ISLAMABAD: A protest demonstration was organized in Islamabad, today, by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Cell to register protest against the ban imposed by the Narendra Modi-led Indian government on Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Indian government banned the DFP, headed by incarcerated Shabbir Ahmed Shah, on the 5th of this month declaring it an illegal organization.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the protest held outside the Indian High Commission was led by APHC-AJK Information Secretary Imtiaz Wani. Raja Najabat Hussain, Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Self-determination Movement International (JKSDMI); Sarwar Hussain Gilgiti Director of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Cell Raja Khan Afsar Khan, Sardar Asim Abbasi, President of All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Islamabad; APHC-AJK leaders, Sanaullah Dar, Haji Sultan Butt, Advocate Parvez Ahmed, Engineer Mehmood, Raja Khadim Hussain, Manzoor Ahmad Dar, Dawood Yousafzai, Mushtaq Ahmed Butt, Zahid Ashraf, Syed Mushtaq Gilani, Syed Aijaz Rehmani, Muhammad Ashraf Dar, Sheikh Abdul Majid, Muhammad Shafi Dar, Mian Muzaffar, Shaukat Hussain Butt, Khurshid Ahmad Mir, Kifayat Hussain Rizvi, Gulshan Ahmed, Zahid Safi, Adeel Mushtaq Wani, Qazi Imran, Malik Aslam, Khalid Shabbir and a large number of political and social leaders participated in it. The protesters carried placards and banners with slogans against Indian state terrorism in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing on the occasion, the speakers strongly condemned the ban on the DFP by Narendra Modi’s Hindutva government. They said Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally-recognized disputed territory and Kashmiris are struggling for their UN-acknowledged right to self-determination. They said the DFP is fighting a peaceful struggle against the Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir so banning it is completely unjustified and illegal.
The speakers said that the international community should take cognizance of the atrocities being perpetrated by India and Israel on the oppressed Kashmiris and Palestinians and should play a role in the resolution of these disputes. They said the BJP government will never succeed to achieve its nefarious designs by banning freedom-loving organizations and the Kashmiris will continue to raise their voice against India’s illegal occupation of their homeland.
It is worth mentioning here that the DFP Chairman, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, has been under illegal detention following his arrest in July 2017. He is presently lodged in New Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail.