In occupied Kashmir, senior leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and the Chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai has expressed concern over the deteriorating health of Kashmiri detainees languishing in jails in and outside of the territory.
Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai in a statement issued in Srinagar condemned the frequent raids and crackdowns carried out by Indian forces in every nook and corner of the Kashmir Valley. He asked India to resolve the political dispute over Jammu and Kashmir instead of using arrests and detentions as a weapon to suppress the Kashmiris’ genuine voice for freedom.
The Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat forum in a statement in Srinagar said that people of different areas of Jammu region were facing Indian atrocities for their unflinching support to the Kashmir cause.
The Chairman of Ummat-e-Islami, Qazi Yasir addressing media persons at his residence in Islamabad town said that India had waged a war against the Kashmiri people on psychological, physical and political fronts.
Meanwhile, Indian troops resorted to firing on protesters during a cordon and search operation in Pinjora area of Shopian district, today.
In Islamabad, the Senate Standing Committee on Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan Affairs during a meeting, today, condemned the reprehensible and blatant use of force by the Indian forces against innocent people of occupied Kashmir for demanding their right to self-determination. Among those who attended the meeting included Raja Zafarul Haq, Sajid Mir, Lieutenant General (retired) Salahuddin Tirmzi, Lieutenant General (retired) Abdul Qayyum, Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani and Abdul Hameed Lone.
Kashmiri representative Syed Faiz Naqshbandi met the Member of European Parliament John Howarth in Geneva and apprised him about systematic human rights violations by the Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.
On the other hand, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in an article published in an Indian newspaper said that the reaction of the Indian authorities to his report on Kashmir was disappointing and puzzling, as many of the facts presented in the report were from government documents and sources. In the article titled ‘Listen to the voiceless’, he urged the Indian government to look at the human rights situation in occupied Kashmir and understand that the human rights violations committed by its troops had led to the alienation of the entire population of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the young people. He said that the people of Kashmir had repeatedly asked for justice and an end to the cycles of violence.
