ISLAMABAD: The Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK) hosted an in-house discussion titled “75 Years of Horrendous Genocide in IIOJK” to connection with the November 1947 massacre, also known as the ‘Jammu Genocide,’ which was carried out by armed forces under the command of Dogra ruler Hari Singh in Jammu.
During the in-house discussion, the panelists elaborated on the horrifying planned genocide of Muslims that resulted in the conversion of Jammu’s Muslim majority into a minority. One of the panelists cited a report from The Times of London dated August 10, 1948, which detailed the Jammu Genocide, “237,000 Muslims were systematically exterminated … by the forces of the Dogra State headed by the Maharaja in person and aided by Hindus and Sikhs.
Another panelist emphasised how Indian Hindu extremists were complicit with
the Dogra ruler, and how a convoy of 70 trucks loaded with Jammu city
Muslims left for Suchetgarh on November 6, with the Dogra ruler promising
safe deportation to Pakistan. However, a few miles outside of town, the
trucks were stopped, attacked and burned by armed jathas of Sikhs and Dogra
state forces, leaving all the people burned beyond recognition.
After 75 years of mass genocide in Jammu, the Indian government is executing
a similar patter by settler colonial machination in IOJK. Since Aug 05, 2019
when India repealed the special status of the territory, they have
normalized the settler colonial project by bringing a massive change in
constitution and other laws which paved the way for non-Kashmiris to settle
and seek job in Muslim majority region.
Online Speakers from IIOJK said India is doing similar thing in Kashmir to
change the demographic status of Muslim majority into minority. The
participants agreed unanimously that India’s atrocity crimes in IIOJK, such
as the Jammu genocide, necessitate an independent and impartial
international investigation to reveal the actual amount of lives lost, the
number of rapes, the extent of torture, and the multitude of plundered
properties.
