Kashmir News Weekly Roundup: 1/29-2/5
Exclusive:
Under the garb of ‘anti-encroachment,’ India uses Israel’s policy of demolition in Kashmir
India has deployed bulldozers to demolish homes of Muslim Kashmiris and Muslims in Jammu to dispossess locals from their lands. The administration in Kashmir has issued directives for what it is referring to as “retrieving state territory” while using the language of “anti-encroachment.” However, in addition to the numerous locations in Srinagar, Pattan, and Kupwara where civilian homes have been destroyed, Muslim-dominated areas of Jammu, like Sunjwan and Bhatindi have also been targeted.
India, at the same, has been accommodating outsiders in occupied Kashmir to bring about a demographic change in Kashmir. Hotels whose leases have not been extended on purpose are also included in the list of buildings that will be demolished in the future. Our sources found out that the outsiders have already decided which hotels they want to buy by driving away the locals through a sham auction with the government’s full backing.
Exclusive:
India is targeting mosques in sealing off drives in Occupied Kashmir
Indian forces have started targeting mosques in what the government calls anti-encroachment drives. In Koimoh Khudwani neighborhood of Kulgam district in South Kashmir, a mosque was sealed by the Indian army and the State Investigative Agency (SIA). Locals report that the Indian armed forces have frequently targeted the mosque. A local said that the Indian army had often stormed into the mosque and abused its member-of-mihrab.
Additionally, the army has warned the neighborhood that anyone attempting to enter the mosque will face harsh punishment.
India has been targeting members of the organization by pursuing serious charges against them under PSA and UAPA since it outlawed JeI. The Indian army and state officials have conducted raids on the homes of persons affiliated with the organization.
News Update:
India seized the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) office in Srinagar
A day after the Delhi Court ordered the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) office in Rajbagh Srinagar to be seized, the NIA took control of the Hurriyat office on Sunday. Shaliender Malik, additional sessions judge for the New Delhi district, had earlier on Saturday declared that the building office of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference’s immovable property was to be confiscated.
The Kashmiri resistance movement continues to be repressed by the Indian government. Every day, raids are conducted by Indian state agencies like the NIA, CBI, SIA, and the army, on the homes of those connected to the resistance movement. Additionally, many resistance movement factions’ properties, including those of Jamat-e-Islami, have frequently been attacked and confiscated.
Demolitions and land grabbing by India continue across Kashmir
About 656,309 hectares (1,621,083 acres) of “state and grazing lands” were taken by the Indian state in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The government is illegally acquiring strategic land by referring to it as the state land, as it is unclear how these classifications are created. These arbitrary decisions cannot be challenged since there is no rule of law in the annexed Kashmir since 8/5/2019, and the Indian Supreme Court has declined to step in.
The administration had instructed the DCs to make sure that by January 31, all “state land,” including grazing land and that provided under the Roshni Act, had been withdrawn. Currently, the district of Rajouri has recovered the largest amount of land—275,867 hectares—followed by the districts of Reasi, Poonch, Kishtwar, —33,000 Kanals, Kathua–15,000, Ganderbal–14,000 and Kupwara–4,000 kanals.
No transparency in ongoing ‘anti-encroachment’ drive, says trade body as businesses targeted
The ongoing campaign of demolitions and land-grabbing started by the imposed administration has no transparency, according to the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI). The president of KCCI, during a press conference, said that accountability needs to be established in the ongoing drive and that a written order needs to be issued in this respect so that the public is fully aware of it.
After the shops in Aftab Market were sealed up yesterday, he stated, “we spoke to the higher-ups today, and we have been guaranteed that no such measure involving the livelihood of people will be done.” The livelihood shouldn’t be impacted, he said. Thus, a legal order in this regard is necessary to end this fear and chaos.
Indian forces arrest four civilians in Kashmir
The wave of civilian arrests continues in occupied Kashmir. On Monday, the Indian army detained four persons in South Kashmir’s Awantipora region on false accusations.
Currently, hundreds of Kashmiris are being imprisoned inhumanely in jails throughout India on fabricated charges. Most have been imprisoned in these facilities for more than five years without a trial.
