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Indian Soldiers Kill 11 Muslim Activists in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, Indian-occupied Kashmir, Nov. 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Indian security forces killed 11 armed Muslim activists in Indian-occupied Kashmir, a police spokesman said Sunday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Indian troops shot dead four armed activists after a six-hour long gun-battle at the Girja Chaprawan village in the southern Kashmir district of Rajouri late Saturday, the spokesman said.
The Indian spokesman also claimed the gun-battle erupted when the activists opened fire on Indian troops, who allegedly ordered them to surrender after surrounding their hideout.
In yet another incident, Indian troops killed four other armed Muslim independence activists in Nangla village, in Kashmir's southern Poonch district early Sunday, the spokesman told AFP.
Indian troops also shot dead a Muslim activist, identified as Rafeeq Ahmed, in the Gandana village of Kashmir's Doda district, 136 miles (220 kilometers) south of Srinagar, the Kashmiri summer capital, the spokesman added.
"Ahmed was working as top commander of the HUJI [Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami]," the spokesman claimed.
Elsewhere in Kashmir, two more armed activists were killed by Indian security personnel, the spokesman said.
India claims more than 35,000 people have died in Kashmir since an independence war began in 1989. Pakistan puts the death toll at 70,000.
Human Rights Watch cautioned early in November against ill-considered changes to laws in India, that unnecessarily sacrifice due process and personal liberty in the name of "fighting terrorism".
"There is a temptation to think that tightening controls on freedom of expression and association will enhance state capacity to resist terrorism, but we've repeatedly seen the opposite," said Sidney Jones, executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch.
"The best way to guarantee security is to strengthen democratic structures," he said. "Respect for human rights must be part of any strategy to address terrorism and should be on the agenda of both meetings."
Indian Home Minister, L.K. Advani, had announced in August the federal government was seriously considering granting a "general amnesty" to Indian security personnel facing human rights abuse charges in Kashmir and in the northeast, where at least 30 separatist groups are active.
The Indian government is on the verge of enacting the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), which is already temporarily in effect pending parliamentary action.
The proposed legislation gives Indian police sweeping powers of arrest and detention and, if enacted, would reinstate a modified version of the notorious Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA), repealed in 1995 after widespread public opposition, according to Human Rights Watch.
TADA facilitated tens of thousands of arrests, detentions, and acts of torture in violation of international law, and was used to crack down on political opponents, social activists, and human rights defenders. If enacted, POTO could be put to similar misuse.
POTO has been strongly criticized by leading Indian civil rights groups, academics, lawyers, opposition parties, media organizations, and both religious and secular institutions.
The country's National Human Rights Commission also maintains that existing laws are sufficient to fight the threat of terrorism.
Angered human rights groups in India and Kashmir severely criticized Advani's decision, saying the Indian Home Minister's move would curtail fundamental rights by allowing police or soldiers to kill without having to face the consequences.
"If people who have indulged in grave human rights violations are spared, it will be very painful for the families who have suffered," said Parveena Ahanger, of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in Kashmir, whose son disappeared in 1990 after he was arrested by the Indian army.
"If this happens, security forces will get license to kill innocents at will. You are straight away telling the troops go and kill people, you will not be accountable," she added.
Around 400 members of the security forces in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both, are facing prosecution for human rights offences against Kashmiri Muslims.
Kashmir's main separatist group, the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), said Advani's proposal was anti-Muslim.
"The statement is loaded with anti-Muslim sentiments," AFP quoted Abbas Ansari, acting chairman of the APHC, as saying.
"It is an open war against the Muslims of Kashmir as we have been the worst sufferers of human rights violations at the hands of security forces," Abbas added.
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