In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has said that India has turned the occupied territory into an open prison, depriving the Kashmiri people of their fundamental rights.

According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement issued in Srinagar, said India has deployed more than one million troops in the territory to perpetuate its illegal occupation and suppress the Kashmiris’ legitimate aspirations.

He said Indian forces have made life unbearable for the people through cordon and search operations, raids, arbitrary arrests of innocent youth and other coercive measures. He added that the BJP’s Hindutva-driven government is trampling constitutional and legal norms to advance its anti-Kashmir agenda, while giving Indian forces and investigating agencies a free hand to target unarmed civilians.

The spokesman said the freedom of expression has been completely suppressed in the occupied territory, and anyone who raises a voice against Indian oppression is detained under draconian laws.

He said continued Indian atrocities have failed to break the Kashmiris’ resolve for freedom and that they remain committed to carrying the mission of the martyrs to its logical conclusion.

The APHC appealed to the United Nations, the European Union and international human rights organizations to play their role in stopping India’s escalating repression in IIOJK and ensuring a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.