Usanas Foundation's Petition to International Organizations Against Pakistan Sponsored Terrorism in Kashmir

On March 1st, 2021, Usanas Foundation sent a letter to international organisations such as United Nations, UN Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, the European Union, International Society for Human Rights etc , regarding Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Kashmir

Usanas Foundation's Petition to International Organizations Against Pakistan Sponsored Terrorism in Kashmir
via Daniel Berehulak

March 1, 2021

Dear Ambassador, 

This is our fourth letter about the killing of innocent civilians by the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in Kashmir. In our previous letters we have focused on the murders of various Kashmiri pandits and pro-India ruling party (BJP) leaders. In this letter we have addressed the targeted attacks on the Hindu minority and non-Kashmiri civilians who are trying to settle in Kashmir after the abrogation of article 370. In the latter part of the letter we reiterate the need for FTAF to blacklist Pakistan for financing the terrorist activities. 

In this letter we will be focusing on the brutal murder of a restaurant owner’s son, Akash Mehra,  who was shot at by terrorists in Srinagar on February 17 and due to heavy injuries he has passed away on 28th February. He was shot at by the terrorists from a close range while he was sitting at the counter of his father’s restaurant in the heart of Srinagar city. 

Muslim Janbaz Force has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack. Krishna Dhaba, which is famous for serving vegetarian food, is one of the most popular eatery joints here and it is located in Durganag, a high-security area of the city. Several high-profile installations like the office of UN military Observers Group for India and Pakistan and the residence of the Jammu and Kashmir chief justice are located within 200 metres of the food joint.

On January 2, 2021, Satpal Nischal, a jeweller, who ran a shop for over four decades in Srinagar, was from Punjab. He had purchased a house and a shop after acquiring domicile status for him and his family as per the new rules. The rules were formulated in 2020, a year after the end of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status that, among other things, prevented people from outside the region from owning property and getting jobs in the Union Territory.  

TRF claimed the responsibility for the murder of Satpal Nischal and said the murder was done because Satpal acquired property in the city. TRF further said that if anyone outside Kashmir under the “settler-colonial project” tries to acquire property under the 2020 rules will be murdered.  

The massacre against Kashmiri Hindus, Pandits goes back till 1989. In 1989, 350,000 Kashmiri pandits were forcefully strapped away from their homeland on gun point and 219 of them were killed. The attack was aimed at terrorising locals. The Jammu and Kashmir police had said that the attack was aimed at terrorising non-locals living in the Valley and disrupting tourist activity, economic revival and harmonising the community. 

Pakistan sees social changes after the abrogation of article 370 as a threat. Local Kashmiri people want the changes brought with the abrogation of article 370. It revives their economy, brings peace, and ends the decades long violence and terrorist activities. 

Terrorists fear that if the government of India establishes stability, peace, and harmony in the zone, they will lose the support of the public. To destabilize the zone, they send fear to the hearts of the public, terrorize them, threaten them, and, if necessary, kill them. They kill Kashmiris because Kashmiris are joining the national mainstream political parties of India. This shows that Kashmiri people have accepted a mainstream Indian party and want to integrate with the rest of India. 

Pakistan has always been a constant supporter of terrorist activities and now they openly and proudly talk about it in Pakistan National Assembly. On October 29, 2020, Fawad Chaudry, Science and Technology Minister said in Pakistan National Assembly that “We have hit India in its own territory. The success in Pulwama, it is the success of this community under Imran Khan government. You and I are all a proud part of it. The way we attacked India after Pulwama in their own territory," said Chaudhury, while members thumped their hands on their desks. 

On February 14, 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora (near Awantipora) in the Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The attack resulted in the deaths of 40 CRPF personnel and the attacker. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Sanction Pakistan army generals and intelligence officers killing Baluch people, and helping terrorists. Those officials and leadership should be identified and banned from travelling abroad. They must be subjected to red corner notice. Fawad's statement in the Pakistan National assembly leaves no doubt about Pakistan's involvement in supporting Kashmir terrorist groups. FATF should blacklist Pakistan.

In the past Pakistan supported terrorists committed cultural genocide by driving non-Muslims out of Kashmir. Now they are committing the genocide of those voices who do not subscribe to their separatist and jihadist ideology. They are killing local Muslims who chose peace, prosperity, reason, diversity and democracy over terrorism, hatred, extremism and deceit. 

We request that urgent action be taken against Pakistan to stop their funding and support to terrorist activities, which destabilizes the region and causes deaths to several innocent people. We also request that Pakistan be listed in the Financial Action Task Force blacklist for their non-cooperative behaviour towards terrorist financing and support. Lastly, the military officers and politicians supporting the proxy war in Kashmir and the genocide of innocent civilians must be tried for crimes against humanity.

Kind regards,

Usanas Foundation