Amnesty International urges India to withdraw 'draconian' forces from Indian Kashmir

Says Armed Forces Special Powers Act has has facilitated grave human rights violations in the disputed valley

Amnesty International urged on Wednesday Indian authorities to completely withdraw the ‘draconian’ Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from occupied Kashmir.

“The draconian law has facilitated grave human rights violations, including extra-judicial executions, enforced disappearances, rape and torture,” the Amnesty said in a statement, according to Radio Pakistan.

At a seminar in Srinagar, speakers called upon Iran and Pakistan to work jointly to mobilise the Muslim world against Hindutva policies aimed at changing demography in the held territory.

Read: Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of partition: Army chief

The speakers included Iranian Ambassador Ghulam Raza Ansari, former Speaker of Iran, Ayatullah Natiq Noori, and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Veteran Hurriyet leader Syed Ali Geelani in a statement termed the murder of an innocent civilian by Indian troops in Kupwara as an act of state terrorism.

Read: India suppresses Kashmiri Muslims, holds sham elections at gun-point: FO

Further, Pakistan alleged on Wednesday that India, in order to maintain its illegal hold on Jammu and Kashmir, suppresses Kashmiri Muslims and holds sham elections at gun-point.

“To maintain its illegal hold on that disputed territory, India has deployed over 700,000 of its forces, atrociously tries to suppress majority voice of Kashmiri Muslims and holds sham elections at gun-point,” Foriegn Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said on Wednesday, while responding to India's reservations over Pakistan holding local government elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Read: India suppresses Kashmiri Muslims, holds sham elections at gun-point: FO

“The dispute stems from India’s constant refusal to implement the relevant Security Council Resolutions, which provide for a just solution of the Kashmir issue,” he added.