ISLAMABAD The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter has denounced the new domicile law imposed by the Indian government in occupied Kashmir. The participants of the meeting held in Islamabad said that the entire world was fighting the coronavirus but the Indian government unilaterally announced the law which was condemnable. They said that the Indian action was also violation of the United Nations resolutions, Geneva Convention and international law. They deplored that India took the step when the people of Kashmir were confined to their houses due to siege imposed by Indian government after it repealed Kashmir’s special status in August last, in particular, and the coronavirus pandemic, in general. The Hurriyat leaders said that India had stepped up its brutalities in occupied Kashmir to suppress the Kashmiris’ struggle for securing their right to selfdetermination. They also expressed concern over the continued suspension of internet and social media sites in the occupied territory due to which the people had been deprived of getting information and online medical advice in the prevailing grim situation caused by coronavirus. The participants also demanded of the UN Secretary General and the international community to put pressure on India to withdraw all the laws imple- mented after August 5, 2019 and stop changing Kashmir’s demography. The meeting was chaired by APHCAJK General Secretary, Muhammad Hussain Khateeb, and was attended by Sheikh Abdul Mateen, Sheikh Muhammad Yaqoob, Advocate Pervez Ahmed Shah, Nisar Mirza, Haji Sultan Butt, Abdul Majeed Malik, Nazir Ahmed Karnai, Adeel Mushtaq Wani and Imtiaz Wani. Meanwhile, APHC-AJK leader and the Voice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League, Ishtiyaq Hameed, in a statement in Islamabad said that the Indian notification regarding amendment in domicile rules was a deep-rooted conspiracy aimed at turning Muslim-majority status of occupied Kashmir into minority. He deplored that the Indian government was taking one step after another with complete aggression to change the demography of the territory. He said that first the Modi regime revoked the special status of Kashmir and now amended the domicile rules to settle Indian citizens in the occupied territory.—KMS
