Daily Times

All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) said that it stands resolutely by its principled stand; the resolution of Kashmir. A fact admitted by both India and Pakistan, the parties to the conflict, to the satisfaction of the entire people of J&K, the main party in the conflict.

APHC said that the Hurriyat Conference is the manifestation, in the form of a political platform, of the deep desire for resolution among the people of J&K for decades. Hurriyat seeks lasting peace and stability and good neighbourly relations in the region, an immediate consequence of the settlement of the conflict.

Such belief is at variance with the hyper-nationalist outlook of the ruling dispensation in India at present, which has detained Hurriyat leaders, activists and others in jails or at their homes, for this reason. The open threat of jails and incarceration being given by some members of the ruling dispensation, unfortunate and authoritarian as it is, will not change the reality as Hurriyat sees it.

As alleged by this ruling party member APHC was not running the so-called “Pakistan shop in Kashmir” and will ” now have to run Indian shop in Kashmir ” as proposed by him. APHC unlike such people has no vested interest or political ambition. It solely represents the aspirations of the people of J&K with dignity, with goodwill towards the people of both countries.

Meanwhile, APHC said that arrests have been weaponised to harass people and instil fear in them. Hundreds of Kashmiris irrespective of their age and background including religious scholars are languishing in prisons and detention centres under draconian laws awaiting trials that are delayed. This also includes APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under arbitrary house detention since August 2019.

The condition of many prisoners who have been in jail for a long time is pathetic. Their health has considerably deteriorated and they have developed serious health issues leading to the death of some in recent times. Repeated appeals to the Government for the release of detainees are ignored and the policy continues. Five youths arrested from Ramban were slapped with PSA a few days back. Another youth Imran Bashir Ganie of Harmain labelled a “hybrid militant ” by the authorities was killed in police custody. It raises serious questions about human rights violations.

Relentlessly youth of J&K are arrested in this manner and are falsely labelled as “OGWs “, “narrative terrorists”, and “militant sympathisers” and slapped with the draconian Public Safety Act. No voice to question and resist this injustice is allowed to be raised. Even through the arduous legal route, hope for justice is bleak as institutions usually favour authorities.

In such a scenario it is incumbent upon activist and rights organisations in India and outside, and the UN, whose chief Mr Antonio Guterres recently visited India to take up this matter with the Govt of India and provide respite to the people of J&K.