Indian clothing brand launches apparel mocking IoK residents

AJK opposition leader says such acts expose India's intentions

MUZZAFARABAD: An Indian clothing brand has launched t-shirts to make fun of the persecuted Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

Kashmiris residing across the Line of Control ( LoC) condemned and termed this act a bid to rub the salt to the injuries inflicted by the Indian Army to the innocent Kashmiri who was tied in front of the army jeep in Beerwah area of district Budgam last year.

A year later, an Indian clothing brand has launched t-shirts with the caricature of Dar tied against the Indian army jeep.

The T-Shirt Bhaiya is owned by Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, the spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi unit.

"It is unfortunate that an innocent man was tied to a jeep to terrorise people and the clothing brand is shamelessly mocking the person by launching t-shirts with his image.

This shows Indian military establishment at the front is there to belittle the Kashmiris," Central Vice President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Youth Wing Pakistan Shahid Mehmood Wani said.

Opposition Leader in Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly (AJKLA) Chaudhry Muhammad Yaseen termed this an act of humiliation of whole Kashmiris saying international human rights organisations should take notice to stop such sort of activities and take strict action against it.

"It shows how Indians hate Kashmiris and would not even spare an innocent who was first humiliated by being used as a human shield by the Indian army and now after passing a year the same man's image was printed on shirts to disgrace him across the globe," Opposition Leader Yaseen added.

Yaseen said that such acts expose the intentions of Indians but will never break the strength of Kashmiris and they will come out more resilient.

Parliamentary Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in AJKLA Abdul Majid Khan said such acts are being carried out on behalf of Indian military establishment to boost the morale of their forces stationed in IoK.

"We appeal the government and Foreign Office of Pakistan to raise the issue at an international level that how New Delhi is humiliating and disgracing Kashmiris through such acts," Khan added.

"We will talk to our lawyers in Srinagar and approach the courts against the clothing brand that printed the image of Dar. This is unacceptable to us," Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement (JKSM) and senior leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference Zaffar Akbar Bhat said.

Chairman JKSM Bhat further said that we will never allow any clothing brand in India to humiliate Kashmiris.

Farooq Dar, the Kashmiri man who was tied to a jeep by an Indian Army Major as a human shield in April 2017 when a
video showing Dar being used as a human shield by Major Leetul Gogoi of Indian Army in IOK went viral.

It showed him tied in front of an army vehicle in what seems to be an apparent attempt to shield the Indian army from protesters. In the background, an army soldier can be heard saying, “Those who throw stones will meet the same fate.”