Srinagar: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference while holding India responsible for perpetrating cultural genocide in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir has demanded an immediate halt to these efforts, alongside the release of political detainees, including its own leadership.

According to media reports, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement issued in Srinagar, expressed serious concern over the deteriorating health of Hurriyat Chairman Masarrat Aalam Butt, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Aasiya Andrabi, Nahida Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Aiyaz Akbar, Raja Merajudin Kalwal, Peer Saifullah, Advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom, Bilal Siddiqi, Maulvi Bashir Andrabi, Mushtaqul Islam and others, saying it is a matter that worries not only their families but all the people.

The APHC urged the Indian government to release all political prisoners, including the leadership, youth, activists, civil society members and media persons. It said that, at the very least, while they remain in jail, their legal and fundamental rights must be respected and restored in accordance with the law. The APHC said India has been treating Kashmir as its colony since 1947, when its troops illegally landed in Srinagar on 27th October 1947 against the partition plan of the subcontinent and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.