Indian police have again started profiling people in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to harass and intimidate them for their affiliation with the ongoing freedom movement.
According to Kashmir Media Service, as part of this exercise, the police have distributed a form to all households across the Kashmir Valley seeking details of residents, houses and their family members settled abroad. Details meant to be filled in the form include: Name, gender, age, profession, relation with house owner, “terror links”, “any encounter”, vehicle owned with registration number, Aadhaar number, family member settled abroad, visit to foreign country, if any, and whether or not a CCTV is installed at the residence. The form also seeks photographs of each family member as well as of the house.
The exercise, informally called “police census”, has been conducted on several occasions in the past.
The forms are being distributed for the last few days with many who received them saying they are unsure of what the purpose is.
A resident of Sopore in North Kashmir’s Baramulla said, “Some officials came earlier this week and distributed the forms. They asked us to fill in every detail and return them.”
The Indian forces have started multiple exercises in occupied Kashmir to increase surveillance of residents, including government employees. A government employee said that they had to get CID and vigilance clearance to visit foreign countries, including undertaking a pilgrimage to Hajj. “It takes weeks, sometimes months, to get the clearance,” he said.
It is to be mentioned here that those who have a close watch on developments in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir say the motive behind the move is to close all doors of the external world on the Kashmiris on lame excuses thus rendering them mere hostages at the hands of Modi-led Indian government.—KMS
