A London-based Kashmiri human rights organisation has strongly criticised India’s recent confiscation of properties belonging to pro-freedom Kashmiri leaders and activists, terming the move illegal and contrary to international law governing the disputed territory.
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The Jammu Kashmir Council for Human Rights (JKCHR), which holds special consultative status with the United Nations, said New Delhi lacked the legal authority to seize assets in Jammu and Kashmir, whose final status remains unresolved under UN resolutions. Addressing a press conference in Muzaffarabad, JKCHR President Dr Syed Nazir Gilani argued that India had transformed its original protective mandate in the region into a punitive regime aimed at suppressing dissent.
Dr Gilani said the application of domestic laws such as the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to confiscate properties of political opponents violated international obligations and the terms under which Indian forces entered the territory in 1947. He maintained that India’s presence was conditional and temporary, limited to maintaining security and protecting civil rights pending a UN-supervised settlement.
He further argued that the use of coercive legislation to silence political voices and attach assets breached the UN Charter, which, he said, takes precedence over conflicting domestic laws. According to him, India’s own decision to refer the Kashmir dispute to the UN Security Council had internationalised the issue, removing it from exclusive domestic jurisdiction.
Rights groups have raised concerns over an increase in property seizures in recent years, with reports of ancestral land and residential properties being attached across the occupied region on security-related grounds. The latest move cited by JKCHR involved the attachment of land in Budgam district belonging to US-based Kashmiri leader Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai by India’s National Investigation Agency.
Dr Gilani said such actions violated commitments made to the Kashmiri people, Pakistan and the United Nations, and undermined the framework governing the dispute. He added that JKCHR would consult legal experts on pursuing compensation and restitution for affected individuals.
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He also urged the governments of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to fulfil their responsibilities in line with UN resolutions and the established international framework on Kashmir.