Chandigarh: Measures to silence Kashmiris ‘punitive’, say activists

“It was a decision of two people, the opposition parties and social groups and the Kashmiris were not consulted. Today, people in Kashmir are suffering due to the fascist attitude of the BJP government. Human rights are violated in the valley and people are forced to stay indoors,” Himanshu said at Mohali Press Club in Phase IV.

Navsharan Kaur, social activist and daughter of play writer Gursharan Singh, also termed the measures to suppress the Kashmiris as ‘punitive’ and said that similar actions could be taken in the other states too, in the future.

“Writ petitions are not being accepted by the courts, government is not listening to anyone, there is a communication blockade for the last 40 days. Is this not human rights violation? The people of Kashmir are not allowed to speak,” said Kaur.

Amolak, an employee union leader, said that after the abolition of the Article 370, it was one of the few protests in the country which was carried out to question the unconstitutional ways of the government to suppress the voice of people. “We must question it. The next could be Punjab, as it is another minority state, it could be anyone’s turn tomorrow,” he said.

He further said that as many as 20,000 people were to gather at Mohali on Sunday to take part in the protest but due to the highhandedness of the state government, they were detained and were not allowed to enter the city.