Kashmiris’ sole demand is right to self-determination: Bilal Siddiqi, Ahsan Untoo
Srinagar: Jailed leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Bilal Ahmad Siddiqi, and Chairman of the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights, Mohammad Ahsan Untoo, have condemned BJP-led Indian government’s efforts to fabricate a narrative of normalization in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir through its sham assembly elections in the territory.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Bilal Ahmad Siddiqi and Mohammad Ahsan Untoo, in their statements in Srinagar, emphasized that the sole demand of the Kashmiris is the provision of their right to self-determination, a cause for which they have made immense sacrifices.
They pointed out that the Modi government has orchestrated visits for diplomats from around 15 countries to observe these so-called elections, intending to project an image of normalcy in the occupied territory and suggest that Kashmiris are freely engaging in the democratic process. The leaders urged these foreign diplomats to see through the ulterior motives behind this initiative and to advocate for the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.
Siddiqi and Untoo stressed that elections conducted under the watch of over one million Indian troops hold no legitimacy; they are essentially military exercises rather than democratic processes. They argued that any elections in the occupied territory can never replace the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, for which countless lives have been lost, thousands have disappeared, and thousands women have endured molestations.
They maintained that while the Modi government is staging this electoral charade, it has simultaneously imprisoned thousands of innocent Kashmiris, including Hurriyat leaders, activists, journalists, lawyers, students, scholars, and human rights advocates, on fabricated charges.
Notably, the Modi government facilitated a two-day visit (September 25-26) for ambassadors from the United States, Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria, and the Philippines to observe the so-called assembly elections in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
