Thread: Protect Children: Amnesty... A plea.

See what I meant? This is an ugly tactic, employed. While IMHO the deaths from the armed forces would be collateral the Indian side has recently increased its targetting of Kashmiri children since they know no matter who the person is, their resolve will falter when the crosshairs are pointed on to their children.

Whatever the reality, the side that believes it has the just cause must protect the children.

This is a very even handed commentary. I liked it, it shouldn't piss anyone off, and get the simple message through. Fight with men, like men.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_s...ID=7516&cat=10

The Amnesty International has yet again observed that the lives of children were unprotected in Jammu and Kashmir. Expressing serious concern over the killing of three boys in Kupwara last week, the Amnesty held the killings throw into sharp focus the lack of protection for children’s right to life and safety in the troubled state.

Urging the Mufti government and armed groups to respect the rights of children, the world-famous rights body said the government was under an international obligation to promote and protect child rights in line with India’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Similarly the armed groups are under an obligation to abide by the standards of humanitarian law which strictly forbid the torture, killing and hostage taking of all civilians, including children.

Children are also often amongst the victims during indiscriminate attacks on civilians. On 22 June 2005, two children were amongst 17 people injured when a grenade was thrown into a crowd of pedestrians in Gorivan Bijbehara. Children are also at risk from discarded explosive materials. On 24 July 2005, three children aged six to nine years in village Ajir in Bandipore district were injured when they played with an explosive device left behind after troops ended an operation.

Children are deeply affected by witnessing abuses inflicted on their elders, on fathers, mothers and sisters humiliated, harassed, injured or killed by law enforcement personnel or armed groups. A large number of children, according to the Amnesty, have also had to take on the burdens of child labour after the disappearance of the main bread earners of their families.

While the state government in June 2003 cited the figure of 3,184 disappearance persons in the Legislative Assembly, local human rights activists state that between 8,000 and 10,000 persons have disappeared in the state. Psychologists have spoken of the high level of disturbance, including sleep disturbance and fears amongst children in Kashmir. A god number of children after witnessing torture and brutal death of their relatives at the hands of state or non-state actors have turned idiots. And unfortunately the only psychiatric hospital in the Valley is to overburdened to render any help.

The results are alarming. The condition of such children worsens with every passing day. Some children, who lost their parents in one way or the other, have assumed the role of the head of family on their own. This has wreaked havoc with their physiology and psychology. According to experts they have matured pre-maturely and this in no way is a healthy phenomenon. A child must grow on his own. If a balloon is inflated beyond its capacity it explodes. This is exactly what happens to such children. These unfortunate souls need love, care and help. Never should they be allowed to act as the head of the family. But in this neglected land where the precious right to life is not available to the children speaking about enforcement of other rights makes no sense.

This unfortunate trend, however, can be taken care of if the state and non-state actors take care and refrain from torturing or killing a parent infront of the children. This is ironical. The Kashmiris have been seeking an end to killings, torture, and disappearances for the past fifteen years. Since the killings, torture and humiliation have not ended, the Kashmiris have been left with no option but to seek a fair deal when the children are around.