Delhi should stop demographic change in Occupied Kashmir urges Mirwaiz

All Parties Hurriyat Conference led by incarcerated Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called on the Indian government on Thursday to prevent state violence against Kashmiris and to reverse what it said were measures initiated to usher demographic change in held Jammu and Kashmir.

“Recent rise in killings of Kashmiris in J&K may be a grim reminder of the necessity to resolve the Kashmir conflict urgently and stop the region from getting consumed by it. The fast-changing geopolitical reality of the region also points to the necessity for urgent conflict resolution” the emailed statement from Mirwaiz said.

It said that the silencing of guns on the LoC by India and Pakistan provided much-needed relief to the residents of LoC, living constantly under its shadow. The thaw in India-Pakistan relations, it said, was always a welcome development for the people of J&K who see it as a harbinger of engagement and dialogue between the 2 neighbors and therefore the way forward for resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

“But sadly not much has moved forward since, or improved for the people of J&K. Instead, the oppressive situation on the bottom continues unabated.” The Mirwaiz and his family were recovering from Covid, sources said, but other Hurriyat leaders weren’t keeping healthiness with new and old ailments.

“Political leadership and many political prisoners and youth are languishing in jails or under house detention and therefore the health condition of the many among them may be a constant source of worry,” the statement said. “Yasin Malik, a heart patient, needs immediate replacement of the 25-year-old heart valve, as per his family sources, while Shabir Shah’s health has deteriorated in jail as he suffers from various ailments.”

Despite repeated appeals from all sections of society and international human rights organizations, political prisoners and youth haven’t been released thus far, even on humanitarian grounds in times of the Covid pandemic, the Hurriyat statement said.

“Even during Covid times, iron-fisted measures and institutional oppression continues.”

The passing and implementation of laws aimed toward demographic change, post-August 2019’s unilateral decision by the govt of India to scrap article 370 and 35A and downgrade and hack J&K into two union territories ruled by New Delhi, has led to the fear of loss of identity among the people of J&K, which is deeply disturbing them.” The statement spoke of great anguish at the loss of employment guarantees, land rights, and exploitation of natural resources by outsiders, post the enactment of those new laws. “As a consequence, there’s an incredible rise in psychological ailments among people and an alarming rise in the incidence of suicides.”

On the opposite hand. the statement alleged, “civilian killings, killing of police personnel and their families, custodial killings and killings of young boys taking to arms, all point to the gruesome bloodshed that goes on thanks to the non-resolution of the Kashmir conflict.”

The APHC said that it’s always advocated peace and growth for all the people of the region. “It’s our conviction that this will actually be achieved with the resolution of the Kashmir conflict through dialogue among India and Pakistan and therefore the people of J&K. And, for a dialogue, trust, and a conducive atmosphere is that the first requirement.” to realize this, “the government must revoke all measures of demographic change and every one law that disempower the people of J&K especially since August 2019 and release the youth and everyone, political prisoners, from jails and under house detention, including its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq,” the statement said.