By Zahid Rafiq
SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – Days after a video of a Kashmiri man strapped to an Indian Army jeep went viral, supporting charges Indian forces use Kashmiris as human shields, India’s attorney general defended the human right violation, calling its usage a “great job.”
“It was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions… If an army major got away without hurting anybody, it’s a great job… There was nothing wrong, considering the circumstances,” Mukul Rohtagi told Indian news channel CNN IBN.
Last week, a video showing a Kashmiri man tied to the front of an Indian army jeep as a human shield to apparently save Indian soldiers from young stone-throwing Kashmiris went viral on social media, and the army ordered an enquiry into the incident.
As the using of human shields is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention, the attorney general’s support for using human shields in Kashmir is a clear call for the violation of international law.
Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.
Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan. More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.
