ISLAMABAD, Oct 6 (APP):The Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party has condemned the continued cordon-and-search operations, raids, arrests and harassment of civilians in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, saying that lasting peace cannot be established through force and repression.
DFP spokesman Advocate Arshad Iqbal in a statement in Srinagar on Tuesday said genuine and durable peace in Kashmir was possible only through a just political settlement based on the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
He said the right to self-determination was a fundamental right of peoples and that the Kashmiri people had rendered enormous sacrifices over several decades for the realization of this right.
Arshad Iqbal said India still had an opportunity to recognize the ground realities and understand that fundamental rights of a people could not be suppressed indefinitely through the use of force. He maintained that the Kashmir dispute could not be resolved through military means and required a political settlement in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and UN resolutions.
The DFP spokesman said thousands of Kashmiris, including political leaders, activists and youth, remained imprisoned in different jails. He specifically referred to the prolonged imprisonment of Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Masarrat Aalam Butt and Aasiya Andrabi, describing their continued detention as part of what he termed India’s policy of suppressing the political voice of the Kashmiri people.
He said the detention of young people and political activists, their transfer to distant prisons and the hardships faced by their families were deeply concerning.
Arshad Iqbal said India could not end the Kashmiri people’s demand for self-determination by imprisoning their leadership and youth or by subjecting the population to fear and intimidation.
He called upon the United Nations, Amnesty International, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and international human rights organizations to take notice of the situation in IIOJK, press for the release of political prisoners and detained youth, and take measures to address reported human rights violations.
He warned that continued international silence would not resolve the Kashmir dispute and urged the UN and the international community to fulfil their responsibilities and help create conditions for the Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination.
Source: APP (Associated Press of Pakistan)
