Issue Brief on “US Lawmakers Wake up to Human Rights Violations in IOK”

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Following the revocation of Article 370 and 35-A relating to the special status of Indian Occupied Kashmir on August 5, 2019, the Modi government placed the region under curfew denying not only access to food and medicines, but also arbitrarily detaining thousands of Kashmiris including the leadership and minors, and quelling demonstrations by force. Some 10 million Kashmiris have been effectively stripped of their fundamental human rights in a lockdown which has brought condemnation by the international community including the United States of America.

At least three US Presidential candidates namely Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris have openly expressed their concerns about the human rights situation in Kashmir following the August 5 move by India. More recently on October 22, 2019, in an unprecedented move,  the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Non-proliferation of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing  on “Human Rights in South Asia : Views from the  State Department and the Region” with special focus on Kashmir and the brutal manner in which the August 5 decision was being implemented. The hearing urged the Indian government to restore communications in Indian occupied Kashmir and as a democracy, uphold its commitment to human rights.

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