Nation marks two years since Kashmir deprived of special status

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD/OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Pakistan’s civil and military leadership voiced their solidarity and commitment to the people of occupied Kashmir on Thursday, as the nation and Kashmiris around the world marked two years since India revoked the special status of the disputed territory.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government scrapped Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) partial autonomy on August 5, 2019, and split it into two federal territories, arresting thousands in a massive security operation and communications blackout that lasted months.

To observe the occasion, dubbed “Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir”, people inhabiting both sides of the Line of Control and rest of the world carried out mass anti-India protest rallies and demonstrations to express their indignation of New Delhi’s actions two years ago.

A one minute’s silence was observed across the country with sirens blown at 9.00 am to pray for the martyrs of IIOJK. Speakers, while addressing the rallies, strongly condemned the Indian forces’ atrocities and drew the world attention towards the continued repressions and military siege in IIOJK.

In this connection, large protest rallies were staged in Muzaffarabad, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and other cities on Thursday. In Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan and newly elected Prime Minister Abdul Qayyum Niazi led their rally.

In occupied Srinagar, occupation forces erected numerous new checkpoints and barricades across the city with personnel in bulletproof gear checking vehicles and frisking residents on the roads.

Meanwhile, President Arif Alvi visited a refugee camp in the AJK and called for international efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute through the implementation of UN resolutions for durable peace in the region.

Addressing the refugees at Thotha, he said people and the government of Pakistan will continue its diplomatic, political and moral support to Kashmiris till they get their right of self-determination. He also spoke of the benefits of regional peace but warned Pakistan’s desire for peace must not be misconstrued as weakness.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, meanwhile, in a series of tweets said the day marks two years since India’s “unilateral and illegal actions of 5 Aug 2019 in IIOJK”. “In these two years the world has witnessed unprecedented oppression in IIOJK by Indian occupation forces. It is also witnessing Indian efforts to force demographic change and destroy Kashmiri identity,” he said.

He praised the Kashmiri people for remaining undaunted in their struggle for self-determination despite the well documented “brazen violations” of all international laws and in the face of an “unprecedented ruthless military siege”.

“The government and people of Pakistan salute their Kashmiri brothers and sisters for their sacrifices in their determined and legitimate struggle for their inalienable rights as enshrined in the UN Charter and recognised in UNSC resolutions.”

He said he had raised the voice of Kashmiris on the world stage and would continue to do so until Kashmiris were allowed to decide their future according to UNSC resolutions. “Pakistan will continue to fight the Kashmiris’ case with conviction and InshaAllah Kashmiris’ struggle will succeed,” he added.

Khan said: “The Indian government’s barbarism in IIOJK is inspired by its RSS Hindutva ideology. Today India is destroying regional stability through its rogue actions and state-sponsored terrorism in contravention of all international laws and norms.”

Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said the continuation of the inhuman military siege, machinations to bring demographic changes and gross violations of human rights and international laws are perpetuating humanitarian and security crises in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) that imperil regional security.

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar took to Twitter to share the message of the Army chief. “Resolution of Kashmir dispute as per UN Resolutions and aspirations of Kashmiri people is imperative for enduring peace and stability in the region,” Bajwa was quoted as saying.

In occupied Kashmir, All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani, 90, called for a general shutdown to mark a “black day” to protest “India’s naked aggression”, in a Twitter statement. On Thursday most shops remained closed in Srinagar and vehicular movement on the roads was thin.

However, police were seen asking shopkeepers to open. Many shopkeepers and businessmen, without wishing to be named, told AFP that police had threatened them. Local reporters said officers were breaking locks on shutters.

“I was recording video of shuttered shops when police officers arrived and took my photos while I was working and accused myself and journalists of instigating a shutdown,” photojournalist Umer Asif told AFP.

Former occupied Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, along with dozens of other local politicians, spent months incarcerated after being arrested in the 2019 clampdown. Scores of people remain behind bars either in Kashmir or elsewhere, held under controversial legislation that allows them to be detained for up to two years without charge.

Mufti issued an angry statement on Wednesday slamming New Delhi’s actions as “daylight robbery” of people’s constitutional rights. “When unbridled oppression is unleashed & gross injustice heaped there is no other choice but to resist to exist,” she tweeted.

Back in Islamabad, a 12-member delegation of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) underscored the need to immediately improve the human rights situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

In a briefing held by Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the delegation called for just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

The foreign secretary briefed the delegation on the deteriorating situation in IIOJK. He also highlighted the legal, humanitarian, and peace and security dimensions of the lingering Jammu and Kashmir dispute.