The Kashmir Committee of the Parliament, the Standing Committee on Defence and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir chapter leadership have rejected the sham elections being held by India in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and said these elections have no status. Kashmir Committee Chairman Mohammad Qasim Noon, Defence Committee Chairman Sardar Fatehullah MianKhel, APHC-AJK chapter Convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Hurriyat leader Muhammad Yasin Malik's wife Mushaal Mullick were addressing a joint press conference outside the Parliament House after the emergency meeting of the Kashmir Committee. Mohammad Qasim Noon said the fraud elections are being conducted in the occupied territory under the supervision of one million Indian soldiers. He said foreign diplomats are visiting polling stations under the heavy guard of the Indian Army.

He said political parties are banned in occupied Kashmir while Hurriyat leaders are in jails and any election held in these circumstances cannot have any credibility. He demanded a referendum in the occupied area, which has been promised to the Kashmiris in the international resolutions. Rejecting the fraudulent elections, he said that Hindus from all over India have been brought and settled in occupied Kashmir to distort the population ratio in occupied Kashmir. Domicile certificates of occupied Kashmir have been issued to lakhs of Hindus, he lamented. He announced a joint visit to the Line of Control to show solidarity with the Kashmiris in the context of the so-called elections. Hurriyat leader Ghulam Muhammad Safi said that the entire Hurriyat leadership representing the sentiments of the people in Occupied Kashmir is imprisoned in jails.

Rejecting the Modi government's claim that the situation in the occupied area has returned to normal, he said that not a single Indian soldier posted in the occupied area has returned. Rather, the number of Indian soldiers has been increased. Mushaal Mullick said India is misleading and hoodwinking the international community by holding sham polls in the occupied territory. She questioned why the United Nations election observers and international human rights organizations are not given access to occupied Kashmir. She said the only solution to the Kashmir dispute is the United Nations resolutions. APHC-AJK chapter General Secretary Advocate Parvez Ahmad, former convener Mehmood Ahmed Saghar and Hurriyat leader Haji Sultan were also present on the occasion.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan