Daily Times

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has said that the open threat of jails and incarceration to the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including Hurriyat leadership, by Indian forces will not change the reality that Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan needs a resolution.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the Hurriyat leaders and activists, ,languishing in jails, in their separate messages have said that the APHC resolutely stood by its principled stance that the Kashmir dispute had to be resolved, a fact admitted by both India and Pakistan.

“The settlement has to be to the satisfaction of the entire people of Jammu and Kashmir. The main party in the conflict, Hurriyat Conference, sees lasting peace and stability and good neighbourly relations in the region which is possible after the resolution of the lingering Kashmir dispute.

Meanwhile, the civil society members and ulema talking to media men in Srinagar and other parts of the territory denounced the assertion of the Lt Governor and other BJP leaders that the Hurriyat leaders had only two options, either join the pro-India politics or go to jail.

They said that the open threat of jail and incarceration by the BJP government was unfortunate and authoritarian. The arrests, house raids and seizing properties of people of Kashmir are tactics to harass the Kashmiri people, they added.

They said many Kashmiris, irrespective of their age, including women, have been languishing in prisons and detention centres under draconian laws. The condition of many prisoners, who have been in jails for long time, is pathetic and their health has considerably deteriorated, they added.

The civil society members and ulema deplored that the youth in IIOJK were being relentlessly arrested under labels like over-ground workers, narrative militants, and militants’ sympathizers. They said in such a scenario, it is incumbent upon activists and rights organizations to take up the matter and provide respite to the people of the occupied territory.