Jammu & Kashmir

Article 370 abrogation was to erase disputed status of Kashmir: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

Srinagar: Two years after the Government of India abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, expressed strong resentment and opposition to these “unilateral and arbitrary” actions.

The spokesman in a statement said that Hurriyat on this occasion would also like to draw the attention of the citizens of India and the world at large, that GoI’s decision taken on August 5, 2019, has only complicated the dispute further.

“This is illustrated by the fact that it ignited the flames along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) even as some measure of calm has been introduced along the Line of Control,” the statement said.

The Hurriyat said that New Delhi before abrogating the special status would argue that Kashmir was the main trouble spot in the state, but now it is faced with four trouble spots of Leh, Kargil, and Jammu as there is disaffection in these regions too.

“The Government continues to assault the people of the state by continuing to incarcerate political prisoners and youth, intimidate people by arrests and bringing in arbitrary and anti-people laws, media gags, arbitrary dismissal of locals from government service, gagging all voices of dissent and continued misrepresentation of the actual conditions in the(former) state,” the statement added.

Hurriyat said that the Government of India must accept the need to address the Kashmir dispute, engage with those who truly represent the political will and aspirations of its peoples, and diffuse the building geopolitical pressures in the region along its northern and western borders. It also urges the Government of India to resume engagement with the Government of Pakistan.

“Hurriyat has had a long-standing policy of engagement in meaningful dialogue among all the stakeholders, seeing the situation on the ground for what it is, and encourages dialogue rather than armed confrontation. The latter benefits no one and harms everyone. Nor is intransigence and denial a helpful stance. All political prisoners, including Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, hundreds of youth, and all others arrested “arbitrarily or under draconian laws” should be released by the government.

The spokesman added that Hurriyat is cognizant although cannot match the muscle of status quo powers. “Our political education in the last thirty years has been significant and we appreciate all platforms that give us a voice,” he said.

These platforms must be created and we should be allowed to participate in them. It is time that the conflict over the state of JK is resolved so that not just Kashmir, but all of South Asia can look forward to living up to its collective potential, the statement added.

 

Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
FPK Android App for 2G. Click here to Download.

Click to comment
To Top