APHC AJK leader, Altaf Hussain Wani strongly condemning the Indian authorities’ act to declare Jammu Kashmir National Front as unlawful association said that banning legitimate political voices in occupied Jammu and Kashmir is a reflection of the rising fascism in the rank and file of the BJP government.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Altaf Hussain Wani, who is the vice chairman of Jammu Kashmir National Front, in a statement in Islamabad said that declaring political parties as outlawed shows Indian government’s utter disregard towards democracy and freedom of expression.
“Jammu Kashmir National Front is a political association, which believes in respect for rights, dignity and right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir as enshrined in the UN resolutions”, he said.
Rejecting India’s home ministry’s contention on the matter, he said that the National Front leaders and its activists have always pursued peaceful means to raise awareness about the settlement of the lingering dispute through dialogue and diplomacy.
Referring to the party chairman’s continued and illegal detention, he said that despite his years-long incarceration, Nayeem Ahmed Khan used lawful means to challenge his detention. Khan, he said, has been advocating for a peaceful settlement of the dispute throughout his entire life. “Khan’s life-long struggle bears testimony to the fact that he never engaged in any kind of unlawful activities”, he said, adding that his only crime was that he refused to follow the diktats of the Indian government.
Wani, however, maintained that such colonial era tactics won’t help New Delhi to crush the ongoing struggle for right to self-determination or prevent Kashmiris from pursing their noble cause of freedom.
Terming Kashmir as an internationally recognized disputed territory, he said, Indian government needs to realize that the Indian laws and its constitution doesn’t apply in Kashmir that has been a part of the Indian union.
Urging the international community to take effective cognisance of the matter, Wani said that the Narendra Modi led Hindutva government of India had been hell bent on choking every kind of dissent in the occupied territory as well as India.—KMS
