Miseries, victimization of Kashmiri families continue unchecked in IIOJK
Islamabad: As the world is observing the International Day of Families, today, the Kashmiri families in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) continue to face miseries and victimization at the hands of Indian troops and police for upholding the historical Two-Nation Theory and demanding right to self-determination as reconized by United Nations resolution.
A report released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service on the occasion said Jammu and Kashmir, being the most militarized zone in the world, has witnessed lakhs of killings, thousands of enforced disappearances, torture, rapes and other brutalities by the Indian forces in the last 78 years.
More than 8,000 vanished only in the custody and fake encounters after they were arrested by the Indian army, police and paramilitary forces during cordon and search operations and house raids since 1990.
The report revealed that thousands of families of victims of enforced disappearances have been working tirelessly to trace their missing ones. Also, the families of the disappeared people suffer economically because in most of the cases, the breadwinner of the family is targeted. Kashmiris of every age and gender are being mercilessly killed, tortured and humiliated for demanding political justice and peace. The report deplored that India was subjecting Kashmiri people to collective punishment for demanding the UN-mandated plebiscite.
The report said that over three thousand Kashmiris, including dozens of women leaders, Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, and Fehmeeda Sofi, were facing illegal detention inside Kashmir jails and in the infamous Tihar Jail in India. They are being victimized under black laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Disturbed Areas Act, Public Safety Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act only for representing the Kashmiri people’s righteous demand and aspirations.
Meanwhile, All Parties Hurriyat Conference spokesperson Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas in a statement in Srinagar, expressing solidarity with the members of the families of illegally detained Hurriyat leaders, activists and youth, appealed to the world community to support the victim families in IIOJK.
The statement emphasized that a just resolution of the Kashmir dispute is vital not only for regional peace but also for long-term political and economic stability in South Asia. He said the dispute is inherently political in nature and cannot be settled through military means but only through a meaningful dialogue process.
The APHC said the Kashmir dispute must be resolved in line with United Nations resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, in the broader interest of lasting regional peace.
