NEW DELHI: Shabbir Ahmed Shah, senior APHC leader and Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, has strongly denounced Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip and expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine from his jail cell in New Delhi’s Tihar prison.
According to local media, he in a message from jail expressed deep regret that the international community is silently witnessing the violence and destruction inflicted upon Palestinian people and Kashmiris at the hands of oppressors. Shabbir Ahmed Shah also emphasizes that Kashmir and Palestine share a similar struggle, having suffered greatly at the hands of Israeli and Indian colonizers. The military aggression and deprivation of basic rights in these disputed regions necessitate resolution for international peace and prosperity.
He strongly criticizes the Indian BJP government’s policies, especially since August 2019, as attempts to erase Kashmiris’ fundamental identity. He also noted that the Indian government has changed demography and set up new colonies in Srinagar, Pulwama, Kulgam and Islamabad, posing a threat to the oppressed people of Kashmir.
Shah also urges the world to acknowledge the plight of Kashmiris and Palestinians and take decisive action to resolve these issues before the escalating conflict worsens. He also stressed the need for the international world to break its silence on Kashmir, where New Delhi’s apartheid regime has replicated Israel’s model, silencing the local people.
The Gaza-Israel war has resulted in significant loss of life and infrastructure damage, with more than 37,000 Gazans reportedly killed in the current 2023-2024 war. This conflict is part of the broader Israeli-Palestinian dispute that started in 1948.