ISLAMABAD: Kashmiri activists and international Muslim women have criticized the Indian government for its repressive policies aimed at criminalizing freedom of expression and employing new censorship methods to silence critical voices in Indian Illegally-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The allegations were made during an interactive dialogue hosted by the World Muslim Congress in collaboration with international Muslim women, as they raised concerns about human rights violations in the IIOJK. Kashmir Institute of International Relations Chairman Altaf Hussain Wani, Syed Faiz Naqshbandi, Sardar Amjad Yousaf, Fahim Akram Kayani, Dr. Waleed Rasool, Dr. Shugafta Ashraf, and others spoke at the interactive session in Geneva.
Criminalizing freedom of expression in IIOJK
The Kashmiri activists briefed the international audience on the Indian government’s massive crackdown campaign to criminalize free expression and opinion, highlighting the government’s crackdown on dissenting voices through censorship, arbitrary detentions, and attacks on journalists. According to the speakers, since August 2019, denial of access to information, censorship, and harassment have become all too common, and journalists, civil society activists, and rights defenders have been arrested on sedition charges for speaking out against repression and the use of excessive force by Indian occupied forces.
The speakers also noted that media freedom in India’s illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir has deteriorated since Modi took power in New Delhi, with undue restrictions imposed under media policy 2020 chilling objective reporting. They urged the international community to take notice of the abuses of human rights in Kashmir and hold the Indian government accountable.
According to them, Kashmiri journalists have faced numerous violations of press freedom, including killings, torture, and kidnapping, as well as arrests and detentions under black laws. They also stated that the people’s right to freedom of expression has come under unusual pressure in Kashmir, particularly since the Indian government enacted draconian laws such as UAPA and other laws in Kashmir, adding that these lawless laws have aided the Indian government in stifling free-media and silencing critical voices who have refused to toe the government line.
They claimed that government-aligned militias and ostensibly investigative agencies frequently raided the homes and offices of journalists in Srinagar in order to instill fear. Referring to the unlawful detention of Hurriyat leaders and prominent Kashmiri rights activists, the speakers said that the political leadership and human rights advocates who have been crucial to India’s repressive policy towards Kashmir have been decided to book under trumped-up charges and thrown in jails”. — APP
