Mirwaiz Umar Farooq completed three years in detention, on Thursday, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) released a statement condemning it’s chairman’s detention.
The APHC said that “its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today completed three years of continuous house detention under which the authorities placed him on the 4th of August 2019, when J&K was downgraded to a UT of India and its special status revoked.”
The APHC strongly condemned “this arbitrary, despotic and extra-judicial act of the authorities of forcibly detaining its chairman in his house, leading to a gross violation of all his fundamental and basic human rights.”
The statement said that all channels of communication were blocked to him and that all outreach to people, friends and party cadre was barred.
APHC said, “It seems our chairman is being punished for pleading the cause of resolution of the lingering Kashmir conflict through peaceful means of dialogue and deliberations, and good neighbourly relations in the subcontinent. As Hurriyat, we have not only advocated this stand since our formation. Still, we have actively supported and participated in all initiatives taken in this direction as we firmly believe in this approach and outlook.”
APHC said that jailing Kashmiri political leadership, cadres, activists journalists, youth and people from different walks of life in jails across India, and using all forms of repressive measures to quell dissent or resistance is a despotic approach to problem-solving and futile in the long term, as observed in other conflict regions.
“We appeal to the Government of India to release all Kashmiri political prisoners unconditionally including APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and resume the process of conflict resolution through peaceful means, which is dialogue,” said APHC in its statement.