Illegally detained senior APHC leader and chairman of Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabbir Ahmed Shah while condemning the undeclared economic blockade of Kashmiri fruit growers has said the move is a deliberate attempt to destroy the fruit industry and choke Kashmiris’ economy. According to Kashmir Media Service, in his message from New Delhi’s Tihar jail, the APHC leader, while referring to Modi government’s bias against Kashmiris, said that the Hindutva influenced regime spared no effort to punish Kashmiris. He said that the halting of apple-laden trucks at Srinagar-Jammu highway for weeks was nothing but a willful ploy aimed at inflicting losses on Kashmiri fruit growers. He said the BJP has a history of resorting to such mean tactics. “In 2008, economic blockade of Kashmir was enforced to cut off essential supplies to the valley and now same is being repeated to strangulate Kashmir’s economy”, Shah said, adding that in Jammu region two Kashmiri drivers were burnt alive and vehicles owned by Kashmiris were torched along with the goods to enforce the economic blockade.

Urging the world human rights organizations to take effective notice of the matter, Shah said that creating impediment to the free movement of fruit-laden trucks on the main highway was tantamount to destroying Kashmir’s largest fruit industry. Shabbir Shah also took strong notice of the witch-hunt against Kashmiri religious intellectuals and seizure of Auqaf land by the Indian authorities. The DFP chairman expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Shahbaz Sharif for raising the issue of Kashmir vociferously during his speech at the UN General Assembly. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League in a statement called upon the international community to impress upon India to settle the Kashmir dispute to bring an end to the miseries of the Kashmiri people. He said until final settlement of the dispute, New Delhi should be forced to agree to opening trade routes via Azad Kashmir to enable Kashmiri fruit growers to have an access to the outside world.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP