Mehdi, Tarigam & Iltija term arrest of 500 in IIOJK as ‘collective punishment’
#FreshArrestSpreeInIIOJK
Srinagar: National Conference member of Indian Parliament, Ruhullah Mehdi, and other Kashmiri leaders have denounced the mass detentions carried out by Indian forces’ personnel in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir as ‘collective punishmnet’.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Ruhullah Mehdi in a post on X said that such actions do not constitute security but “punishment by exile.” He said, “I fail to imagine the terror of a family whose loved ones now lie in the abyss of an opaque security system. This is not security; this is punishment.” He also criticised the use of terms like “OGWs” and “Hybrid Militants” to justify large-scale detentions, warning that ruling through fear erodes legitimacy.
“I have been briefed about reports of over 500 individuals being rounded up by the SOG in sweeping nocturnal raids across Kashmir. The number is suspected to be much higher in actuality.”
Mehdi said the establishment in IIOJK and Delhi need to arrive at a common denominator as far as conducting operations in Kashmir are concerned.
“The use of vague, legally unsound terminology such as ‘OGWs’, ‘Hybrid Militants’, etc. to justify human rights violations must be shunned. No regime in the world has successfully governed a population by making itself the object of its people’s fear and resentment.
“I strongly remind you of the moral calculus at play here, if you must rule by repression, then you have already lost your legitimacy. If your idea of democracy is a valley silenced by fear rather than engaged in dialogue, then your democracy lies in darkness,” he said.
Authorities have not officially commented on the exact number of detentions or the legal basis for the arrests.
CPI-M leader, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said that subjecting an entire community to collective punishment is “unjust” and “unacceptable”.
Peoples Democratic Party leader Iltija Mufti questioned the silence of Omar Abdullah government “over the arrest of young boys in multiple districts of the valley”.
“Not only in Kulgam but Budgam and Ganderbal, young boys are being picked up and I want to ask the government are all of them militants? Why are they looking at everyone with suspicion? This is wrong,” Mufti told reporters in Srinagar.
She trained guns at the National Conference government, asking them to speak up on the issue.
“I want to ask the NC (National Conference) government, who has been brought to power with majority, why are you silent? What remains the difference between now and before? Earlier also, young boys were being picked up and sent to jail under UAPA and PSA. You formed the government with 50 MLAs, you should speak up,” Mufti said.
The PDP leader further said that 500 young boys had been rounded up in the Kulgam, Budgam and Ganderbal districts of the valley while lashing out at the ministers in the state government for not giving statements on the issue.
“The elders here have told me that officially 500 young boys have been picked up. Why is the local government silent?… Why the whole atmosphere is being vitiated?… Not even a single state minister has given any statement regarding it,” she added.
