UKPNP condemns arrest of Kashmiri journalist in PoJK
Geneva [Switzerland], June 10 (ANI): Exiled chairman of the United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP), Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, UKPNP central spokesperson Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan and UKPNP Foreign Affairs Committee President Jamil Maqsood, along with the central leadership of the party has strongly condemned the arbitrary arrest of Kashmiri journalist Usman Tariq from Neelum, in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
UKPNP released an official press statement in which party leaders emphasised that the retaliatory actions against journalists in PoJK represent a flagrant violation of press freedom and an alarming height of suppression of freedom of expression.
In the statement, the UKPNP leaders said that the retaliatory actions against journalists in PoJK represent the height of oppression of the free press. It demanded that freedom of expression and freedom of the press and media must be honoured.
The UKPNP cited Articles 19 and 19A of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), emphasizing that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
UKPNP leaders highlighted that Pakistan is treating the disputed territories of PoJK and Gilgit Baltistan as its colonies, violating international norms. They noted that PoJK has been declared a 'security zone' where the international community, including human rights observers and journalists, are denied access.
The statement said, 'They further said that those who raise legitimate concerns about human rights violations, unemployment, underdevelopment, rising extremism and terrorism, and systemic injustice are being targeted by the puppet administration in Muzaffarabad under the direct influence of Islamabad.'
UKPNP urged the United Nations, international human rights organisations, and media watchdogs to intervene and hold Pakistan accountable.
The regions of PoJK and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan have faced discrimination and human rights violations for decades. People are being denied basic human rights and have many times raised their voice and the regions have witnessed massive protests on various occasions, however they have got nothing but only false promises. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
45 minutes to pack up a lifetime as Pakistan's foreigner crackdown sends Afghans scrambling
The order was clear and indisputable, the timeline startling. You have 45 minutes to pack up and leave Pakistan forever. Sher Khan, a 42-year-old Afghan, had returned home from his job in a brick factory. He stared at the plainclothes policeman on the doorstep, his mind reeling. How could he pack up his whole life and leave the country of his birth in under an hour? In the blink of an eye, the life he had built was taken away from him. He and his wife grabbed a few kitchen items and whatever clothes they could for themselves and their nine children. They left everything else behind at their home in Pakistan-controlled in Pakistan to parents who fled the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the ensuing war, Khan is one of hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have now been expelled. The nationwide crackdown, launched in October 2023, on foreigners Pakistan says are living in the country illegally has led to the departures of almost 1 million Afghans already. Pakistan says millions more remain. It wants them gone. Leaving with nothing to beat a deadline 'All our belongings were left behind,' Khan said as he stood in a dusty, windswept refugee camp just across the Afghan border in Torkham, the first stop for expelled refugees. 'We tried so hard (over the years) to collect the things that we had with honor.' Pakistan set several deadlines earlier this year for Afghans to leave or face deportation. Afghan Citizen Card holders had to leave the capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi city by March 31, while those with Proof of Registration could stay until June 30. No specific deadlines were set for Afghans living elsewhere in Pakistan. Khan feared that delaying his departure beyond the deadline might have resulted in his wife and children being hauled off to a police station along with him a blow to his family's dignity.'We are happy that we came (to Afghanistan) with modesty and honor,' he said. As for his lost belongings, 'God may provide for them here, as He did there.' A refugee influx in a struggling country At the Torkham camp, run by Afghanistan's Taliban government, each family receives a SIM card and 10,000 Afghanis ($145) in aid. They can spend up to three days there before having to move camp's director, Molvi Hashim Maiwandwal, said some 150 families were arriving daily from Pakistan — far fewer than the roughly 1,200 families who were arriving about two months ago. But he said another surge was expected after the three-day Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Adha that started June 7. Aid organizations inside the camp help with basic needs, including healthcare. Local charity Aseel provides hygiene kits and helps with food. It has also set up a food package delivery system for families once they arrive at their final destination elsewhere in Afghanistan. Aseel's Najibullah Ghiasi said they expected a surge in arrivals 'by a significant number' after Eid. 