The authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have directed all government employees, including pregnant women, and school children to participate in International Yoga Day celebrations on June 21 when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the Srinagar city.
According to Kashmir Media Service, employ-ees have been instructed to arrive at venues as early as 4 am, with one pregnant employee allegedly threatened with termination for non-compliance.
The order has drawn strong condemnation, with some critics arguing it infringes on personal freedom.
Political leaders, including Mehbooba Mufti and Dr. Raja Muzaffar, have expressed opposition to the move, citing the early hours and the inclusion of pregnant employees and school children.
Indian state terrorism, spanning over a period of the past thirty-five years, has forced the Kashmiri people to abandon their homes in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and live a refugee life outside of the territory.
A report released by Kashmir Media Service on the World Refugee Day, today, said when the world is observing the day across the globe, over forty thousand people of Jammu and Kashmir including men, women and children are living a homeless life.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Jammu alone were expelled by Dogra Army and Hindu fanatics in 1947. Over 3.5 million people took refuge in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and in the UK and other parts of the world since 1947.
The report maintained that the IIOJK’s Muslim majority has been facing threat to its existence due to the forced expulsion, which is aimed at changing the territory’s demography and turning it into a Hindu state.
The report while urging the global community to take notice of India’s nefarious and anti-Kashmir designs in IIOJK said that Kashmiri people are suffering because of the unresolved Kashmir dispute.
Meanwhile, APHC-AJK chapter and other Kashmiri migrant organizations in Muzaffarabad, said that for the last over seven decades, millions of people of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir have been forced to leave their homes and live as refugees. They demanded of the UN Security Council and international community to play their role for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations.—KMS
