Demands made for Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to be released immediately

All Parties Hurriyat Conference executive member and senior leader Bilal Ghani lone said that it has been more than 10 months since Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has been arbitrarily and casually put under house arrest at his Nigeen house from 5th of August 2019. Police vehicles are placed outside his gates and he is not allowed to move out. Mr. lone said that although Mirwaiz has for the past two decades been repeatedly put under arbitrary house arrest by authorities but this is the for the longest period. He said that authorities incharge should revoke his arbitrary house arrest immediately and set the Mirwaiz free. His civil rights and liberties should be restored.

Bilal Lone also reiterated the demand that thousands of Kashmiri youth activists and civilians and leaders of different hues languishing in various jails in J&K and India since August last year and all others incarcerated for the last three decades should be set free . He said that putting Hurriyat leadership and activists in jails for their ideology and political beliefs is inhuman, as freedom of dissent and difference of opinion is a fundamental human right.

Bilal Lone said that Hurriyat strongly criticises the new media censorship policy announced by the authorities to curb press freedom in the name of so called “fake news and misinformation”. Formalising censorship already in place in Kashmir especially since August last year, and criminalising those that defy censorship is a new low by those incharge. He appealed to international human rights and media organisations to take note of this draconian censorship law and raise their voice against it . He said that such a law should be immediately withdrawn.

Mr. lone said that Hurriyat and people of J&K are deeply grieved by the daily loss of lives of young boys killed in encounters with the forces and loss of life on both sides of LOC . It fervently appealed to all rights bodies in India and the international community to prevail and get them stopped and resolve the Kashmir issue and put an end to uncertainty and repression.