Curfew amid double lockdown in India’s illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK)
Empowering Weak & OppressedCrescent International
Dhu al-Hijjah 14, 1441 2020-08-04
Daily News Analysis
The people of Kashmir have categorically and unequivocally rejected India’s revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status that was announced a year ago on August 5, 2019.
Strikes, shutdowns and whenever possible protests amid the lockdown have characterized life in the illegally occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir by India over the past year.
Indian occupation troops intensified their oppression by imposing a curfew today (August 4) in anticipation of forestalling any protests.
Yet, anticipating unrest over their illegal presence in J&K and to mark the one-year anniversary of the illegal usurpation of the state, Indian occupation forces imposed a curfew that was announced on the evening of August 3.
All main roads have been blocked with barbed wires while markets were shut down throughout Jammu and Kashmir.
Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC), in Pakistan and the world over had already announced they will mark “August 5 as Yaum-e-Istehsal (Day of Siege), to denounce the illegal, immoral and unconstitutional step, which Delhi took on this day in 2019 to strip Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir of its special status.”
Kashmir Media Service (KMS), the most authoritative source of news on Kashmir, reported this today.
The call for complete shutdown was given by the veteran Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Gilani and supported by almost all pro-freedom leaders and organizations and will be observed by the people of Kashmir, KMS added.
Protests are also planned throughout the world where Kashmiris and their allies will hold rallies outside Indian embassies and consulates.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference said in a statement in Srinagar today that by observing a total strike on August 5, the people of Kashmir would prove to the world that they have categorically rejected the forcible occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
India’s imposition of curfew amid the double lockdown has also received widespread coverage and opprobrium in the international media.
Washington Post, Reuters news agency, the CBC as well as CTV News have all reported the intensified oppression (curfew) amid the double lockdown that Kashmiris are suffering.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement in New York today that was scathing in its criticism of Indian regime tactics.
HRW statement said: “Indian authorities continue to impose harsh and discriminatory restrictions on Muslim-majority areas in Jammu and Kashmir, one year after the revocation of the state’s constitutional status on August 5, 2019. The government’s unwarranted restraints on the rights to free speech, access to information, health care, and education have been intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic. On August 3, 2020, the authorities issued an order restricting movement for two days to prevent ‘violent protests’ against last year’s decision to revoke constitutional autonomy.”
HRW statement went on: “Indian government claims that it was determined to improve Kashmiri lives ring hollow one year after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional status,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The authorities instead have maintained stifling restraints on Kashmiris in violation of their basic rights.”
Amid the lockdown and other oppressive measures, India’s fascist regime has proceeded with other measures aimed at changing the demography of the Muslim-majority state.
KMS has aptly described Kashmir as a “big jail even a year after India took the ghastly measure of abrogation of Article 370.”
The media service’s Research Section released an analytical report on the eve of completion of one year of military siege in Kashmir.
It found that the Indian regime has introduced several federal laws and new domicile rules in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The report said it is widely believed that India has granted domicile status to thousands of non-Kashmiri Hindus including some Indian Air Force officers. It also mentioned India’s new construction policy aimed at snatching away land and properties of Kashmiri people for construction of colonies for non-Kashmiri Hindu.”
The Indian aim is clear. It is bent on changing the demography of the state by flooding it with illegal Hindu settlers.
This is typical colonial policy that the Kashmiri people have categorically rejected.
They want the world to help them in preventing India’s colonial genocidal policy in Kashmir.
Meanwhile President Masood Khan of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (the part of Kashmir that is free from Indian occupation), appealed to the international community to save the people of Kashmir from Indian “imperialism” who were being made homeless in their own homeland!
