‘India imperils social, political existence of Kashmiris’

MPA, lawyer highlight threats to land rights

LAHORE:

India’s move to end the semi-autonomous status of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) is an attempt to usurp the rights of Kashmiri people by eradicating their fundamental rights related to their social, linguistic, cultural, economic and political existence, Punjab Assembly Member Mian Marghoob Ahmad said on Sunday.

With the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A of its constitution, the Indian parliament has maliciously allowed non-Kashmiris to resettle in Kashmir permanently, he said.

Under the so-called constitutional changes, the existence of Gujjars (Bakarwal) in the illegally occupied region are immediately at greater risk. This Kashmiri population seasonally migrates to look after the animals and land.

Kashmiris have feared for decades that India intends to settle paramilitary families and establish semi-permanent military colonies in Kashmir.

Constitutional lawyer Mohsin Nawaz said that indigenous Kashmiris have long faced threats to their existence as well as their inherited rights, especially relative land rights, as colonial relations between indigenous people and settler states make land encroachment profitable. This will make indigenous peoples alien.

He termed Kashmir the largest open jail and highlighted the latest controversy surrounding the reported extrajudicial-murders of a number of Kashmiris in the Kulgam area. The cruelty knows no bounds, and after the men were gunned down, their bodies were not returned to their families.

The Indian government is losing the battle of hearts and minds in occupied Kashmir, Nawaz added.

"The Indian occupation forces' war crimes, state terrorism and human rights abuses have made life a nightmare for millions of oppressed Kashmiris, especially women, children and senior citizens in the IIOJK. The prevailing situation in the occupied valley has become a nightmare after abolition of its special status on August 5, 2019,” he remarked.