APHC condemns extension of ban on Jamaat-e-Islami in occupied Jammu and Kashmir by BJP-led Hindutva government of India

SRINAGAR, Feb 28 (SABAH): The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has condemned the extension of ban on prominent socio-politico-religious organization Jamaat-e-Islami in occupied Jammu and Kashmir by the BJP-led Hindutva government of India, saying the Kashmiris can’t be detached from the freedom movement through such arbitrary measures.

According to media reports, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas in a statement issued in Srinagar said the fresh attempt of the Modi-led Indian government to extend ban on Jamaat-e-Islami for five more years was another act of brazen terrorism. 

He said that hundreds of leaders and activist of Jamaat-e-Islami were already facing illegal detention in Indian jails. Besides, he added, the BJP regime had also confiscated properties and other assets worth crores of the socio-politico-religious organization for playing important role in the movement for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

He said that the Modi government has already banned All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Muslim League, Democratic Freedom Party, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and Dukhtaran-e-Millat in the occupied territory for spearheading the Kashmiris’ ongoing freedom movement.

He maintained that banning Jamaat-e-Islami and other pro-freedom parties or attaching properties linked to them will not detach the Kashmiri people from raising their voice for social, religious and political rights including their inalienable right to self-determination as recognized by the United Nations resolutions.

The APHC spokesman said thwarting all peaceful and democratic means to resolve the Kashmir dispute and brutally quashing the Kashmiris’ freedom struggle can have devastating consequences for the region and beyond. People have, time and again, rejected the Indian illegal and forcible occupation and are rendered exemplary sacrifices to secure their right to self-determination, added the spokesman.

The spokesman also expressed concern over the miserable plight of the Kashmiri detainees, including Hurriyat leaders, youth and activists including APHC Chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Aasiya Andrabi, Fahmida Sofi, Naheeda Nasreen, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Shahid-ul-Islam, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Merajuddin Kalwal, Dr Hameed Fayaz, Mushtaq-ul-Islam, Bashir Ahmed Irfani, Bilal Siddiqi, Omar Adil Dar, Dr Shafi Shariati, Dr Muhammad Qasim Fakhtoo, Ameer Hamza, Muhammad Yousaf Falahi, Shabir Ahmed Dar, Firdous Ahmed Shah, Jahangir Ghani Butt, Saleem Nanaji, Sajad Gul, Muhammad Yasin Butt, Shamsuddin Rehmani, Maulana Sarjan Barkati, Hassan Firdousi, Noor Muhammad Fayaz, Fayaz Hussain Jaferi, Adil Siraj Zargar, Dawood Zargar and others languishing in jails of the occupied territory and India. He called upon the international human rights organizations to play their role in the release of these illegally detained Kashmiris.

The APHC spokesman also urged the United Nations, European Union and Organization of Islamic Cooperation to take notice of the ongoing serious crimes against humanity in IIOJK and put pressure on India to resolve the Kashmir dispute in line with the Kashmiris’ aspirations.

Meanwhile, the APHC-AJK Convener Mehmood Ahmed Saghar in a statement in Islamabad also denounced the extension of ban on Jamaat-e-Islami in IIOJK. He said that the Indian government led by Hindutva BJP was using mean tactics to subdue the freedom loving Kashmiris but New Delhi would never succeed in its nefarious designs.