Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday said people in Jammu and Kashmir, especially the youth, feel suffocated and such a situation has serious consequences.
“The situation in J&K is simmering. It’s getting more and more repressive with each passing day. Extreme laws are introduced to curb people’s freedom and intimidate them into silence through fear of retribution,” the Mirwaiz, who remains under house arrest since August 5, 2019, said in a statement.
Referring to the dismissal of six government employees by the L-G administration recently, the Mirwaiz said, “Sudden dismissals of employees without any investigation or being given a chance to be heard is part of this repressive policy.”
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He termed the fresh rules, under which employees can be dismissed if their family members are found to be “sympathetic” to people accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA), “bizarrely inhuman”.
“The Hurriyat strongly denounces this dictatorial approach to deal with people’s aspirations, as it only creates more dissent and anger,” he added.
The Mirwaiz alleged that local media persons and media houses were also continuously being targeted and harassed through raids on their homes and offices.
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“No problem or issue can be solved by force and repression. The failure to resolve the political and humanitarian issue of J&K is only creating more complications in the region and should be resolved as soon as possible,” the Mirwaiz said.