United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about “serious violations” in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region and asked the Indian government to stop the use of shotgun projectiles on children.

“I call on the government to take preventive measures to protect children, including stopping the use of pellets for children, ensuring that children have no contact with security forces, and supporting the Safe Schools Declaration and the Vancouver Principles,” he said. In the United Nations Children’s Report 2021 (PDF).

“A total of 39 children (33 boys, 6 girls) were killed by unidentified perpetrators (13) (including explosive remnants of war (7), exchanges of fire between unidentified armed groups and Indian security forces (3), Crossfire and grenade attacks between unidentified armed groups (3), Indian security forces (13), and cross-fire and shelling across the line of control (13),” the United Nations report mentions the fact that India and Pakistan divide the Kashmir region Borders.

The United Nations reported that Indian security forces used at least seven schools for several months. It added that four children were detained by the Indian army in Indian-controlled Kashmir for suspected links to armed groups.

Guterres said: “I am shocked by the detention and torture of children, and worried about the military use of the school.”

The Secretary-General of the United Nations stated that he welcomes the active contact between the Indian government and the UN special representative to implement preventive and accountability measures.

Shahida Begum said her 18-month-old daughter was hit by a bullet [File: Muzamil Bhat/Al Jazeera]

He said: “I urge the (India) government to ensure that children are detained as a last resort, to be detained within the shortest appropriate time, and to prevent all forms of abuse during detention.”

“I also urge the (India) government to ensure the implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Child Care and Protection) Act 2015 to address the use of children for illegal activities and detained children.”

Indian security forces and police widely used shotguns to suppress Kashmir protesters, many of whom were young people and teenagers.

During the 2016 mass uprising, more than 1,100 people were partially or completely blind, and many people referred to this condition as “the world’s first massive blindness.”

Many victims are children, some as young as 19 months old ShibanassirIn November 2018, she was injured while sitting on her mother’s lap in a village in southern Kashmir.

At the same time, according to media reports on Wednesday, Pakistan called on the UN Security Council to take immediate action to protect children in conflict areas, especially those in India-controlled Kashmir.

The Pakistan Dawn reported that Munir Akram, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, stated in a written statement to the United Nations that the Indian army had been deliberately targeting children with projectile guns.

“The scale and intensity of today’s conflicts are expanding our ability to protect children,” he said.

“In today’s IOJK, this grim reality is the harshest. More than 300 innocent Kashmiris, including women and children, were killed in false encounters and staged blockades and searches.”

IOJK refers to “Jammu and Kashmir occupied by India” because the Pakistani authorities call the area under Indian jurisdiction.

Kashmir is a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, partly controlled by India and Pakistan, both of which have full sovereignty. Since their split in 1947, these two nuclear powers have fought two of the three full-scale wars for Kashmir.

Some Kashmir groups on the Indian side have been fighting for an independent country or unification with Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, tens of thousands of people have died since the armed rebellion against Indian rule broke out in the region three years ago.