London: The Kashmir Centre London has said that on 10 September 1990, the Indian state extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This act, passed by the world's supposed largest democracy, grants the Indian occupying military force unprecedented and completely unchecked powers to control, subvert and subjugate the peoples of Jammu and Kashmir. There is no rule of law for the people of occupied Kashmir because of this act. There never has been.

The Kashmir Centre London said that imagine after a long day of working or studying, the indescribable comfort you feel as you lay down to rest, snuggling up, cosy and warm, in your fresh bed sheets. The sweet bliss as your heavy eyelids slowly close shut, your breathing settles into a soothing rhythm and you gently drift off to sleep. Now imagine the sheer terror reverberating throughout your body, as you are violently awoken by the sound of your front door being smashed open.

Savage masked men bark orders, shaking the very walls of your home. Automatic rifles are pointed in your face. A sack is placed over your head. You are thrown in the back of a van, taken to some undisclosed location, as your family desperately pleads for your release. There is no due process. No access to lawyers. No accountability. You have committed no crime. You simply seem suspicious. And that is enough to be made to disappear forever.

The Kashmir Centre London said that in its own words, AFSPA delivers authoritarian powers to any commissioned officer, warrant officer or non-commissioned officer of the Indian armed forces. These powers include:

The power to "fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death"

The power to "enter and search, without warrant, any premises"

The power to "arrest, without warrant, any person against whom a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed or is about to commit a cognizable offence"

The power to seize any vehicle deemed suspicious and break open any lock including household cupboards

Section 7 of AFSPA states that no "prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in the exercise of the powers conferred by this Act." In other words: Indian military personnel in occupied Kashmir can do whatever they want, no matter how heinous, with the full knowledge that they will face no legal consequences whatsoever.

"The AFSPA has transformed Indian military personnel into judges, juries and executioners."

The AFSPA is not based on security or protecting civilians, as its proponents claim. It is designed to terrorise people into submission. It is designed to strike fear into the hearts of an occupied population and to drive them away from their own homeland. It has led to documented cases of beatings, kidnappings, disappearances, abductions, rapes and executions - all codified, protected and legitimised by the Indian state. Jammu and Kashmir is the most militarised zone in the world as a direct result.

We should remember some of those whose lives the AFSPA consumed and whose families are still waiting for justice to this day.

Javid Ahmad Magray, 17 years old. Beaten to death in an extrajudicial execution by Indian occupation forces in 2003. Ashiq Hussain Ganai,

tortured and killed in 1993 by Indian occupation forces. Manzoor Ahmad Mir, enforced disappearance, presumed murdered, 2003. Family still waiting. Hundreds of protesters shot and killed over decades of uprising. Their families have no legal recourse. Naming all the victims would take hours upon hours, if not days. But we remember every one of them all the same, for Remembrance is Resistance.

One does not need a law degree to understand how an act that allows the Indian military to arrest people without a warrant or an actual crime, that allows them to shoot and kill civilians without the possibility of legal accountability, completely undermines India's self-proclaimed virtue of being the world's largest democracy. Ultimately, how can a nation claim to be a democracy when the oppression of an entire population group is codified in law?

How can a nation claim to be a democracy when the oppression of an entire people is the law? When we retire to our beds tonight, cosy and warm, we should remember what a luxury it is to sleep with peace and safety. A luxury not afforded to millions of people. Those living under occupation are striving daily, putting their lives on the line, risking everything, for their freedom. It is incumbent upon us to support them in whatever manner we are able. We can and we must act now. For we all can contribute, no matter how big or small, towards the liberation of Kashmir.