SRINAGAR (Kashmir English): In another coercive move, Indian police and intelligence agencies have identified hundreds of Kashmiris from Poonch district who were forced to migrate to Pakistan and Azad Kashmir due to decades of state repression, branding them as “operating from across the border” to justify the seizure of their properties.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Indian authorities claim that 310 persons from Poonch — mostly belonging to Mendhar, Surankote and Sabjian areas near the Line of Control — are allegedly involved in activities aimed at “creating trouble” in the territory.
Indian police have announced that the properties of these individuals will be attached for security investigations.
Observers say the move is part of a broader BJP-led strategy to criminalize Kashmiri political exiles and punish their families by confiscating land and assets in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Many of those targeted had crossed the LoC over the past three decades to escape persecution, military operations, and human rights abuses.
Exiled Kashmiris
Reports indicate that Indian authorities are deliberately portraying these exiled Kashmiris as facilitators of infiltration and radicalization in order to provide legal cover for large-scale property seizures.
Human rights activists warn that such actions violate international law and aim to dispossess Kashmiris, weaken their economic base and alter the territory’s demography.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has strongly condemned the move, calling it collective punishment and a continuation of India’s policy of repression in the disputed territory.
The APHC urged the international community to take notice of India’s attempts to legitimize confiscation of Kashmiri properties by maligning victims of state violence and forced displacement.
