Remembrance and Tribute Day to victims of terrorism has been observed annually on August 21. It is a reflective day. It is a day that will be remembered in place of the lives that were lost to violence. A day to use our voices for those who are silent. This time, it is the struggle of Kashmir that is one of the darkest pages of state terrorism of our era.

Indian forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), under the leadership of Indian Prime Minister Modi, have been in a reign of terror for more than thirty years. Death, destruction, and fear are all that the people of the valley have witnessed. Families shattered. Generations scarred. Hope stolen. This is not only a war. It is state-controlled mass murder.

“This is not only a war. It is state-controlled mass murder.”

There are more than 100,000 Kashmiris martyred since the 1990s. A name, a face, a story is every number. There is more than one heart behind each of the numbers. Over 22,984 women have been widowed. Children who were orphaned numbered more than 107,983. And over 11,267 women were raped by the Indian troops. They are not sui generis. They are tendencies of cruelty. They are crimes against war.

Indian forces are completely impunity. No sense of responsibility. No justice. The victims will cry, and the world will be deaf. In IIOJK, Kashmiris are human beings who lack human rights. Pillaging of houses at night. The youth disappeared. Journalists silenced. Priests are put in prison. Whole societies are being humiliated when being bold enough to dream of freedom.

Kashmir is no exception. Palestine is also a victim of the same. They are both continuing displays of a barbaric foreign military occupation in the contemporary world. Innocent civilians are denied in both regions one of the greatest rights of all, the right to self-determination. Systematic repression is used by the occupation in both areas to destroy the will of the people. And what bothers me is that we have people in both places trying to change the demographics by force.

India is adopting strategies used by Israel in Palestine in IIOJK. Settlement of non-Kashmiris is being made in the occupied territory. The aim is obvious: the Kashmiri Muslim majority must be deprived of its leading positions in its native land. This international law crime of demographic engineering is also a crime against humanity. It is a planned move to obliterate identity, culture, as well as history.

“Every number is a name, a face, a story, more than one heart behind each figure.”

Hateful ideologies that breed terrorism still harm, hurt, and kill thousands of innocent people every year in many countries around the globe. Yet state terrorism in such regions as Kashmir is especially inhuman. It is methodological. It is obsessive. It goes out to attack the whole population in the name of legality. It cloaks itself in the security slogans. However, it is just some form of systematic persecution.

Pakistan has been the victim of terrorism. It is aware of the sufferings of innocent lives. It is not ignorant of the expense of extremism and violence. It is the reason why Pakistan is in complete solidarity with terrorism victims. Such solidarity is not selective. It also comprises the victims of the IIOJK who, to date, are under the Indian occupation.

Pakistan remembers the lives of its martyrs and survivors who are, in most cases, women and children. It also gives the same honour to the Kashmir martyrs. It is the explicit pledge of Pakistan to give full-backed political, diplomatic, and moral support to the Kashmiri people in their pursuit of self-determination. Their reason is right. Their right is accepted by the United Nations. The freedom of these people is predetermined.

Owing to this International Day, the world ought to consider its silence. Occupier enabling silence is silence. Suffering that gets perpetuated by silence. Victim- betraying silence. It cannot ignore Kashmir by the international community. It is never able to normalize occupation. It cannot hold war crimes in abeyance. When justice is not done immediately, it is not done.

“The aim is obvious: the Kashmiri Muslim majority must be deprived of its leading positions in its native land.”

India should be answerable to the rest of the world. It should understand the happenings in IIOJK as it is, state terrorism. It should uphold the right of the Kashmiri people to choose their future. In the absence of this, peace will be a mirage. This is the only way in which victims can stop suffering. This will make sense; otherwise, the concept of human rights is useless.

Marking of the International Day of Victims of Terrorism is not only reminiscent. It is also. Duty to guard the weak. Accountability to justice. Accountability to identify with the oppressed. That duty is now upon us to speak on behalf of Kashmir.

No tear of the victims can be suppressed with impunity. Force can never be able to erase the struggle of the oppressed. And the freedom that the Kashmiri people deserve cannot possibly be jeopardised forever. This day must be very clear to articulate that terrorism, whatever its form, is unacceptable, whether perpetrated by individuals, groups, or states.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.