Says it is time for UN to intervene in Kashmir
Islamabad: (Parliament Times) Expressing his serious concern over the continued siege and communication blockade in occupied Kashmir senior vice President Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), Mehmood Ahmed Saghar has urged the international community to shun its policy of indifference towards Kashmir and play its much needed role to end the suffocating siege, which has pushed the disputed territory into serious humanitarian as well as economic crisis.
Rubbishing the Indian claims of easing the siege in Kashmir valley, the DFP leader while talking to a group Kashmiri journalists on Thursday said that the Indian mainstream media, which has become a mouth piece of establishment, was peddling lies to deflect world attention away from the real issue. Hailing international media outlets for exposing Indian brutalities and savagery in Kashmir he said that the so-called journalists who keep defending Modi regime’s crimes against humanity in Kashmir must hang their heads down in shame on spreading disinformation by distorting ground realities. “The BJP government and its saffronised media is actually deceiving none but their own people”, he said adding that a good majority of leftists, liberals, writers and civil society activists have strongly opposed the revocation of article 370 and military clampdown in Kashmir.
Referring to prevailing situation in the valley Saghar said, “Kashmir valley is paralyzed under relentless siege for last 10 weeks, people are being trampled down under the jackboots and their fundamental rights have been usurped by the India’s fascist regime by using all possible means of oppress and suppression”. Terming anti-Kashmir bigotry as a hallmark of BJP regime’s fascist agenda he said, “Over the past two months thousands of political and social activists including intellectuals, academicians, lawyers, and human rights activists have been arrested illegally and shifted to prisons outside Kashmir. Even minors have not been spared, they too have been booked in many cases”. Citing a report by a team of five women who visited Kashmir recently, Saghar said that the occupation authorities had arrested 13,000 boys in Jammu and Kashmir since August 5. The Kashmiri women and children he said were the worst sufferers of the suffocating siege in IoK.
In addition to severe humanitarian crisis he said that the punitive siege was now taking a heavy toll on Kashmir’s fragile economy. He said due to the continued lockdown key sectors of Kashmir’s economy particularly tourism and fruit industry have suffered immense losses over the past two months.
He said that Kashmir valley that happens to be one of the largest apple growing regions has suffered loss of billions of rupees. “Valley has been completely shut for foreign visitors even the farmers and orchardists are not allowed to go into their fields for harvesting”, he said adding that the apple crop that was ready for harvesting has been rotting on the trees. Terming fresh fruit industry as lifeline of Kashmir’s economy he said that the crippling siege had threatened the very livelihood of over 4 million people of the valley who were directly and indirectly associated and involved in fruit industry.
Highlighting the Modi led fascist regime’s dangerous game plan Mr. Saghar said that the racist regime, which has apparently exhausted all possible tactics to suppress Kashmiris’ struggle for right to self-determination, was now planning to destroy the region’s economy to break the will of Kashmiris who he said have never accepted Indian dominance in the region.
Criticizing world community’s deafening silence over the impending crisis in the region Saghar said that the inhuman treatment meted out to millions of Kashmiris was a great challenge to world conscience. He said that instead of taking notice of the dire situation in the region the world community was remorselessly watching the situation like a bystander. Given the political, economic, and humanitarian crisis in the region the DFP leader said that it was time for UN to intervene in Kashmir to protect the lives of Kashmiris from India’s naked aggression.