The freedom of speech and political activities have always remained under threat considering the constant curbs, either through official or unofficial measures in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the civil society members, including Dr Zubair Ahmed, Muhammad Furhan, Muhammad Iqbal Shaheen and Syed Haider Hussain, in a meeting in Srinagar demanded the restoration of articles 370 and 35-A in their original form, an end to the atrocities and immediate solution to the Kashmir dispute in line with the United Nations resolutions. They said the Bharatiya Janata Party regime is promoting its settler colonial agenda through various means and enforcing a process of political, constitutional, cultural & economic disempowerment in IIOJK.
They said voices of the social and political activists have been curbed under the barrel of gun and black laws while the freedom of press has further deteriorated over the past five years in the aftermath of the 5th August 2019 India’s illegal decisions in IIOJK, wherein new curbs are being put in place to further choke the freedom of the press.
The civil society members said India’s settler colonial project in the disputed territory is meant to subjugate and assimilate the majority and is seeking to turn Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir into a Hindu territory by grabbing more and more land from Kashmiris.
They said the fake encounters during cordon and search operations and denying to hand over the bodies of Kashmiri youth to their relatives have created an atmosphere of fear while there was nobody to ask questions as Indian settler-colonial actions in Kashmir have repeatedly breached international law on numerous accounts
They said the brutal acts and policies of the BJP regime are clear violations of the United Nations resolutions, however, it is high time for the world to take cognizance of India’s settler colonial agenda in IIOJK
They said, “In the last five years, we have already witnessed thousands of people, including Hurriyat leaders, youth, women, social and political activists, journalists and human rights defenders, being booked under black laws, summoned and interrogated by Indian troops, police and other agencies.”
They said unless a just and reasonable solution to the lingering dispute is found there would be no letup in the current turbulent situation, adding that the Indian government should give up its intransigence on the Kashmir dispute and come up with positive initiatives to address it according to the aspirations of the Kashmiris.—KMS
