World should understand gimmicks of Indian elections in Occupied Kashmir: Farooq Rehmani
ISLAMABAD, May 22 (SABAH): Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Chairman J&K People’s Freedom League & ex-Convener All Parties Hurriyat Conference AJ&K Chapter in a review statement to the press appealed the member states of the United Nations to recollect the tragic history of the Kashmir dispute and understand latest Indian gimmicks surrounding an artificial electoral-political atmosphere of the militarily besieged region.
Muhammad Farooq Rehmani said the so called parliamentary elections especially the claim of 59% turn-out in Baramulla constituency shouldn’t baffle and surprise the world as the past 5 years of direct UT rule over the disfigured and fragmented Occupied region has entirely left Kashmir at the mercy of a nationalist Hindutva regime that is totally devoid of democratic , secular and humanitarian outlook and has imposed an iron grip over social ,economic , political and religious fields of public life. He said the Modi establishment at Delhi had started framing and implementing discretionary laws, muzzled the press and social media and brought new delimitation and domicile policy in line with BJP’s merger manifesto on J&K, rules were formulated according to its Hindutva doctrine and simultaneously implemented as quickly as never before imagined by the political pundits. A horrifying atmosphere was created all around and legal, moral and social ties between the kashmiris were dreadfully cut without justification and explanation. In such horrific situation thousands of peaceful citizens and political workers, human rights advocates, lawyers, students from every corner were sent to prisons under draconian laws. Leaders and sympathisers or their relatives who were already in jails, were emphasised to languish in prisons for ever.
“In fact , they are in different prisons and thousands of others have lost their weight and health in untoward and hazardous detention conditions”. He stated according to the Hindutva BJP policy, every kashmiri is supposed to be a terrorist or a relative or sympathiser of some so called terrorist and therefore his property was attached or seized; if he was a government or semi government servant, he was dismissed to the extent if his relative was living in Pakistan, he was being pressurised to bring him back or face horrifying trial under false accusations and criminal charges. Besides, Kashmiris face settler colonialism under the new domicile law and merger doctrine of the racist Hindutva government.
Muhammad Farooq Rehmani said despite all these dirty and oppressive games and naked dance of death the Modi regime couldn’t take risk of elections in the last 4 years and today when it spread the cobweb of Loksabha polling, the game was played with caution and suspicion. He called these elections only one-sided affair, when the popular leadership was in jails, popular political organisations were banned, their assets and properties were being confiscated and they were being deprived of their ancestral lands and homes without any such right or due process of law. He said India had no power under any law to violate the international law and resolutions about Kashmir and could never rule arbitrarily on Kashmir and treat it a colony of settler- foreign rulers. Under these conditions, he rejected India’s claim of elections in Kashmir saying these elections as before were “empty vessels make much noise” and had no popular basis. Elections were a prerequisite of democracy, but when their was no democracy or rule of law except a fearful spy-network , no civil liberties nor religious freedom but controlled mosques , how India could boast of just and popular elections in Kashmir.
He said today Kashmiris were groaning under the repressive rule of Hindutva settlers under their dark settler- laws having no democratic credentials. These totalitarian rulers of racist orientation had eroded identity, demography and culture and language of the State’s majority. Therefore, their claim that they were democrats and had held elections in IIOJ&K, was farce and unacceptable. The people of Jammu and Kashmir wanted the right of self-determination and no settler colonialism of Indian Hindutva regime.
He argued, “Manipulated polling can’t reflect urges and aspirations of our people.” There was no ambiguity and no duplicity in our words and deeds, he concluded.