Shabir Ahmed Shah seeks world attention towards worsening HR situation in IoK


SRINAGAR, Oct 23 (SABAH): Senior Hurriyat leader and Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmed Shah has sought world community’ pro-active role to address the dire political and human rights situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

In a his message from Tihar jail, the incarcerated leader, while referring to the worsening HR situation in the IoK, said that the blood of innocent Kashmiris was being spilled over with impunity by the trigger-happy Indian forces.

 “Innocent civilians in particular the educated youth are being killed ruthlessly by the Indian forces during fake encounters, cordons and search operations”, he said adding that the targeted killing of Kashmiri youth amounts to systematic genocide. 

Referring to settler-colonialism policies of the Indian state, he said, “Enactment of a series of anti-Kashmiri laws such as rebranding of demographics and redrawing of Jammu and Kashmir’s electoral map have instilled a fear of insecurity amongst the Kashmiris”.

 These laws, he said, were meant to change the region’s demography and to deprive natives of their resources, jobs, identity, cultural, land and above all the right of self-determination guaranteed to them by no less an authority than the United Nations

Terming these laws as a serious violation of the UN resolutions, Shabir Ahmed Shah urged the influential world  governments to take effective notice of India’s settler colonialism drive intended to replace the indigenous population with a new society of settlers in the occupied Kashmir.

Referring to the 5th August 2019 move by the Indian state Shah said, “The move was a deep-rooted conspiracy against Kashmiris to erase the their political, cultural and national identity”. Shah maintained that the unilateral move has pushed the region into a quagmire of uncertainty.

Expressing deep concern over the lack of freedom of the press and expression in the IoK, he said, “Coercion, intimidation and harassment of political activists, journalists, rights groups and civil society activists, has been a hallmark of the Modi government’s Kashmir policy”.

He urged the world leaders to influence the government of India to resolve the lingering dispute of Kashmir that happens to be the main cause and consequence of bloodshed and violence in the region”.

Meanwhile, Shah appealed to the Kashmiri masses to observe complete strike on 27 October as a mark of protest against the India’s illegal and forcible occupation of their motherland.

27 October, he said, was one of the darkest chapter of the Kashmir history. “It is the day when India committed the crime of aggression and occupied the territory of Jammu and Kashmir against the wishes and will of its people”, Shabir Ahmed Shah said. Reiterating his commitment to continue the struggle till the end of foreign occupation, Shah expressed the optimism that the day was not far when Kashmiris’ would achieve the cherished goal for which they offered huge sacrifices.