IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 745 

Urging the Republic of India to end the restrictions on communications 

and mass detentions in Jammu and Kashmir as swiftly as possible 

and preserve religious freedom for all residents. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2019 

Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself and Mr. WATKINS) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the Republic of India to end the restrictions on 

communications and mass detentions in Jammu and 

Kashmir as swiftly as possible and preserve religious 

freedom for all residents. 

Whereas India is the world’s largest democracy and has long 

shared a unique and important relationship with the 

United States in promoting common values and upholding regional stability; 

Whereas India is the birthplace of 4 major world religions, 

including Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism, is 

home to the world’s third-largest Muslim population, and 

has a proud Christian population, with three of India’s 

29 states remaining majority Christian; 


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•HRES 745 IH 

Whereas India’s Constitution mandates a secular state that 

upholds the rights of all citizens to the freedoms of religion, expression, and speech and to equal treatment before the law; 

Whereas international human rights law holds that all people 

have the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including freedom to practice, worship, or observe one’s 

own religion; 

Whereas, since 1989, Jammu and Kashmir has been the site 

of a 30-year conflict between the Indian government, 

local Kashmiris, and militants, that has claimed tens of 

thousands of lives, exacerbated by disenfranchisement of 

the local population and external state support for the insurgency; 

Whereas, on February 14, 2019, an Indian national and 

member of a Pakistan-based, United States-designated 

foreign terrorist organization conducted the deadliest terrorist attack against Indian forces since 1989, killing 40 

security personnel; 

Whereas, on August 5, 2019, the Government of India cut 

all telephone service and internet access in Jammu and 

Kashmir, the 53rd time the Indian government restricted 

communication in Kashmir in 2019; 

Whereas the Government of India has stated that communications restrictions are required to stop terrorists from 

communicating with one another; 

Whereas the Government of India announced it had restored 

landline phone service to Jammu and Kashmir on September 5, 2019, and partially restored cellphone service 

on October 14, 2019; 


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•HRES 745 IH 

Whereas 60 percent of the 6,000,000 mobile subscribers in 

Jammu and Kashmir rely on prepaid cellphones, which 

remain inoperable for communication, and text messaging 

and mobile internet services remain suspended; 

Whereas people across the United States maintain ties with 

family and friends in Jammu and Kashmir and have reported difficulty contacting their loved ones since the 

communications blockade was imposed on August 5, 

2019; 

Whereas press accounts and human rights observers have 

documented that the communications restrictions derailed 

health services in Jammu and Kashmir, with patients reporting difficulty calling ambulances and hospitals, and 

physicians reporting difficulty accessing critical medicines 

for advanced stages of disease; 

Whereas the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters 

Without Borders, Reporters Committee for Freedom of 

the Press, and independent reporters have documented 

detentions and harassment of journalists in Jammu and 

Kashmir; 

Whereas the Government of India has barred senior United 

States Government officials and foreign journalists from 

traveling to Jammu and Kashmir since August 5, 2019; 

Whereas international human rights observers have documented the police’s use of excessive force against detained people and excessive and indiscriminate use of pellet shotguns, tear gas, and rubber bullets against protesters; 

Whereas data from the Government of India found that more 

than 3,800 people in Jammu and Kashmir were arrested 

between August 5 and September 6, 2019, 2,600 had 


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•HRES 745 IH 

been released from detention, and prominent political and 

business leaders remain in detention; 

Whereas the Jammu and Kashmir police have acknowledged 

that 144 children, as young as 9 years old, have been arrested; 

Whereas Indian authorities have used the Public Safety Act 

to preventatively detain people for a broad range of activities that are vaguely defined and without charge for 

up to 2 years in some cases, including human rights defenders, journalists, political leaders, and people involved 

in protests; 

Whereas India’s Public Safety Act violates article 9(2) of the 

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by 

allowing authorities to not communicate grounds of detention for up to 10 days of detention, and also to withhold any information considered ‘‘to be against the public 

interest to disclose’’; 

Whereas photographic evidence indicates that detained people 

have been required to sign surety bonds forbidding them 

from making statements or participating in political activities as a condition of their release; and 

Whereas the Department of State reports that the security 

situation in Jammu and Kashmir remains dire, with insurgents and terrorists threatening the lives of civilians, 

armed forces, police, and government officials: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the dire security challenges faced 

3 by the Government and India in Jammu and KashVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR745.IH HR745

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•HRES 745 IH 

1 mir and the continuing threat of state-supported 

2 cross-border terrorism; 

3 (2) rejects arbitrary detention, use of excessive 

4 force against civilians, and suppression of peaceful 

5 expression of dissent as proportional responses to se6 curity challenges; 

7 (3) urges the Government of India to ensure 

8 that any actions taken in pursuit of legitimate secu9 rity priorities respect the human rights of all people 

10 and adhere to international human rights law; and 

11 (4) urges the Government of India to— 

12 (A) lift the remaining restrictions on com13 munication and to restore internet access across 

14 all of Jammu and Kashmir as swiftly as pos15 sible; 

16 (B) refrain from the use of threats and ex17 cessive force against detained people and peace18 ful protesters; 

19 (C) swiftly release arbitrarily detained peo20 ple in Jammu and Kashmir; 

21 (D) refrain from conditioning the release 

22 of detained people on their willingness to sign 

23 bonds prohibiting any political activities and 

24 speeches; 


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1 (E) allow international human rights ob2 servers and journalists to access Jammu and 

3 Kashmir and operate freely throughout India, 

4 without threats; and 

5 (F) condemn, at the highest levels, all reli6 giously motivated violence, including that vio7 lence which targets against religious minorities. 

Æ 


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