India’s civil society members demand release of Kashmiri lawyers, flay Modi’s actions in IIOJK
New Delhi, August 15 (KMS): Indian civil society members and organizations under the banner of the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) have demanded the release of four Kashmiri lawyers; Mian Abdul Qayoom, Nazir Ahmad Ronga, Muhammad Ashraf Butt and Muzaffar Qayoom, arrested under the black law Public Safety Act (PSA) for advocating a UN-supervised plebiscite to determine the political future of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the civil society members while addressing a press conference in New Delhi expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri lawyers. However, India under Modi government deems it as “anti-India” approach.
Speakers at the conference, including filmmaker Sanjay Kak, civil rights activist Nandita Narain, and lawyers Colin Gonsalves and Prashant Bhushan, criticized the Indian government’s actions in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. They argued that the government’s crackdown on civil society, journalists, and lawyers is an attempt to silence dissenting voices and stifle peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
The speakers also drew parallels between the current situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the Emergency era, highlighting the use of preventive detention laws like PSA and UAPA to target activists and lawyers. They questioned the Indian judiciary’s inability to address the situation and called for the release of the arrested lawyers.
The CASR representatives and panelists expressed their solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and demanded the release of the four lawyers.
