ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday called on the international community to hold the Indian government accountable for the gruesome torture of the Kashmiri people under detention by the Indian security forces.

In a message posted on the social networking website Twitter, Qureshi also shared an expose published by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Thursday that claimed that Indian security forces were carrying out beatings and severe torture on those detained in the occupied valley after August 5.

“Protection from torture is an international law norm prohibited in absolute terms by Convention Against Torture, Common Article 3 of Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law,” he said.

New Delhi had revoked the constitutional autonomy of occupied Kashmir through a presidential decree on August 5, attempting to formally integrate the valley into the Indian state.

A sweeping communications lockdown was imposed in the area in the wake of the order, with the movements of locals severely restricted, putting the occupied valley under siege.

Thousands have been detained by Indian security forces since, and widespread allegations of abuse and torture have been trickling in for the past weeks through the international media.

The BBC talked to some villagers in Indian-occupied Kashmir to establish the authenticity of these reports amidst a fierce disinformation campaign by the Indian media to discredit them.

According to the accounts of the locals, several people have been beaten, severely tortured, and even given electric shocks. The villagers also showed BBC correspondents the physical marks of the injuries.

The report by BBC further reveals that doctors and health officials in IoK are wary of speaking to journalists about these claims as the Indian government is using intimidation tactics to clampdown on dissent.

Tens of thousands of soldiers have been deployed in the valley for this purpose. More than 3000 Kashmiri leaders, civil rights activists, businessmen, and other ordinary citizens have been arrested.—INP