Detentions, lack of opportunities and deteriorating mental health: Report sheds light on IIOJK kids.

ISLAMABAD -- The reading down of Article 370 has contributed to structural and social changes that have perhaps been most keenly felt by children, a section that has the least amount of wherewithal to respond and protect itself, a report by the Forum for Human Rights in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) has noted.

According to Kashmir Media Service, in its Special Report 2022, the forum comprising Justice A P Shah, former chief justice of the Madras and Delhi high courts, Gopal Pillai, former government of India home secretary and many other judges, activists and lawyers has highlighted violations of human and child rights in the occupied territory with special attention to the latter.

The Forum is an independent initiative that tries to train focus on continuing human rights violations in the region.

The report cites real-life case studies of teenagers and minors whose lives are marked by strife and lack of opportunities.

An alarming deficiency in the distribution of critical resources including a protective justice delivery system and an environment that promotes mental health has taken away the joys of childhood from many a young child in Jammu and Kashmir, the report notes.

The report states that teenagers continue to be harassed, picked up for questioning and are illegally detained, in complete violation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

An August 2021 news report mentioned by this study, said that at least nine minors - between 14-17 years old, had been illegally detained by the police. Several of the detained minors were beaten up or imprisoned for weeks.

The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) remains impuissant in the face of high-handedness by the Armed Forces, the report says. In spite of the Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) that categorically forbids the detention of minors, there are reports of several minor boys being detained under the statute as police officials misattribute the ages of minors and continue to assault them.

Children as young as 18 months old have become victims of the weapons used by security forces for alleged crowd control, prompting the United Nations Security Council to express concern over 'grave violations against children' in a May 2021 report. Even though they are protected against detention or arrest, Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) carried out by the armed forces use children, the report notes.

A recent study by the University of Kashmir found that in...