IIOJK: Surveillance, repression increase under guise of anti-drugs
Systematic plan being used in IIOJK to defame Kashmiris’ freedom struggle
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Modi-led Indian government has intensified state surveillance and repression against the oppressed Kashmiris under the guise of anti-drugs, over which experts and observers have expressed serious concern.
According to Kashmir Media Service, a systematic plan is being used in IIOJK to defame the Kashmiris’ struggle for freedom from India’s illegal occupation and to declare the self-determination movement illegal.
Observers say that the anti-drug campaign is being used as a strategy to target Kashmiri youth and an attempt is being made to link political dissent with criminal activities. For this purpose, the Modi government is introducing controversial laws like the “Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act” (PIT NDPS Act) and modern tracking systems.
India is using these black laws as a weapon to turn the occupied territory into an open prison, where the anti-drug operation is just a pretext for state surveillance. The forced detention of Kashmiri youth under these laws is actually a well-thought-out ploy to suppress the freedom movement and criminalize the younger generation, which is already suffering from backwardness due to India’s illegal occupation.
According to experts, these measures are aimed not only at restricting civil liberties but also at bringing the entire population under a continuous surveillance system. There is already an atmosphere of intense fear, terror and insecurity in the occupied Kashmir Valley and a series of forced arrests of Kashmiri youth are ongoing.
Under the National Coordination Mechanism, the educational institutions and agricultural sector of occupied Kashmir are also being included in the circle of surveillance.
According to observers, schools are being converted into surveillance centers in the name of “precautionary education”, while the rural population is being affected through intervention in the agricultural sector, so that Kashmiri farmers can be deprived of their livelihood.
Analysts say that the Modi government is presenting drug use in the occupied territory as a security issue. They warned that these policies of the Modi government reflect the establishment of a surveillance state in the region, where every aspect of the lives of citizens is being monitored in the name of social welfare.
Experts have demanded that the situation be impartially assessed and policies be formulated in accordance with human rights principles so as to ensure lasting peace and stability in the occupied territory.
