ISLAMABAD: Kashmiri delegation, headed by Altaf Hussain Wani, staged a strong protest in front of the UN office against India’s illegal occupation and systematic violations of human rights carried out by Indian troops in occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Referring to the fast-deteriorating political and human rights situation in IIOJK, the speakers sought the UN Commission’s urgent intervention to help prevent bloodshed and grave human rights violations in the troubled region, according to a press release.
Highlighting the plight of Kashmiri prisoners, they said that thousands of Kashmiris who were taken into preventive custody on and after the 5th of August were suffering in Indian prisons thousands of km away from their houses.
They added that dozens of Kashmiri women detainees who have been lodged in notorious Tihar prison and other jails were forced to face dire situations.
Indian occupying officials, they said, have since long been using arbitrary detentions as a tool of repression against political leaders, civil society members, journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders in occupied Kashmir. The Indian occupation forces, they added, have also been using arbitrary arrests and prolonged detentions under anti-terror laws as a means to intimidate opposition and spread terror and fear among masses in IIOJK.
Calling for the early release of all unlawfully held prisoners, they stated that it was high time that the council should raise the matter with Indian government to help secure an early release of all Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders including Shabir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Khan, Mussarat Aalam Bhuat, Asiya Indrabi and several others.
The speakers appealed to the UN Human Rights Council and other global human rights organizations to take effective notice of the Indian government’s totalitarian steps that seek to change the demography of the Muslim majority state and convert it into a minority.
They further said the human rights situation in the occupied Kashmir has further worsened since India’s apartheid regime revoked Article 370 and 35A in August 2019.
Terming BJP’s Hindutva ideology as the major threat, they stated that the Hindutva-driven politics pose a serious existential threat to people of Kashmir. They further said that it was high time that the world should raise the issues arising from the Hindutva-driven politics.
