SRINAGAR (Kashmir English): Indian forces in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have arrested at least 3,898 Kashmiris so far this year, targeting pro-freedom activists and civilians.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the widespread arrests during house raids and cordon and search operations are aimed at creating fear and terror among the Kashmiri people and forcing them to abandon their legitimate demand for self-determination, which has been recognized by the United Nations through several of its resolutions.
These cordon and search operations and unjustified arrests are being carried out by notorious Indian forces such as the Indian Army, Rashtriya Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Operations Group (SOG), Police, National Investigation Agency (NIA), and State Investigation Agency (SIA) at the behest of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah.
Amit Shah, who adheres to the RSS ideology, has entrusted this task of targeting pro-freedom Kashmiris to the Lieutenant Governor of the occupied territory, Manoj Sinha.
Among the arrested Kashmiris are members of Hurriyat organizations such as Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Muslim League, and Democratic Freedom Party, as well as ordinary youth, women, and elderly citizens.
Indian forces have accused the arrested individuals of being militants or working for militants to justify these unjustified arrests.
Kashmiri Muslims
The Indian administration didn’t allow Kashmiri Muslims to offer Eid prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid and Eidgah this year either.
The Jamia Masjid was also closed several times for Friday prayers. The administration also placed senior leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Mousavi Al-Safvi, and prominent religious scholar Agha Syed Muhammad Hadi, under house arrest multiple times and did not allow them to address public gatherings.
The BJP government banned the Awami Action Committee led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and the Jammu and Kashmir Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen led by Masroor Abbas under the draconian law “UAPA”.
Meanwhile, Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, spokesperson for the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, expressed grave concern over the arrests and illegal detention of Hurriyat leadership in a statement in Srinagar, stating that India cannot suppress the spirit of freedom of Kashmiris through oppressive tactics.
He said that Hurriyat Conference Chairman Musarrat Alam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Aasiya Andrabi, and other leaders are continuously being subjected to political vendetta through their detention.
The spokesperson urged the international community to take notice of the increasing state terrorism and human rights violations by Indian troops in the occupied territory.
