Women’s Groups Raise Concerns Over Rights Violations In Kashmir, Demand Restoration Of Art 370 thekashmirmonitor.net

A team of women’s rights activists on Tuesday raised concerns over alleged human rights violations in Kashmir after a visit to the Valley and demanded that Article 370 be restored and the Army, as well as paramilitary forces, be withdrawn with immediate effect. Presenting a fact-finding report, the five-member team also called for the immediate restoration of all communication lines, including internet and mobile networks.

The group, comprising Annie Raja, Kawaljit Kaur and Pankhuri Zaheer from the National Federation of Indian Women, Poonam Kaushik from the Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan and Syeda Hameed from the Muslim Women’s Forum, visited Kashmir from September 17-21. We wanted to see with our own eyes how this 43-day lockdown had affected the people, particularly women and children,” the report stated.

The team demanded that the Army and paramilitary forces be withdrawn with immediate effect from the Valley in order to achieve normalcy. “Restore Article 370 and 35A. All future decisions about the political future of Jammu and Kashmir must be taken through a process of dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the activists said in their report.