Geneva, (PR) : Senior Hurriyat leader and vice chairman Jammu Kashmir National Front (JKNF) Altaf Hussain Wani has strongly condemned the Indian authorities’ act to declare National Front as an unlawful association.
Terming the move as a flagrant violation of political and democratic rights, Mr. Wani said that declaring political parties outlawed shows India’s utter disregard towards democracy and freedom of expression.
“Jammu Kashmir National Front is a political association, which believes in respect for rights, dignity and right to self-determination of people of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as enshrined in the UN resolutions”, he said.
Rejecting India’s home ministry’s contention on the matter, he said that the front leaders and its activists have always pursued peaceful means to raise awareness about the settlement of the lingering dispute through dialogue and diplomacy.
Referring to the party chairman’s continued and illegal detention, he said that despite his years-long incarceration Nayeem Ahmed Khan used lawful means to challenge his detention. Mr. Khan, he said, has been advocating for a peaceful settlement of the dispute throughout his entire life. “Khan’s life-long struggle bears testimony to the fact that he never engaged in any kind of unlawful activities”, he said, adding that his only crime was that refused to follow the diktats of the Indian government.
Wani, however, maintained that such colonial-era tactics wouldn’t help New Delhi crush the ongoing struggle for the right to self-determination or prevent Kashmiris from pursuing their noble cause of freedom.
Kashmiris, he said, neither believe in the Indian constitution nor have they registered their organizations under it.
Terming Kashmir as an internationally recognized disputed territory, he said, the Indian government needs to realize that the Indian laws and its constitution don’t apply in Kashmir which has been a part of the Indian union.
Urging the global community to take effective cognizance of the matter, the Front leader said that banning legitimate political voices in Kashmir reflects the rising fascism in the rank and file of the BJP government that has been hell-bent on choking every kind of dissent in the region.
