Violence based on religion in IOK: OIC urged to depute fact-finding mission

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Shehryar Khan Afridi Saturday urged the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to depute a fact-finding mission to investigate the cases of violence based on religion and belief in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Addressing the audience of a reception held with regards to the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Violence Based on Religion or Belief here, Shehryar Afridi said that the UN and the OIC needed to form the probe commissions on the basis of the successive reports of the Office of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 2018 and 2019 on the Indian atrocities against Kashmiri Muslims.

Dismayed over the callous silence of the world over the ongoing bloodbath of Muslims in Kashmir, particularly the mysterious silence of the Muslim-majority countries towards the increasing acts of religious violence in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Afridi said that this is the time for the Muslims across the globe to rise to the occasion, and raise the voice for their brethren in occupied Kashmir who are suffering at the hands of the Indian fascist regime.

Afridi said that the Hindutva ruler of India has repeatedly inflicted violence on the majority Muslim population in Kashmir, locked mosques, banned religious organisations and gatherings under a double lockdown.

He said that the granting of domiciles to the Indian Hindus and granting them land for business is also an act of religious violence against the Muslims of the occupied territory.

Urging the leadership of the OIC to take necessary steps to address the issue, Afridi said the global Muslim leaders should move beyond the customary statements and address the issue.

He said the IIOJK has been a victim of violence based on religion and belief.

"Prior to 1947 at the hands of Dogra Hindus who inflicted insurmountable violence on Muslim Kashmiris, banned Islamic rituals attacked Masajid, and converted them into barns. Those 'violating' the diktats of Maharaja were hanged," he said.

He said after the partition of the Subcontinent, the Hindu terrorists led by RSS goons massacred more than 300,000 Muslims in Jammu.

"Mosques were burnt and some were converted into temples. Over a million people were forced to migrate to Pakistan for their beliefs. Since then the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir have always been at the receiving end," he added.

Afridi said the Indian state has been aiding and abetting violence against the Muslims in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

"Mosques are shut down for weeks, many times eid prayers are disallowed, and seminars on religion are banned. The Jamia Masjid in Srinagar has been a primary target of the Indian fascist regimes. Since August 5 2019, only twice, congregational Friday prayers were allowed in the mosque. In 2016 the mosque was shut for 18 consecutive Fridays," he highlighted.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020