'We cannot handle all of them, because the number is so huge,' he said, adding the organization was trying to boost fundraising so it could support more people. Pakistan blames Afghanistan for militancy Pakistan accuses Afghans of staging militant attacks inside the country, saying assaults are planned from across the border — a charge Kabul's Taliban government denies. Pakistan denies targeting Afghans, and maintains that everyone leaving the country is treated humanely and with dignity. But for many, there is little that is humane about being forced to pack up and leave in minutes or hours. Iran, too, has been expelling Afghans, with the UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, saying on June 5 that 500,000 Afghans had been forced to leave Iran and Pakistan in the two months since April 1. Rights groups and aid agencies say authorities are pressuring Afghans into going sooner. In April, Human Rights Watch said police had raided houses, beaten and arbitrarily detained people, and confiscated refugee documents, including residence permits. Officers demanded bribes to allow Afghans to remain in Pakistan, the group added. Searching for hope while starting again Fifty-year-old Yar Mohammad lived in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir for nearly 45 years. The father of 12 built a successful business polishing floors, hiring several workers. Plainclothes policemen knocked on his door too. They gave him six hours to leave.'No way a person can wrap up so much business in six hours, especially if they spent 45 years in one place,' he said. Friends rushed to his aid to help pack up anything they could: the company's floor-polishing machines, some tables, bed-frames and mattresses, and clothes. Now all his household belongings are crammed into orange tents in the Torkham refugee camp, his hard-earned floor-polishing machines outside and exposed to the elements. After three days of searching, he managed to find a place to rent in Kabul. 'I have no idea what we will do,' he said, adding that he would try to recreate his floor-polishing business in Afghanistan. 'If this works here, it is the best thing to do.'
The Print
2 hours ago
- The Print
Terror funding case: HC dismisses bail plea of Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah
A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur pronounced the verdict while rejecting Shah's appeal challenging a trial court's July 7, 2023 order refusing to grant him bail. New Delhi, Jun 12 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea by Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah seeking bail in a terror funding case. The detailed order is awaited. The high court in August 2023 sought response of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Shah's appeal. Shah's counsel has sought bail on behalf of the appellant on the grounds that 'it was a no material case'. In his 2023 appeal assailing the trial court order rejecting his bail application, the appellant said he has been in custody for four years and the trial would take a long time to conclude. 'The impugned order of the additional sessions judge is contrary to law weight of evidence and probabilities of the case. The appellant has been languishing in jail in the present case for four years, with over 400 witnesses to be examined and only 15 witnesses having been examined till date in over 4 years,' the appeal said. In 2017, NIA had registered a case against 12 persons for allegations of conspiracy for raising and collecting funds for causing disruption by way of pelting stones, damaging public property and conspiring to wage war against the government of India. Shah was arrested in the case on June 4, 2019. In March 2022, the trial court framed charges against the appellant for allegedly conspiring to raise and collect funds for causing disruption and conspiring to wage war against the government of India. PTI SKV DV DV This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Delhi high court rejects Kashmiri separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah's bail plea
The Delhi high court on Thursday denied bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, who has been jailed in connection with a terror funding case since 2019. 'The present appeal is dismissed,' said a bench of justices Navin Chawla and Shailender Kaur, pronouncing the operative part of the order. Shah moved the court against a Delhi court's July 2023 order denying him bail. In his plea, Shah said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not name him in the main and the first supplementary charge sheet. He said he had been incarcerated for over seven years, and there was no likelihood of the trial concluding soon. Shah pleaded that he has been in different prisons for 35 years, apart from being under house arrest for a substantial period, without a conviction or charge against him. In August last year, a Delhi court granted Shah bail in the money laundering matter related to the terror funding case. The NIA arrested Shah in June 2019 and arraigned him as an accused in the second supplementary charge sheet, alleging he conspired to raise and collect funds for disruptions in Kashmir and played a key role in building a separatist movement. Shah is accused of receiving money through hawala and raising funds through cross-Line of Control trade and fuelling subversive and militant activities. In May 2022, the Delhi court framed charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code against Shah, another separatist leader, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, and Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali. On April 9, the high court rejected Khan's bail plea in the same case, saying his release could threaten India's unity, integrity, and security, since he raised funds for terrorist organisations to propagate secessionist activities and create unrest.
