Srinagar, August 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Hurriyat forum led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has expressed strong resentment and opposition to Modi government’s 05 August 2019 illegal action of abrogating Article 370 and Article 35A of the Indian Constitution and dividing IIOJK into two union territories.
The Hurriyat forum in a statement issued, today, on the completion of two years to these unconstitutional moves drew attention of the citizens of India and the world at large to the fact that the Modi regime’s action of August 5, 2019 has only complicated the Kashmir dispute further.
“This is illustrated by the fact that it ignited the flames along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) even as some measure of calm has been introduced along the Line of Control. It is worth pointing out that whereas before August 2019, New Delhi would argue that Kashmir was the main trouble spot in Jammu and Kashmir, today it is faced with four trouble spots of Leh, Kargil, Kashmir and Jammu as there is disaffection in these regions too,” the statement said.
The Hurriyat forum deplored that the Indian government continues to assault the people of IIOJK by continuing to incarcerate political prisoners and youth, intimidate people by arrests and bringing in arbitrary and anti-people laws, media gags, arbitrary dismissal of locals from government service, gagging all voices of dissent and continued misrepresentation of the actual situation in the occupied territory.
The statement said the Hurriyat forum is convinced that the government of India must accept the need to address the Kashmir dispute, engage with those who truly represent the political will and aspirations of Kashmiri people, and diffuse the building geopolitical pressures in the region along its northern and western borders. It urged India to resume engagement with Pakistan.
The statement said the Hurriyat forum has had a long-standing policy of engagement in meaningful dialogue among all the stakeholders that sees the situation on the ground for what it is, and encourages dialogue rather than armed confrontation as the latter benefits no one and harms everyone. It demanded release of all Kashmiri political prisoners, including the forum Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, hundreds of youth and all others arrested arbitrarily or under draconian laws.
The statement said that the voice of Hurriyat leaders as people’s representatives be heard. It is time that the Kashmir dispute is settled so that not just Kashmir, but the entire South Asia can look forward to living up to its collective potential, it added.
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