WR Desk: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has said that India is systematically laying the groundwork for settler colonialism in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and that the policy poses a serious threat to the region`s indigenous population, culture and political identity.
The APHC spokesman, Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement said that India`s colonial occupation of IIOJK began with the illegal landing of its troops in Srinagar on October 27, 1947. It added that colonization of IIOJK has long remained a key agenda of the RSS-BJP combine.
According to the APHC spokesman, the Modi regime is establishing colonial settlements in IIOJK on the pattern of Israel`s occupation of Palestinian land. The APHC said the revocation of Article 370 removed legal barriers to non-local settlement in IIOJK, and that granting residency rights to non-locals is aimed at altering IIOJK`s demographic composition. The APHC further stated that India`s demographic engineering in IIOJK constitutes a blatant violation of UN resolutions and international law. It warned that demographic changes in IIOJK pose a serious threat to the region`s indigenous population, culture and identity, and that India`s settler-colonial designs threaten the cultural and political identity of Kashmiris. Concluding its statement, the APHC said that brave and resilient Kashmiris will thwart India`s nefarious designs in IIOJK.