The Kashmiri leader urges Modi to release political prisoners

One of Kashmir’s highest pro-democracy leaders said India’s promise of new elections to the territory must be accompanied by the release of political prisoners and other measures to restore public confidence.

Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, also called for a package of financial support to help repair the region’s battered economy after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi he expressed his intention to restore his elected government.

“They need to reach people, so [they] it can be seen that something is moving forward, “Mufti said in an interview with the Financial Times after talks between Kashmiri leaders and the central government.” Otherwise, it will look like a photograph. “

Modi severely disrupted Kashmir and its tourism-based economy in August 2019, when the government abruptly scrapped a constitutional article guaranteeing political autonomy to India’s only Muslim-majority state, which has been marked by a Pakistan-backed separatist insurgency.

New Delhi took direct control and evacuated more than 20,000 Indian and foreign tourists from Kashmir demanding a threat of terror, shut down the local population and suspended mobile phone or Internet services for months.

Several Kashmiri political leaders were arrested, including Mufti, who spent 14 months in custody and under house arrest.

Modi and Amit Shah, India’s interior minister, met last week with Kashmir’s pro-democracy leaders for the first time since the political reorganization to present plans for new elections. However, they did not commit to a timetable and said there would first be a process to redraw their election map.

India is under pressure to restore democracy in Kashmir while engaged in it later channel conversations with Pakistan to improve relations between the two nations, which have waged three wars in the region.

The Modi government is also facing increasing strategic pressures assertive China and the imminent withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Mufti was cautiously optimistic that last week’s meeting would mark the start of a process to improve conditions, but criticized Indian authorities for using national security and anti-terrorism laws to stifle public discourse on Autonomy of Kashmir.

“They have done something that we believe is illegal and unconstitutional, but you are even forbidden to speak,” he added.

Mufti said he had urged Modi to give the cashmere “a little breath” to express himself. “People really feel it drowned, “she said.” How long can you keep your anger inside? It can explode at any time. “

Since taking control of the region, New Delhi has pushed for laws to make it easier for outsiders to obtain residency, get local government jobs and buy property, Mufti said.

These changes, he added, reinforced fears that the government would want to alter the demographic character of Kashmir and reduce the indigenous population to a minority in its home state.

Mufti said New Delhi should refrain from imposing new laws on the territory until there is an elected government.

“People are very scared,” he said. “All sorts of laws are coming in that further discredit the people of the state.”

Mufti also reaffirmed his commitment to restoring Kashmir’s political autonomy, which he said was key to ensuring “the security of our resources, our jobs and especially our identity.”