HRW urges India to repeal draconian laws in IHK

New York: The Human Rights Watch, an International human rights group, has urged the government of India to immediately repeal the draconian laws, which are being used to silence peaceful political dissent in occupied Kashmir.The South Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, Meenakshi Ganguly, in a statement issued in New York, said that India should drop sedition cases against prominent human rights activists such as Dr. Binayak Sen, Arundhati Roy and others.In Sopore, complete strike was observed to mark the massacre of 57 and arsoning of 350 structures by Indian troops, on this day, in 1993. The authorities had imposed stringent restrictions in the town, sealing all the entry points to it to prevent holding of protest demonstrations.The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement issued in Srinagar, termed the Sopore massacre a worst example of Indian state terrorism and one of the blackest days in the history of occupied Kashmir. Veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani in his statement said that the imposition of restrictions in Sopore by the puppet administration was a sheer violation of human rights.Speakers at a seminar in London appealed to the United Nations to play its role in achieving Kashmiris’ inalienable right to self-determination. They included Professor Nazir Ahmad Shawl, Irshad Malik, Raja Muhammad Saroop Khan and Qurban Hussein – Kmsnews