US Foreign Affairs Committee urge India to lift restrictions causing ‘devastating impact’ on Kashmiris

• The committee has said that it’s time for India to give Kashmiris equal rights as any India citizen.
• The communication blackout has so far led to deaths of a dozen patients.
• Doctors have also accused Indian forces of harassing and intimidating medical personnel.

Calling out India for the communication blackout in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) due to the curfew, the United States House of Foreign Affairs Committee has urged India to lift restrictions in the region to stop the ‘devastating impact’ on the lives Kashmiris.

In a tweet, the US House of Foreign Affairs Committee said India needs to give Kashmiris the same rights as any Indian citizen and that the communication blackout in IoK is having a 'devastating impact on the lives and welfare of Kashmirirs'. "It’s time for India to lift these restrictions and afford Kashmiris the same rights and privileges as any other Indian citizen," the tweet read.

Our Asia-Pacific and Non-Proliferation Subcommittee will be holding a hearing on Human Rights in #Kashmir and other parts of South Asia on October 22.

More here:https://t.co/y0b5i9ipBZ

— House Foreign Affairs Committee (@HouseForeign) October 7, 2019

Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia also announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on ‘Human Rights in South Asia’ on October 22, which will focus on IoK.

Ever since curfew was imposed back in August by Indian government in IoK, at least a dozen patients have died because of communication blackout in the region, due to which people cannot call ambulances or reach hospitals.

Due to the communication blackout, doctors say they have been unable to communicate with each other and even get information in life-death situations. Young doctors say they have lost precious time racing around the hospital searching for senior doctors for their help as they cannot connect with them via mobile phones, The New York Times reported.

Cancer patients, who buy medicines online, have been unable to place their orders. Based on hospital records, several health officials have estimated that hundreds of people have been left in an emergency situation without ambulances due to communication problems.

There has been a 50 percent dip in the number of surgeries in Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar. Doctors say the decrease is because of the restrictions as well as drug shortages.

However, an Indian government official has denied that there have been deaths because of the lock down. “We have saved more lives than we have lost,"claimed Rohit Kansal, an Indian government official.

The curfew was imposed in IoK on August 5, the day India stripped off the special status given to IoK by repealing Article 370 from its constitution. Along with imposing a curfew, hundreds of Indian forces were also deployed in the already heavily militated region.

Indian forces also detained more than 4,000 people, many of those who are incarcerated in Indian jails. The Indian government also suspended landline and internet services, which has left IoK in a communication blackout.