Srinagar: The Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), led by the incarcerated senior Hurriyat leader Shabbir Ahmed Shah, has denounced a recent wave of arrests targeting Kashmiri youths by Indian forces in the region of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The party described these actions as part of a broader strategy by the Indian government to suppress dissent in the area.

According to Kashmir Media Service, a statement from the DFP was issued in Srinagar, where spokesperson Advocate Arshad Iqbal highlighted concerns over the arrest of dozens of youths. He accused Indian forces of instigating a climate of fear through intensified military operations, nocturnal raids, and arbitrary arrests of civilians across the region.

Iqbal further alleged that the Indian forces are using violent measures as a strategy to quell the Kashmiri freedom movement. Despite these tactics, he asserted that the resolve of the Kashmiri people to fight for their cause remains undeterred.

The spokesperson also raised the issue of the ongoing detention of the DFP chairman, Shabir Ahmed Shah, along with other political prisoners from Kashmir who are held in various jails across India. He called for their immediate release and urged the international community to apply pressure on India to free the detainees and address the Kashmir conflict, which he identified as the primary source of ongoing violence in the region.