Children worst victims of Indian state terrorism in IIOJK

910 young boys martyred, 107,860 orphaned since January 1989

Srinagar, June 04 (KMS): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian troops in their unabated acts of state terrorism have martyred 910 children during the last 33 years.

A report released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service on the occasion of the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, today (June 04), revealed that 910 children were among the 96,054 Kashmiris martyred by Indian troops from January 01, 1989 till date. The report said that the killing of civilians by the troops rendered 107,860 children orphaned in the territory during the period.

The report said that thousands of people including school boys and girls were also injured by the pellets, bullets and teargas shells fired by Indian troops, police and paramilitary forces. It added that hundreds of persons including 19-month-old Hiba Jan, 8-year-old Shahid Fayaz, 9-year-old Owais Ahmed, 10-year-old Aasif Ahmed Sheikh, Insha Mushtaq (16), Aaqib Zahoor (16), Ulfat Hameed (17), Bilal Ahmad Butt (17), Tariq Ahmed Gojri (19) and Faizan Ashraf Tantray (19) had lost eyesight in their one or both eyes totally due to the pellet injuries.

The report added that hundreds of boys as well as girls aged below 19 have been martyred during cordon and search operations and fake encounters, while a large number of boys under the age of 19 are facing illegal detentions under black laws in different jails of IIOJK and India.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Political Movement (DPM) in a statement in Srinagar said while the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is being observed around the world, today, a large number of minors are being abused and mistreated by Indian troops in IIOJK. It called upon the United Nations, human rights and child protection organizations to come forward and save the Kashmiri children from the Indian violence. Indian troops not only arrest innocent children but also use them as a weapon of war, it said. The world community must also play its role in resolving the Kashmir dispute according to the United Nations resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, it added.

APHC AJK chapter leader, Sheikh Yaqoob in his statement said that the worst victims of Indian atrocities in the occupied territory are children, adding many children have been deprived of their eye sight as pellet guns are used on innocent children in Kashmir

He said thousands of children in have been deprived of education but the silence of the United Nations is very disappointing. He said people of Kashmir have sacrificed everything in the struggle for freedom and will continue their struggle till complete success.

On the other hand, Pasban-e-Hurriyat Chairman, Uzair Ahmad Ghazali, in a statement in Muzaffarabad said Indian troops have orphaned over 107,690 children in the last three decades whose parents have been brutally martyred in fake encounters and in prisons. He said that violence, cruelties and brutalities against Kashmiri children had been a well-thought-out plan of the Indian government which was being carried out by the personnel of the Indian forces.