India’s attempt to mislead world on Kashmir condemned

ISLAMABAD, Jan 12 (APP): The All Parties Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Gilani, Hurriyat forum led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and all other Hurriyat leaders and organisations in Indian Occupied Kashmir have condemned India’s efforts to mislead the world by arranging a strictly guided visit of Delhi-based envoys to the territory.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the APHC in Srinagar said the tour was a desperate attempt by the Modi government to show the world that all was well in occupied Kashmir.

It said that such nefarious tactics could not change the ground realities and the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior Hurriyat leader, Professor Abdul Ghani Butt said, the world knew about the Kashmir dispute, about the UN resolutions on Kashmir and resent close-door consultations on Kashmir by the UN Security Council.

He said the envoys should focus on the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and demand withdrawal of Indian troops and repeal of draconian law, Armed Forces Special Powers Act, from occupied Kashmir.

The Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat forum maintained that if the normalcy had returned to occupied Kashmir as India was trying to project, then New Delhi should have allowed envoys to move about freely and interact at their will with common people, members of civil society, journalists, politicians and illegally detained Hurriyat leaders.

Other Hurriyat leaders and organizations including Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Abdul Majeed Malik, Imtiaz Wani and Abdul Hameed Lone in their separate statements said that instead of arranging controlled visits of hand-picked envoys, Indian government should allow delegations of international media and human rights organizations so that they could report the actual situation of the territory.

Meanwhile, students held forceful anti-India demonstrations in downtown Srinagar and clashed with the Indian police.

Indian police and troops arrested over three dozen people including a Jamaat-e-Islami activist and a cleric during cordon and search operations and house raids in Srinagar, Badgam, Bandipora, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian and Kishtwar districts.

On the other hand, Congress leader, Kapil Sibal, at a press conference in New Delhi criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for organizing a visit of foreign envoys to occupied Kashmir and not allowing the Indian people to go to the territory.

He asked Narendra Modi why people from outside India have the right to visit the territory and not the Indian politicians.

Pakistan, major stakeholder in long standing Kashmir dispute: Hurriyet Leaders