He said India has been maintaining its illegal hold over Kashmir through its military might, highlighting that New Delhi has deployed over 1,100,000 troops in the UN-mandated disputed territory where civilians are treated as enemies with a soldier-to-civilian ratio of 1:10. He pointed that with such a huge presence of troops, the occupied territory has become the world’s highest militarized zone.
The APHC spokesman while expressing serious concern over the recent attempt by Hindutva goons to desecrate the sanctity of a mosque and a shrine in Tral area of Pulwama said such abhorrent acts were unacceptable to the people of Kashmir and they would resist such moves, tooth and nail. He said that masajid and shrines were not only the places of holding big religious gatherings, but the pulpits of these institutions have always represented the people’s emotions and their political aspirations. “It is for this reason that every anti-Kashmir and Hindutva RSS/BJP ruler, at different times in the history, has tried to weaken the centrality of these religious centers of the territory”, the spokesman added.
The APHC also rejected the propaganda of Peoples Conference Chairman Sajjad Gani Lone wherein he claimed that the freedom ideology has died in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesman said that Sajjad Lone was playing in the hands of Indian agencies and his ridiculous remarks were contrary to the sentiments and aspirations of the Kashmiris. He said that the anti-Kashmir and anti-Muslim agenda of the Hindutva parties is known to all, which the RSS and BJP are trying to implement through their local collaborators like Sajjad Lone in a planned manner. He maintained the Kashmiri people have always rejected these proxies and are determined to carry forward the sacred mission of their martyrs.
The spokesman pointed out that India had failed to suppress the freedom spirit of Kashmiris despite resorting to killings and other brutalities, adding people of the occupied territory were deeply attached and committed to the freedom movement and that joining Pakistan was their long-standing dream which would surely come true one day.
