All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir  leaders Altaf Ahmad Butt, Adeel Mushtaq and Abdul Majeed Lone have strongly condemned what they described as India's continued human rights violations in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, saying Indian forces have intensified cordon and search operations to suppress the Kashmiris' freedom movement. In a joint statement issued in Islamabad, the Hurriyat leaders said frequent raids, arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings had created an atmosphere of fear across the occupied territory.

They cited the killing of 30-year-old Arif Hussain during a cordon and search operation by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Bhaderwah, Doda district, describing it as another example of Indian state terrorism. They said women and children were also subjected to harassment during military raids and maintained that such coercive measures would not weaken the Kashmiris' resolve for their UN-recognised right to self-determination. They added that the people of IIOJK had rejected India's August 5, 2019 actions and continued to oppose its rule. 

Expressing concern over the continued detention of Hurriyat leaders and thousands of other Kashmiris under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and other draconian laws, the APHC leaders urged the United Nations, international human rights organisations and the global community to intervene for the release of all political detainees and play an active role in ending human rights violations in IIOJK. They reiterated that the Kashmir dispute could only be resolved through granting the Kashmiri people their right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)