ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has said that the authorities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) continue to treat Kashmiri people with an iron fist.
In her weekly media briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Friday said that reports suggest that a few days ago, seven Kashmiri students of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology in Ganderbal district were arrested for celebrating Australia’s victory over India in the final match of the Cricket World Cup.
The Spokesperson said that their arrest has taken place under India’s infamous anti-terrorism law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
“It is shocking that cheering a cricket team during a world cup, of which India was the host, is considered an act of terrorism in India,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch remarked.
The Foreign Office Spokesperson said that this development is a clear manifestation of India’s misuse of counter-terrorism laws and its erroneous and vicious application of terrorism charges.
The Spokesperson said that ta group of UN Special Procedures has already underscored that India’s framework of counterterrorism laws is ripe for abuse.
“We hope that sanity will prevail and these students will be set free,” she said.
More importantly, she added, India must repeal these draconian laws and stop using the bogie of terrorism to suppress dissent in IIOJK.
