Context: Recently, China has called India’s move in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) “illegal and invalid” and raised the issue at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New York (USA).

• On 5th August 2019, the President of India promulgated the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 effectively abrogating the special status accorded to J&K under the provision of Article 370.
• 5th August 2020 marks the one year anniversary of that move. On its eve, Pakistan released a new political map that includes all of J&K, Ladakh, Sir Creek and Junagadh.

Key Points
China’s Stand on Kashmir

• The Kashmir issue is a dispute left over from history between Pakistan and India, which is an objective fact established by the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India.
• Any unilateral change to the status quo in the Kashmir region is illegal and invalid.
• Kashmir region issue should be properly and peacefully resolved through dialogue and consultation between the parties concerned.

India’s Reaction

• India has noted the Chinese comments and held that Beijing has “no locus standi” on the matter and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations.
• India and China are holding talks over the disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

UN’s Response

• The J&K issue has been raised at the UNSC three times in the last one year but there has been no concrete solution to it yet.
• UN human rights experts have called on India to take urgent action to address the alarming human rights situation in the region.
• If India fails to take any genuine and immediate steps to resolve the situation, meet the obligations to investigate historic and recent cases of human rights violations and prevent future violations, then the international community should step up.

Amnesty International India Report

• Amnesty International in its report has urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) to set up offices in J&K to facilitate easy access to the complaint filing process for the local people.
• NHRC has been asked to appoint a special monitor for the region and to take up cases pending with the erstwhile State Commission.
• NCW has been recommended to set up a J&K cell for addressing problems faced by women.
• The report held that people in J&K do not have any way of redressal of the violations of their rights after the closure of the State Commission in 2019.
• It also called on the government to release all political leaders, journalists and activists from detention; restore 4G mobile Internet; decongest prisons and start an independent investigation into attacks on journalists.
• The report acknowledged that there may be security concerns that merit restrictions on the right to freedom of expression.
• It suggested that curbs should be for a limited timeframe and as per the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a state party.

About Amnesty International

• It is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with its headquarters in the United Kingdom focused on human rights founded in 1961 by the British lawyer Peter Benenson.
• It was originally his intention to launch an appeal in Britain with the aim of obtaining an amnesty for prisoners of conscience all over the world.
• Amnesty International is a worldwide human rights organization run by its members. It is independent of all governments and all financial players. 
• It is also independent of political convictions and religious faiths.
• Organization’s logo – the lit candle surrounded by barbed wire – from a Chinese proverb,“It is better to light a light than to curse the darkness”.
• It works to mobilize public opinion to generate pressure on governments that let abuse take place. Amnesty considers capital punishment to be "the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights.
• The organization was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its “defence of human dignity against torture,” and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978.
• In the field of international human rights organizations, Amnesty has the third longest history, after the International Federation for Human Rights and broadest name recognition, and is believed by many to set standards for the movement as a whole.