JAMMU: In yet another instance of BJP-led Indian government’s ongoing policy to dispossess Kashmiris of their properties and suppress their political voice under draconian laws, authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have targeted the assets of 13 people in Kishtwar district.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Indian police authorities during a crackdown operation attached the properties, including land, of 13 people in various areas of Kishtwar. Among those whose properties were seized are Shahnawaz Kant, Nayeem Ahmed, Mohammad Iqbal, Shanawaz, Javed Hussain Giri, Bashir Ahmed Mughal, Gazi-ul-Din, Sattar Din, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Shabir Ahmed, Mohammad Rafiq Keen, Muzaffer Ahmed and Azad Hussain.
This latest action is part of an ongoing and intensifying campaign to seize properties from Kashmiris following the revocation of IIOJK’s special status in August 2019. Critics argue that these seizures, carried out under various pretexts, are part of a broader strategy aimed at altering the demographic composition of the territory. By dispossessing local Kashmiris of their lands and homes, the Indian government seeks to marginalize them while facilitating the settlement of non-local individuals, thereby undermining Kashmir’s unique identity.
Earlier, 36 youths from Kishtwar were declared absconders by the Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) court. Following this, the properties of several of these individuals were also attached by Indian police in the district.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, Indian police, during a cordon and search operation, arrested a youth under the black law Public Safety Act (PSA) in the Ponara Soni area of Udhampur district.
On the other hand, the Jammu and Kashmir Young Men’s League has strongly condemned the raid by Indian forces’ personnel at the ancestral home of the party’s Vice Chairman, Zahid Ashraf, in the Verinag area of Islamabad district in IIOJK. In a statement issued from Srinagar, the party spokesperson said that, this morning, the occupying forces raided Zahid Ashraf’s home and subjected his family members, including his elderly mother, to harassment. The troops also confiscated four mobile phones belonging to the family. The spokesperson described the actions of the Indian forces as a reflection of their increasing nervousness.
