Indian police have detained a Kashmiri civilian in Doda district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), once again highlighting how Kashmiris are routinely targeted by the authorities under one pretext or another. According to Kashmir Media Service, police arrested Farooq Ahmed in the Nagri area of Doda after a video circulated on social media showing him using the Indian flag to clean a window glass of his house.  

Indian police detained the civilian and booked him under the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971. On the directives of the Senior Superintendent of Police, an FIR was lodged at Doda police station, and Farooq Ahmed was taken into custody for questioning. Police said that further investigation was underway. 

Observers and civil rights activists point out that such incidents are increasingly used as tools to harass, detain and criminalize Kashmiris, often over minor or unverified allegations.They note that Kashmiris are disproportionately subjected to police action, often without due process, as part of a broader pattern of repression and fear-mongering. Analysts say the underlying aim of such coercive measures is to bully Kashmiris into abandoning their just and UN-recognized right to self-determination 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)