In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has appealed to the Kashmiri people to observe a complete shutdown on Wednesday, February 15, against the grabbing of land from poor Kashmiris by the Modi-led fascist Indian regime. The APHC spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said, Jammu and Kashmir belongs to its people and they are duty-bound to protect it by resisting New Delhi’s move to settle non Kashmiris in the territory. He said the entire exercise is meant to erase the identity of the Kashmiri people and render them a tiny minority in their own homeland. Anti-India protest demonstrations will be held in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan on February 15 to demand of the United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to impress upon India to withdraw all unconstitutional, undemocratic and inhuman actions in the occupied territory.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a tweet in Hindi, today, attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party over the ongoing eviction and demolition drive in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, saying the territory wanted love but instead they got the “BJP’s bulldozer” drive. He deplored that the land which the people of Jammu and Kashmir nurtured with their hard work for many decades, is being snatched away from them. Meanwhile, residents of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir experienced more internet shutdowns and restrictions than any other region in 2022, including Iran and Russia. According to a new report, released by a virtual private network company headquartered in Lithuania, more than a fifth of all web blackouts took place in held Kashmir.

As per Voice of America, the VPN company’s global report on internet censorship in 2022 — released mid-January — found 32 countries were hit by a total of 112 restrictions. IIOJK has been experiencing restricted and blocked internet regularly since 2019, when Indian authorities revoked the region’s special status. Local journalists and analysts have said the blocks are used to prevent critical reporting in the occupied territory. On the other hand, condolence meetings were held in Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad, today, to pay tributes to prominent Kashmiri martyred leaders Muhammad Maqbool Butt and Muhammad Afzal Guru.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP