Srinagar, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, the Senior APHC leader and Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), has called upon the global community to intervene against what he describes as efforts by the Modi-led Indian administration to deprive the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir of their land, identity, and integrity. This plea is set against the backdrop of actions that include renaming local landmarks with Hindu names and the introduction of laws purported to alter the region’s demography.

According to a news release by Kashmir Media Service, from his confinement in New Delhi’s Tihar jail, Shah cites the singing of a Hindu devotional hymn in Srinagar and the renaming of institutions and landmarks with Muslim names as examples of the Indian government’s attempts to impose the Hindutva ideology in the Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir.

The DFP chairman also referred to India’s policy as settler-colonialism, emphasizing that recent laws are aimed at changing the local demographics, thereby denying the Kashmiri people access to their resources, jobs, and even their cultural identity. Furthermore, he noted that these actions challenge the right of self-determination given to the people by the United Nations.

Shah highlighted these policies as breaches of UN resolutions, appealing to significant global governments to acknowledge and act against India’s efforts to replace the indigenous Kashmiri population. He cited the unilateral decision by the Indian government on 5th August 2019 as a strategic plot against the Kashmiri people that has thrust the region into instability.

Concerns about the curtailment of press freedom and expression in IIOJK were raised, with Shah noting coercion and intimidation tactics against journalists, activists, and civil societies as part of the Modi government’s approach towards Kashmir.

In the same vein, another detained APHC leader, Molvi Bashir Irfani, from Srinagar Central jail, emphasized the significance of October 27th, marking the beginning of what he describes as India’s occupation of Kashmir. He urged the public to commemorate the date as Black Day.

Moreover, APHC leader Abdul Samad Inqilabi, Democratic Hurriyat Front Chairman Chaudhry Shaheen Iqbal, and Pasban-e-Hurriyat Chairman Uzair Ahmad Ghazali have all joined the call for recognizing October 27 as a day of protest, even beyond the Line of Control and internationally.