Terror victim families in Kashmir valley awaiting justice: Activist Tasleema Akhtar tells UN

Geneva [Switzerland], September 19 (ANI): A Kashmiri socio-political activist lambasted Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism in India’s Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in her intervention at the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday.

Tasleema Akhtar, who hails from Srinagar, told the Council that she has been working as a social activist, exploring the cases of untold stories of atrocities committed on the innocent victims of terrorism in the Valley.

“Unfortunately, since my childhood, I have witnessed violence and killings of innocent persons by Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Unbearable sufferings of women, children, old and young alike, at the hands of these terrorists. This led me to work for the cause of seeking justice for the families of victims”, said Tasleema.

A large number of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir remain victims of decades-long terrorism emanating from Pakistan.  

The Kashmiri socio-political activist said, “I have come across fearful stories of acts of terror and massacres. Shockingly, most of these stories are unknown to the outside world”.     

“Towards the objective, I have met the kins of terror victims to know their travails with an aim to present such stories at an appropriate platform. The terror-stricken families have pathetic and very emotional tales to tell”, she told the Council by adding that orphans, destitute, widows and infirm elderly people are there with no breadwinners at home. The void left behind cannot be filled up for many generations to come.

Tasleema said that the world must know how the people of Kashmir have suffered and continue to suffer at the hands of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism under the garb of freedom fighters.

She appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to take appropriate action against the perpetrators of such inhuman acts so that the people of Kashmir can live happily and peacefully thereafter.