The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter has sought the urgent attention of the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha towards the increasing Indian state terrorism in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

By Daily Independent On Jun 9, 2023

The APHC-AJK chapter in a letter addressed to the UN and OIC top officials said Indian authorities at the helm of affairs have intensified their state terrorism in the occupied territory, mainly targeting pro-freedom leaders, activists and civil society members who have been critical of the Modi government’s muscular policy.

Following is the text of the letter:

His Excellency,

UN Gen Sec António Guterres,
OIC secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha,

Subject: Use of repression in response to democratic dissent in Indian held territory of Jammu and Kashmir
Excellency,

I, on behalf of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), wish to seek your urgent attention towards the use of state repression in response to political dissent in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Excellency,

The Indian occupation authorities at the helm of affairs have intensified its clamp down in the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir mainly to target pro-freedom leaders, activists and civil society members who have been critical of the Modi government’s muscular policy.

While this witch-hunt goes on unabated, the authorities have reopened cases against hundreds of political activists. They are summoned to police stations every now and then, harassed and humiliated and dragged to the courts far away from their homes.

Arbitrary arrests of Kashmiri political leaders and activists and booking them under Draconian laws and leaving them to rot in jails and interrogation cells without producing in the court of law, denying them their fundamental right to defend their cases, getting them punished in fake and fabricated cases, awarding severe punishments such as death penalties, reopening old cases in which they have been already acquitted, and dragging them to the courts has become a new normal in Kashmir.

Excellency,
In fact, Modi’s extremist party-the BJP-which is losing its credibility due to its hardline policies, is desperate to regain its lost credibility and popularity among the masses and to ensure its success in the upcoming elections, now wants to make Kashmiris as scapegoats to save its shrinking vote bank.
India’s so-called National Investigation Agency, the NIA’s bid to seek the death penalty for prominent Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik, is a part of the BJP government’s plan to regain popularity and win general elections scheduled to be held in 2024.

The JKLF chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, whose life is under threat, is one of Kashmir’s high profile political leaders who has already been sentenced to life imprisonment by an Indian court last year on charges widely believed to be politically motivated.

Excellency,
India has a long history of using the judiciary and other state apparatus to suppress political and democratic dissent and legitimate political voices in occupied Kashmir. The Indian courts have miserably failed to dispense justice to Kashmiris. Malik was remorselessly deprived of his fundamental right to defend himself in the court of law after implicating him in a concocted case previously, and now the same is being repeated to eliminate him by using the same judiciary.

Excellency,
Mr. Malik is not the first and certainly not the last one to fall prey to India’s politics of vendetta. There is a long list and to briefly mention here that dozens of Kashmiri leaders, including Shabir Ahmed Shah, Mussarat Alam Butt, Aasiya Indrabi have been arrested on flimsy grounds and left to rot in the Tihar jail that has become a death trap for Kashmiri prisoners. They have been booked under UAPA-India’s main anti-terror law, which has literally changed the law making “jail, not bail” as a rule.

These Kashmiri leaders who have been peacefully championing the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination and advocating peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute are now being targeted merely for raising their voice in support of the voiceless Kashmiris.

Excellency,
Along with political activists, members of civil society, rights defenders and even journalists are being rounded up and put in jails. The entire Kashmiri leadership is presently in jail. Essential fundamental freedoms, including people’s right to peaceful assembly, the right to protest, and the right to freedom of expression remain largely curtailed in the region. This is exactly how Kashmiris, as a nation, are in danger.

Sadly, the Hindu nationalist government led by Modi has been exploiting the state institutions such as the NIA to suppress dissent and consolidate power through a far-right agenda.
There are apprehensions that the BJP government, which thrives on communal divide and anti-Muslim sentiment, could yet again play the Kashmir card and use the unlawful execution of the Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik as a means to whip up communal passion to bolster chances of retaining power in the upcoming Parliamentary Elections being held in 2024.

Under these extremely adverse circumstances, it is imperative that the voices of peace and defenders of human rights should unite to plead the case of Yasin Malik and other illegally detained Kashmiri leaders.

Excellency,
We appeal to your highness to take swift and decisive action by demanding the Indian government to stop the use of state repression to crush political dissent in Kashmir and using its judiciary as a weapon to punish Kashmiri leaders who have been waging a peaceful struggle to achieve the fundamental rights guaranteed to Kashmiris by no less an authority than the United Nations.

Excellency,
Your urgent intervention in this matter would be instrumental in preventing the potential execution of Yasin Malik and saving the lives of hundreds of Kashmiri prisoners who have been booked under sedition charges.”

With profound regards
Mehmood Ahmed Saghar
Convener,
All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir.