A UK law firm has brought up a request to bring charges onto the Indian military chief and an Indian senior government official. The requested charges states that the officials have extensive evidence that the two officials are responsible for the torturing and killing of civilians and journalists. There are over 2,000 testimonies in the request written up by the law firm, of these war crimes happening in the province of Kashmir. The law firm, Stoke White, says that under universal jurisdiction that these officials should be prosecuted. If it were to go to court, the trial and report are the first time Indian officials have had universal jurisdiction in its use to convict of alleged war crimes.
I believe that Stokes White is doing the correct thing. If these foerign officials really are doing war crimes then they must be stopped. If they have over 2,000 testimonies there must be a reason and hopefully, this won’t be the last of these types of cases. Though Indian officials have been accused of this type of abuse many times before. I hope that this time it will stick. Also with how the conflict between Pakistan and India to gain control of Kashmir has been going on for decades now. I hope that if this case were to get picked up, which it seems unlikely, could in some way, no matter if it makes a big or small difference, help in some way.
The regional conflict that has been happening in Kashmir not only focuses on the state level but it also focuses on geopolitics. The area has been a dangerous area ever since Pakistan and India started to fight over it for control in 1947. Both want sole control of the region due its geostrategic placement, and it’s abundance of natural energy and water supply. Not only is the conflict against the two governments but after all these years, militant groups have formed and started to fight throughout the region for control. Focusing on the state level there are many rebel groups that fight for either control of Pakistan or India, and since the region is split between the two countries many fights break out.