This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "Silence of 'good people'" carried by the newspaper yesterday. The writer, Andleeb Abbas, has effectively highlighted the gross violations of human rights in occupied Kashmir and various parts of India. In this regard she cited the case of Tabrez Ansari who was lynched by a Sangh Parivar mob in an India which is no longer secular; it has been turned into a theocratic state of worst type since 2014 when Narendra Modi was catapulted into power, although Sangh Parivar stalwarts such as Dr Subramanian Swamy often argue, albeit unsuccessfully, that India will never become a "theocratic" state. The annexation of Jammu and Kashmir by New Delhi is a strong manifestation of ultra-right party's fascist intents and designs. This parivar or family constitutes a profound threat to region's peace in particular.

Last but not least, let me make it clear that the entire occupied Kashmir landscape is characterised by incidents of ill-treatment, surveillance, criminalisation and public stigmatisation campaigns targeting victims and human rights defenders. Unfortunately, however, the world community is still silent.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019