Letter urges UN action against demolition of Guru’s family property in Sopore

Islamabad: Former convener of APHC-AJK and Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League Muhammad Farooq Rehmani has filed an urgent appeal before UN Secretary-General and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights against arbitrary demolition of property belonging to family of Shaheed Muhammad Afzal Guru in Sopore.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Rehmani in a letter said state revenue and municipal authorities in Baramulla-Sopore district on October 6 deployed heavy machinery to dismantle residential and agricultural structures including a dairy farm belonging to late Afzal Guru, currently occupied by his widow Tabassum Guru and family.

While administration claimed structures were unauthorized constructions on state-owned flood-basin land, Rehmani said circumstances and selective timing point to pattern of punitive bulldozer justice and collective punishment targeted against relatives of political dissidents in UN-recognized disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said action violates Article 17 of UDHR which mandates right to own property and prohibits arbitrary deprivation, Article 11 of ICESCR recognizing right to adequate housing, and prohibition on collective punishment. He noted international watchdogs including Amnesty International have documented deployment of demolitions against minority communities and families of political actors as tool of intimidation.

Rehmani urged UN intervention alongside Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing to call upon Government of India to immediately halt punitive demolitions without judicial due process, demand independent inquiry into selective targeting of properties belonging to political workers and their families in Jammu and Kashmir, and ensure protection, rehabilitation and compensation of displaced families. He also requested UN Secretary-General to take note of root cause of lingering Kashmir dispute and take steps to resolve it peacefully in line with relevant UN resolutions so that subcontinent becomes zone of peace and prosperity.