India stifling political dissent in IIOJK through brutal repression: APHC
Srinagar: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has said that the Indian BJP government has utterly failed to suppress the freedom sentiments of the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement issued in Srinagar, asked New Delhi to accept ground realities and abandon its stubbornness to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the lingering dispute.
He said that Indian forces, along with BJP/RSS-influenced agencies such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the State Investigation Agency (SIA), were committing grave human rights violations across IIOJK under the pretext of cordon-and-search operations and house raids. The spokesman pointed out that India was stifling political dissent through a relentless campaign of state repression and continuing atrocities against unarmed Kashmiris in the territory.
The APHC said that the people of Kashmir had been facing Indian repression for nearly eight decades and that the BJP regime had intensified its repressive tactics following the revocation of the occupied territory’s special status in August 2019. It added that decades of repression and humiliation by India had only strengthened the Kashmiris’ resolve to resist India’s illegal occupation.
The statement said India’s policy on the Kashmir dispute revolved around a military solution. However, the fact is Kashmir is fundamentally a political issue that could be resolved peacefully through a free and fair plebiscite in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The APHC reiterated that the Indian BJP government had failed to suppress the freedom sentiments of the Kashmiri people. It urged New Delhi to accept ground realities and abandon its stubbornness and arrogance in addressing the long-standing dispute. It also called on the international community to hold India accountable for its actions in IIOJK and play an effective role in resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions.
The APHC expressed serious concern over the plight of illegally detained Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders and activists, including APHC Chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Meraajuddin Kalwal, Shahid-ul-Islam, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Bilal Siddiqi, Molvi Bashir Ahmed Irfani, Mushtaqul Islam, Advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom, Dr Hameed Fayaz, Saleem Nanaji, Muhammad Yaseen Butt, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, Farooq Ahmed Tawheedi, Fayaz Hussain Jaferi, Zaffar Akbar Bhat and others who are lodged in various jails in India and IIOJK.
