Indian claims of normalcy in IIOJK baseless: Ahsan Untoo
Expresses concern over arrest of youth, demolition of houses
Srinagar : Chairman of the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights (IFJHR), Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, has rejected the BJP-led Indian government’s claims of normalcy in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), saying the people of the territory, particularly youth and political detainees, continue to face severe hardships following New Delhi’s illegal actions of August 5, 2019.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Ahsan Untoo, in a statement issued in Srinagar, said that since August 2019, thousands of youth, students, traders and civilians had been arrested, while many detainees had been shifted to prisons outside IIOJK, causing immense suffering to their families.
Expressing serious concern over the recent arrest of thousands of Kashmiris during house raids and the demolition of residential houses, he such coercive and retaliatory measures could never resolve the Kashmir dispute, which the Kashmiri people had been confronting for decades.
He said numerous families were struggling to secure the release of their loved ones, obtain legal assistance and pursue court proceedings, while bail applications of many detainees remained pending for prolonged periods.
Ahsan Untoo stressed the need to raise the plight of Kashmiri political detainees and Hurriyat leaders lodged in Indian prisons at international forums, emphasizing that they must be provided with adequate legal assistance.
He urged the international community to take immediate notice of the deteriorating human rights situation in IIOJK and play an effective role in securing the release of all illegally detained Kashmiri political detainees.
