US Foreign Affairs Committee asks India to lift Kashmir curbs

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Affairs Committee of United States House of Representatives has asked India to lift the communication blackout in occupied Kashmir.

In a statement issued from its Twitter handle, the committee said: “India’s communication blackout in Kashmir is having a devastating impact on the lives and welfare of Kashmiris. It’s time for India to lift these restrictions and accord Kashmiris the same rights and privileges as any other Indian citizen,” it added.

Meanwhile, life remained badly hit in occupied Kashmir and Muslim majority areas of Jammu region, as military clampdown coupled with communications blackout entered 65th day on Tuesday.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, with main markets shut and public transport off the roads since August 5, the people in the territory are facing shortages of essential items, including food and medicines. Educational institutions and offices are open but barring few officials nobody is showing up there. The authorities claim that the offices are running and attendance of students is slowly picking up, but these claims do not hold merit in the face of facts which are quite the opposite.

National Conference President Farooq Abdullah has demanded unconditional release of all those detained or arrested since August 5. As per a party spokesman, Abdullah said this to a 15-member delegation who met him on Sunday in Srinagar for the first time since his detention.

Faizan Mustafa, the Vice Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad (India), has argued during a lecture in Madras that the BJP government had done a mistake by abrogating Article 370 in occupied Kashmir.

Pointing out many legal implications of the issue, he opined that it was not a matter of integration, adding the problems of the territory cannot be resolved by imposing the rule and restrictions like this.