Islamabad: Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Chairman of the JandK People's Freedom League and former Convener of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC-AJK), while condemning what he described as India's unbridled rule since 5 August 2019 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), said that no definition of horror or terror could adequately describe the magnitude of India's anti-Muslim and anti-democratic governance in the region.
He said India has muzzled the media, banned pro-freedom parties, restricted internet and digital communication, altered the Muslim demography, culture and education system, damaged the Kashmiri economy and agriculture, reduced Muslims' share in administration, and fostered Islamophobia and separatist tendencies among sections of the Indian-born Kashmiri Pandit youth, who are now demanding a separate Pandit homeland in the Kashmir Valley, as well as among Dogras in Jammu, who are agitating for a separate Jammu Dogra province despite the sizeable Muslim population in the Chenab Valley.
Muhammad Farooq Rehmani stated that despite the killing and forced migration of Muslims from Jammu in 1947, the Muslim population in the Jammu division remained significant. He maintained that this demographic reality could be verified if the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir were considered according to its 1947 boundaries.
He expressed concern that prominent Kashmiri leaders and women politicians have remained imprisoned for years, while many others continue to be detained annually on politically significant occasions. He said that this year too, thousands of Kashmiri youth were rounded up in July ahead of 5 August, describing the arrests as preparations to suppress public reaction to the anniversary of the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A by the Indian government in 2019.
Farooq Rehmani further said it was regrettable that the first major international dispute after the Second World War continues to remain unresolved despite its recognition by the United Nations. He said tensions between Pakistan and India persist because of differences over the implementation of UN resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.
Reaffirming his confidence in the United Nations, he urged the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly to address the question of the right to self-determination and the holding of a plebiscite in accordance with relevant UN resolutions. He also called upon India to withdraw its 5 August 2019 measures relating to Jammu and Kashmir to pave the way for a peaceful and lasting settlement of the dispute in the interest of regional peace and stability.