ISLAMABAD: Altaf Hussain Wani, prominent human rights activist and chairman of Kashmir institute of International Relations, said on Sunday that the extremist policies of India’s apartheid regime have shattered the socio-political fabric of Jammu and Kashmir.
He was speaking on behalf of the World Muslim Congress during a general debate organized under agenda item III on the margins of the 55th Session of UNHRC.
Wani highlighted the fast-deteriorating human and political rights situation in IIOJK.
He told the world audience that abuse of basic human rights, arbitrary detentions, and curbs on freedoms of expression and movement have become the new normal in IIOJK.
He termed the recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to IIOJK as an attempt to show a fake normalcy.
He said that besides forcing public servants to participate in Narendra Modi’s political rally, people were gathered from different locations and herded to the main venue to ensure a crowd for him.
Wani said that the public at large has rejected and boycotted BJP’s agenda of division, hate, and discrimination in IOJK.
Wani Criticizes Indian PM’s Visit
He said that Narendra Modi’s visit to IIOJK took place at a time when his right-wing extremist party BJP had not only failed in restoring the political process but incarcerated political leadership with the fear of public resentment, gaged media by arresting journalists, banned political parties, curbed freedom of expression through the imposition of arbitrary laws, and applied a blanket ban on civil society organizations.
Wani urged the UN Human Rights Council to understand the compelling nature of events to carry out comprehensive inquiry and accountability of the arbitrary laws and mechanisms used to discriminate, torture, and crush the peaceful resistance of Kashmiri people for the right to self-determination.
