In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, senior leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that for past over three decades the abysmal human rights situation in the territory due to the lingering Kashmir dispute has shown no sign of improvement.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has been under illegal house detention since August 2019, in a statement on Human Rights Day, said post August 2019 unilateral changes brought about in the IIOJK by the Modi-led fascist Indian government, human rights situation has been the biggest casualty.
He said all forms of human rights violations are condemnable and unacceptable. The universal principle of upholding human rights applies to all human beings irrespective of their identity and should be observed, he added
He said arbitrary arrests, especially of young boys and their imprisonment under draconian laws, harassment of journalists, dissidents, employees or anyone who challenges the writ of the authorities or expresses a dissident view is taken to task through various Indian agencies.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq deplored that hundreds of activists, including human rights activists, youth, political workers, respected members of civil society, social workers and political leaders were languishing in jails without charges.
He appealed to the international human rights organisations and to the conscience of the international leaders and policy makers and to all people, in general, and people of India, in particular, to play their role in ensuring that the dispute is resolved and the fundamental human rights of people of IIOJK are respected and reinstated.—KMS