Over 41,300 people, including APHC leaders, were booked on various charges by the Hindutva BJP regime in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir since 2015 until February 2024.
The research section of Kashmir Media Service released a report revealing that during the BJP’s rule in the occupied territory in 2015, over 41,300 people, mostly Hurriyat leaders, leaders of different political parties, activists, Ulema, human rights defenders, journalists and social activists, were arrested by Indian authorities on fake charges. Most of them were booked under black laws such as the Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The top Hurriyat leaders, including APHC chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sufi, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Ayaz Akbar, Pir Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Shahid-ul-Islam, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Syed Shahid Yousuf Shah, Syed Shakeel Yousuf Shah, Bilal Siddiqi, Molvi Bashir Irfani, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Ameer Hamza, Dr. Hameed Fayaz, Abdul Ahmad Parra, Noor Muhammad Fayaz, Fahim Ramzan, Hayat Ahmed Butt, Rafiq Ahmed Shah, Advocate Zahid Ali, Zaffar Akbar Butt, Muhammad Yousuf Falahi, Rafiq Ahmad Ganai, Umar Adil Dar, Shabir Ahmed Dar, Firdous Ahmed Shah, Jahangir Ghani Butt, Saleem Nanaji, Sajad Hussain Gul, Muhammad Yasin Butt, Shamsuddin Rehmani, Hassan Firdousi, Fayaz Hussain Jaferi, Adil Siraj Zargar, Dawood Zargar, Sarjan Barkati, and human rights defender Khurrum, were among those arrested. Most of them were lodged outside the territory in Indian jails.
The report stated that at least 33,150 people were injured due to the Indian forces’ use of brute force, bullets, pellets, PAVA, and tear gas shells. Additionally, over a hundred youths had their eyesight fully or partially damaged by the use of pellets and PAVA ammunition on peaceful and defenseless Kashmiris during the period.
The report emphasized that laws differ for Kashmiris in the territory, adding that the United Nations should take notice of the injustices in the Indian judiciary, where the laws are completely different for the oppressed people of Jammu and Kashmir. These people have been demanding justice and the right to self-determination for 75 years, as promised to them by the United Nations in its resolutions.—KMS
