Islamabad: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has said that Indian forces have launched a fresh wave of arbitrary arrests in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley, detaining more than two dozen youth in a calculated effort to intimidate and suppress freedom- and peace-loving Kashmiris in Indian-illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas in a statement issued in Srinagar said draconian laws such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Public Safety Act (PSA) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) are being systematically used to crush the Kashmiris’ legitimate demand for a UN-mandated plebiscite, resulting in killings and arbitrary detentions in the occupied territory.
He strongly denounced the remarks made by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah during a review meeting on IIOJK in New Delhi yesterday, in which Shah claimed that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the central government is committed to ensuring lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir and eradicating terrorism.
The APHC spokesman said these assertions stand in stark contrast to the grim realities on the ground, maintaining that India is waging a campaign of crimes in Jammu and Kashmir, in blatant violation of international laws and norms.
He stressed that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory and accused the Indian government, along with its installed IIOJK administration, army, police and intelligence agencies, of jointly perpetrating state-sponsored terrorism in the occupied region.
Referring to Amit Shah’s directives to officials and the LG administration to step up operations against pro-freedom Kashmiri groups, the spokesman said India has turned Kashmir into a massive military garrison since 1947, employing black laws as tools of oppression.
He regretted that the BJP-led regime and the New Delhi-appointed Lieutenant Governor are determined to crush all peaceful avenues for resolving the decades-old Kashmir dispute. The ongoing occupation, he added, is a blot on the claims of so-called democratic India.
He said arbitrary arrests, cordon-and-search operations, house raids and the seizure of properties in IIOJK are aimed at silencing dissent and spreading fear among freedom-loving Kashmiris.
Reiterating that Jammu and Kashmir is a UN-recognized disputed territory, the APHC spokesman stressed that its political future must be decided through a free, fair and impartial plebiscite under international auspices.
He further said that political leaders, activists, religious scholars, journalists, youth, human rights defenders and even ordinary civilians are being falsely implicated and detained under draconian laws to suppress the people and crush resistance.
The APHC called upon the United Nations and international human rights organizations to hold India accountable for its continued repression and atrocities against innocent Kashmiris, and to exert pressure on New Delhi to resolve the long-standing dispute in line with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.