Daily Times

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has said that the Narendra Modi-led Indian regime is systematically exploiting the natural resources of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, aiming to perpetuate the economic marginalization of the Kashmiri people. According to Kashmir Media Service, in a statement issued in Srinagar, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas maintained that the Modi government is implementing a multifaceted strategy to disempower Kashmiris politically, constitutionally, culturally, and economically. He noted that since the revocation of the territory’s special status on August 5, 2019, this process has intensified. “India has been exploiting IIOJK’s water, mineral, forest, and other resources since 1947, leading to the economic dependence of Kashmiris on the Indian state,” Minhas stated. “However, the Modi-led government has further exacerbated this trend by leasing electricity from Kishtwar’s Ratle Power Project and restarting auctions of lithium reserves in Reasi.” The APHC also expressed concerns over the outsourcing of contracts to exploit natural resources belonging to the people of IIOJK. Minhas emphasized that such exploitation benefits BJP’s crony capitalists, perpetuating economic underdevelopment in the region. The deliberate underdevelopment of IIOJK through the plundering of its natural resources serves as a tactic to uphold India’s illegal occupation of the territory, the statement asserted. The APHC called on the international community to exert pressure on India to respect the rights of Kashmiris to their land and natural resources.