Srinagar: Amidst the ongoing repression in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has asserted that claims of ‘normalcy’ fail to mask the harsh realities on the ground, as the territory continues to bleed under the authoritarian Modi-led Indian regime.

According to Kashmir Media Service, DFP spokesman Advocate Arshad Iqbal expressed grave concern over the relentless bloodshed of innocent civilians. He said, “The situation in the territory has worsened, especially after the recent elections, which the Modi regime touted as a solution to the Kashmir problem,” Iqbal remarked.

The DFP spokesman emphasized that, instead, these elections have been accompanied by an escalation in human rights abuses, including the harassment and killing of youths during cordon-and-search operations. He said Indian forces are using extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, fabricated encounters, nocturnal raids, torture and rape as war tactics aimed at suppressing the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.

Iqbal urged international human rights organizations to take urgent notice and work to end the “brutalities inflicted on the Kashmiri people by Indian troops” as the presence of over a million Indian troops serves as a constant reminder of the Kashmiris’ plight. He also denounced the continued detention of Hurriyat leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society activists, many of whom have been in custody since the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

Calling Kashmir an internationally recognized dispute, Iqbal stressed that peace in the region will remain elusive until the Kashmir issue is resolved in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, which uphold the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.

Source: Kashmir Media Service