DFP demands an independent probe into the incidents of extra-judicial killings of Kashmiri youth in IOK

SRINAGAR, April 01 (SABAH): Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has demanded an independent probe into the incidents of extra-judicial killings of Kashmiri youth in Indian occupied Kashmir and unconditional release of Kashmiri prisoners languishing in jails in and outside Kashmir.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the DFP spokesman while voicing his grave concern over the surge in custodial killings in the held territory, said that the Indian occupation forces deployed in length and breadth have turned the Kashmir valley into a slaughter house where innocent and educated youths were killed in fake encounters after being labeled as “terrorists”.

He said that human rights defenders have time and again raised their voice against the continued bloodshed and violence in the region but India’s human rights abusing regime has turned a blind eye towards the plight of Kashmiris. 

Referring to the killings of the Kashmiri youth in stage manager encounters, the spokesman said that it was no longer a secret that the Indian occupation forces have been murdering innocent Kashmiris to fulfill their desire for material gains, seeking incentives and promotions.

Expressing his party’s grave concern over the continued detention of the party president, Shabir Ahmed Shah and other Kashmiri political leaders, including Mussrat Alam Bhat, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Aasiya Indrabi and others, said that the pro-freedom leadership was being punished and persecuted for raising their voice for the voiceless people and India’s brutal suppression against Kashmiris.

He said that along with political leadership, human rights defenders, journalists and members of civil society were being victimized for their tireless work documenting and reporting serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances and unlawful killings in Indian-held territory.

He said that it was quite alarming that illegal detention of Hurriyat leaders and rights activists were being extended every now and then by India’s kangaroo Courts.

“So far the Indian authorities have miserably failed to produce a single piece of evidence against them in the court of law”, he said.

The Indian authorities, he said, must release all illegally detained Kashmiri prisoners immediately and unconditionally, and all charges against them must be dropped. Arresting Kashmiri human rights defenders and journalists, he said, was part of the BJP government’s clamp-down campaign to suppress the dissenting voices and make sure that no one raises his/her voice against the brutalities inflicted upon Kashmiris.