Islamabad
The Acting President of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Mehmood Ahmad Saghar, has condemned the Indian government’s despotic attitude towards global rights group, Amnesty International (AI).
Mehmood Ahmad Saghar in a media interview in Islamabad said that the AI was being punished for exposing the ugly face of the RSS-influenced fascist regime led by Hindu supremacist, Narendra Modi.
He said that the AI had released a series of eye-opening reports focusing on how the human rights of Kashmiris were being trampled down under the jackboots and how the lawless laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA) were being used by India to suppress the legitimate voice of Kashmiris.
“Not only in Kashmir, the AI exposed the RSS and BJP’s communal policies and state-repression in the recent communal riots that have shaken the entire Indian state”, he said, adding that the human rights organizations all over the world should raise their voice against the Indian government that had the worst track-record of muzzling the voices of dissent.
Mehmood Ahmad Saghar said, India under Modi has become a totalitarian Hindu state where there is no space for people hailing from minority communities like Muslims, Dalits, Christians and Sikhs.
“Minorities are treated like third class citizens in India, which claims to be the world’s largest democracy”, he said, adding that the AI was being subjected to vilification campaign for raising the voice for voiceless.
The DFP leader said that it was quite unfortunate that every Indian government had treated rights groups like criminal enterprises and did not allow them to work freely whether they worked in IIOJK or in Indian states.
Referring to India’s antagonistic policies towards Kashmir, he said, “Times have changed. Today India is being recognized in the world as a totalitarian state that has used every means of oppression and suppression to crush the Kashmiris’ legitimate struggle.”
He said, “Age-old laws like Jammu and Kashmir Domicile law are being amended to pave way for the settlement of Hindus in IIOJK so that the Muslim majority population of the territory can be converted into a minority.”
He, however, maintained that the politically conscious people of Kashmir would never allow any such thing to happen in Kashmir. Kashmiris, he said, are fighting for their legitimate right, which was guaranteed to them by the international community.
He said that it was high time that the world community should realize its responsibilities and help resolve the lingering Kashmir dispute to ensure durable peace in the region.—KMS
