Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has denounced “the incessant anti-people orders being issued by the Government of India at frequent intervals to intimidate and psychologically torture the people of J-K”, adding that this “imperial” approach is bound to fail. The APHC further called for a shutdown on 31 October, Saturday, to “register [the] strong resentment against anti-people law”.
Notably, last year, on 31 October, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was officially downgraded into two union territories — J-K and Ladakh.
The APHC reiterates its principle stand of engagement and dialogue among stakeholders for resolution of the “Kashmir dispute” and accused New Delhi of rather than pursuing a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue, “attempts are being made to undermine that possibility by the Government of India and instead, a policy of permanent demographic change is aggressively being pushed – to snatch our land, destroy our identity and turn us into a minority in our own land.”
The APHC called the newly imposed domicile law arbitrary and amendments in “The J&K Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act” to allot jobs and education to outsiders. The APHC also called out the newly imposed land laws that allows non-domiciles to own land, except agricultural.
The statement by the AHPC, led by chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, senior leaders Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Bilal Ghani Lone and Masroor Abbas Ansari, said: “People of J&K are not some dumb driven cattle who will yield to these imperial laws. People have proved by the strength of their unfailing will and their immense sacrifices, that they are not a dead but alive and determined nation who will not withstand such assaults upon them and their motherland.”