Mufti says scale of suppression in Kashmir unimaginable

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Former occupied Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has said the disputed territory has been under the worst form of siege since August 2019 and drew parallels in the Modi government’s response to the farmers’ protests with what the Kashmiris experience every day.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, while referring to the farmers’ protest in New Delhi and the subsequent security measures taken by the BJP government, the pro-India politician took to Twitter to explain the “unimaginable” scale of suppression in the territory.

“Concertina wires and trenches around farmer protests have shocked everyone but the sight is far too familiar for us Kashmiris. Kashmir has been under the worst form of siege since August 2019. The scale of suppression here is unimaginable,” she said.

The Narendra Modi-led Indian government had repealed the special status of held Kashmir and placed it under strict military lockdown on August 5, 2019. Mufti wrote that the “maze of wires, nails and trenches is combined with draconian laws, illegal detentions and massive troop deployment”.

She maintained that Indian agencies hound political leaders and businessmen while FIRs and UAPA against journalists are methods adopted to choke dissent in the occupied territory.

“We understand the pain and humiliation inflicted on the farmers and stand in solidarity with them,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader said. “Government of India cannot and mustn’t be allowed to ram bills against the consent of people and ruthlessly run roughshod over those who oppose and protest,” she added.

Mufti also said party youth leader Waheed Parra “was being persecuted and tortured to admit the false allegations”. “Since an admission didn’t happen he is being kept under inhuman conditions. This investigation has been fraudulent and politically motivated from day one,” she added.

Para was arrested on November 25, 2020 in connection with a case for allegedly supporting fighters. He was granted bail by a court of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) last month, but was taken into custody by Counter Insurgency Kashmir (CIK) wing of Indian police.