under curfew in Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and smuggled
the pictures to New Delhi, is a depiction of heart-wrenching scenes from IOK.
God knows how horrible this captured scene is in reality; without saying
anything, the picture is talking about the unprecedented brutalities of Indian
troops against oppressed Kashmiris. Nine hundred thousand armed troops have
locked down IOK since August 2019 and it is being reported that people are
suffering from coronavirus while there is no medical care for them. I would
like to salute Mr Dar Yasin, Mr Mukhtar Khan, and Mr Channi Anand of Associated
Press – the photographers who let the world see what is happening in Kashmir
through their pictures. Their work has been awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in
feature photography which is a great honour. They have been awarded for taking
the pictures of oppressed Kashmiris with their expressive images from Kashmir
during this curfew after India stripped it of its semi-autonomy. Yasin and
Mukhtar Khan are based in Srinagar, while Anand is from the neighbouring Jammu
district. They have shown their courage against all odds and defied the wrath
of PM Modi. As all modes of communications continued to be shut down, these
journalists/photographers had to gather information on protests, etc. in
person. Mr Khan and Mr Yasin had to snake around the roadblocks in the regional
capital of Srinagar, facing mistrust from both protesters and troops. Sometimes
they had to hide in the guise of protestors in strangers’ homes while hiding
cameras everywhere they had a chance to be shot by Indian troops like other
Kashmiris that are being killed. They took a great risk with even their
families unaware of their whereabouts, while they successfully captured the
images of angry crowds, protests, troops, violence and paramilitary actions,
and daily happenings.
In another picture, Kashmiri Muslim women are offering prayer
outside the shrine of Sufi Saint Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani in Srinagar,
praying for the freedom and safety of their loved ones from Indian troops.
Their eyes are looking for their loved ones who will perhaps never come back as
a result of the massacre and mass graves filled with young and brave Kashmiri
sons, husbands, and fathers. According to the reports of OHCHR dated June 14,
2018 and July 8, 2019, more than 94,000 Kashmiris have been killed so far.
7,000 persons have been killed in Indian custody, 22,000 women have been
widowed, 105,000 children have been orphaned and 10,000 women have been raped
and molested by the Indian military and paramilitary troops since 1989. More
than 8,000 people have gone missing in enforced disappearances by Indian forces
since 1989.
Another picture displays how Indian soldiers are destroying
motorcycles of college students who were some of the protestors against the
alleged rape of a 3-year-old girl in Srinagar. This shows how oppressed Kashmiris
are being beaten up by Indian soldiers for demanding the rights and safety of
their children. Bravo, dear journalists for defying and exposing the Indian
state brutalities against oppressed people of Kashmir! I appeal to world human
rights organisations that these three journalists must be given the highest
award for risking their lives to report on human rights abuses. I also appeal
to the OIC to consider an award for this group of three highly professional and
brave photographers to highlight the brutalities being committed against
oppressed Kashmiris. I would also like to request the journalist unions of
Pakistan to honour this group with an award.
Basically, these pictures have become a source of strength
for oppressed Kashmiris, who have reportedly shown their gratitude to this
brave group of journalists. PM Modi is fond of Bollywood ideas and I hope he
will make a film on these three heroes showing how they circumvented his
formidable security ring around Kashmir. These three journalists smartly broke
the myth of security and restriction of his troops and managed to sneak in and
take the pictures as well as managing to dispatch them to his capital.
Today I wrote a letter to the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and local and international journalists
unions and organisations to take all the necessary steps to ensure the
well-being of these three brave journalists who defied the Indian state
aggression against the oppressed people of Kashmir.
The article was published in The Nation on May 8, 2020, link to the original article- https://nation.com.pk/08-May-2020/exposing-brutalities-in-indian-occupied-kashmir
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