Daily Times

SRINAGAR: Hurriyet leaders have strongly reacted to the statement of the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, that Kashmir is the ‘crown’ of India as they termed her assertions as unrealistic and ridiculous.

According to KMS, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik in his statement in Srinagar said. Kashmir is an occupied territory which belongs to only the Kashmiris.

He said Kashmir is not the crown of any country but a disputed territory. The people of Kashmir, he added, were promised by Indian leaders and the international community the right to self-determination and they have been striving for the same right for several decades.

“The so-called chief minister is talking of democracy, freedom, human rights, and many other things but seems to forget about the blanket ban she and her administration has imposed on media, internet, social websites peaceful political activities, student protests and other basic human rights in Kashmir,” Yasin Malik said.

The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Shabbir Ahmad Shah, in a statement said that not a single head was safe in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) which was coined as “crown” of India. “Such statements are issued to mislead the world opinion,” he added. Terming Mehbooba Mufti’s statement as rhetoric, he said, “The ‘crown’ is witnessing continuous bloodshed at the hands of occupational forces where people’s eyesight is snatched, women’s chastity violated, and leaders are put behind bars for years. This ‘crown’ is a slave and we’re struggling to restore its glory.”

“If Kashmir is a ‘crown’ of India then why its media is spewing venom against it and TV channels banned in this region. Why are forces given a free hand to deal with people of this ‘crown’, every kind of freedom choked, and youth are arrested and subjected to third degree torture?” he asked.

The All Parties Hurriyet Conference(APHC) in a statement said that India was forcibly occupying Jammu and Kashmir without any moral or constitutional right.

The APHC spokesman, Ayaz Akbar, while condemning the Chief Minister’s remarks said, “No doubt, IOK is a crown and belongs to the people of IOK, but it is not a personal property of any pro-Indian leader.” He said, Kashmiris have presented immense sacrifices for the sacred cause and they will continue their mission for freedom as they never accepted India’s forced occupation.