Pakistan slams India for muzzling press in IIOJK

Attack on journalists reflective of India's colonial mindset, says the FO

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan on Sunday condemned the harassment, illegal arrests and registration of fake criminal cases against journalists and civil society activists by Indian occupation forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

In a statement, the Foreign Office deplored Saturday’s attack on the Kashmir Press Club (KPC) as reflective of "India's entrenched use of brute force and coercion to forcibly silence those raising voices against its horrendous crimes and egregious human rights violations in IIOJK".

The takeover of the independent media body has been decried by rights activists and media bodies.

“A large number of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed beforehand for this highly condemnable and completely illegal move,” the outgoing KPC office-bearers said in a statement, calling the move a “dangerous precedent by the administration”.

Outgoing KPC members said that a group of journalists barged into the KPC administration’s office in Srinagar, the region’s main city, and announced themselves “interim” office-bearers.

In its statement, the FO also condemned the use of "draconian and inhumane laws, including Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Public Safety Act (PSA) and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)".

It termed the act as symptomatic of India's colonial mindset.

Read: EU closely monitoring IIOJK’s human rights situation: VP

India’s state-sponsored terrorism can never weaken the resolve of the Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination, the statement said, urging the international community, particularly the UN, to hold India accountable over harassment of journalists and rights activists.

Last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed concerns over the arrest of journalist Sajad Gul in IIOJK.

Gul, who has been contributing to various publications and recently joined The Kashmir Walla, was charged under sedition charges days after he posted a video of his family members protesting against the killing of their relative by the Indian occupation forces in Srinagar.

“CPJ is deeply disturbed by reports that the Kashmiri journalist was arrested days after posting a video of a protest on social media,” the CPJ’s Asia chapter had said in a tweet.