US based relatives of victims from Kashmir have filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court of Houston against visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of torture, extra judicial killings and crimes against humanity in Kashmir since August 5th annexation of the region by India.
The plaintiffs Ms. TFK and Mr. SMS who have withheld their
identities fearing retaliation by the Indian government are the residents of
the
The class action lawsuit filed under Torture Victims
Protection Act (TVPA) also names Union Home Minister of India Amit Shah and
Commander of Indian Forces in Kashmir Lt. General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon as
defendants for ordering, commanding and inflicting torture on people of
TVPA gives rights to
The summons issued by the Federal Court give 21 days to the defendants from the date of service to respond failing which a default judgement may be entered against them. Victims are seeking 100 million USD in compensatory damages.
September 19th lawsuit filed under TVPA alleges that “on
August 5, 2019, the Indian government, headed by the defendant Narendra Modi
with the active cooperation of the defendant Amit Shah illegally, unilaterally
and in violation of international law annexed the region of Jammu and Kashmir
which had been under the occupation of India since
“Since then, through defendant Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, defendants Modi and Shah have enforced a complete and violent clamp down which includes, curfew, complete communication lock down, depravity of basic necessities to the inhabitants, illegal detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and extra judicial killings”, citing the reports published by AP, Aljazeera, BBC, Wall Street Journal, the lawsuit further claims.
The torture lawsuit against Modi, Shah and Dhillon is being
led by the human rights NGO Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front (KKRF) which is
aiming to hold unofficial referendum in the Indian held regions of Kashmir and
“
The first TVPA case was brought in 1992 by Sister Dianna Ortiz, who was awarded $5 million judgement against former general and Defense Minister Héctor Gramajo of Guatemala on the charges that she was abducted, raped and torture by military forces acting under his command in Guatemala.
“There is a looming danger of genocide and humanitarian crisis as 8 million Kashmiris are endangered under the siege laid by the Modi government for the last 45 days” stated Ghazala, President “Friends of Kashmir” a Houston based NGO.
Modi is due to address a gathering of Indian Americans at
NRG Stadium, Houston, on September 22nd. where President Donald Trump is also
scheduled to appear. Thousands of Kashmiris and pro Khalistan Sikhs will also
be protesting outside NRG Stadium against Modi’s clamp down on
Issued by:
Gurpatwant S. Pannun, Spokesperson KKRF