Pakistan on Friday strongly condemned the “cowardly” arrest of Hurriyat Conference Vice Chairman Ghulam Ahmad Dar by occupation forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA), the foreign office said in a statement. Arbitrary arrests of Hurriyat leaders, political activists, human rights defenders, and civil society members on orchestrated charges manifestly reflect India’s frustration at the freedom struggle by the Kashmiri people that continues unfazed despite increasing intimidation, harassment and reprisal attacks by the occupation forces, it said. Almost the entire Kashmiri leadership including Asiya Andrabi, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Yasin Malik, and Masarat Alam Bhat is either detained in crowded jails in India or under house arrest on made-up charges. The relentless witch-hunt of Hurriyat leaders and political activists by the Hindutva driven RSS-BJP dispensation on motivated allegations and their persecution on fictitious charges under draconian laws is in clear violation of the UN Charter, UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions, and international human rights and humanitarian law, the FO said. Pakistan called upon the international community to compel India to abjure its policy of state-terrorism in IIOJK and immediately release all arbitrarily arrested Kashmiri political leaders and activists including Ghulam Ahmad Dar.

Source: The Express Tribune March 05, 2022 04:26 UTC