UNITED NATIONS: Days after it released a maiden report on Kashmir situation, the latest report by the United Nations has made some shocking revelations about the use of children by both militant groups in Kashmir and naxalites. It said that the Hizbul and Jaish-e-Mohammad have used at least 8,000 children and used them as combatants in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

 

The yearly report of the US Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict covered the calendar year of 2017. The report said that over 10,000 children have died in conflicts across the world. The UN report also went into then conflicts at Syria, Yemen, Nigeria, Philippines and Afghanistan. The UNSG Antonio Guterres' report covers a situation in India's Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and tensions that prevail in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

 

Terming it as a grave violation, the report said that there were three incidents from Jammu and Kashmir where children were recruited and used by militant groups in conflicts with the Indian security forces. It said that two incidents were associated with the Hizbul while the third was with the Jaish. In Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the Naxals also used children, according to the constant reports they received. "Naxalites reportedly resorted to the use of a lottery system to conscript children in Jharkhand," the report also said.

 

Pertinently, in a first of its kind report on Kashmir situation released on 14th June 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called for an international investigation into abuses in Kashmir, criticizing the Indian security forces in particular for inflicting mass civilian casualties in response to escalating protests here.