Pakistan condemns "illegal detention" of 2 clerics, 5 Jamat-e-Islami activists arrested under PSA in Kashmir

Srinagar, Sept 19: On Friday, two prominent Maulanas and five members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami(JeI) were arrested in Jammu and Kashmir under the Public Safety Act (PSA) which allows the authorities to detain suspects for up to two years.

 

 

 

The two clerics, Abdul Rashid Dawoodi and Mushtaq Ahmad Veeri, are influential preachers with a large following on social media. Dawoodi, a Barelvi scholar, is head of ‘Tehreek e Soutul Auliya’ based in south Kashmir’s Anantnag while Veeri is a religious leader of Jamiat ahle Hadees (JaH) in Anantnag. Veeri was booked under PSA in 2019.

 

It should be noted that the Centre banned the Jamaat-e-Islami in February 2019 on the ground that the group was “in close touch” with terrorist groups and was expected to “escalate secessionist movement”in Jammu and Kashmir. The ban was imposed five months before the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked.

 

 

With this, Pakistan interfering in India's internal matters said that Pakistan strongly condemns the arbitrary arrests and illegal detention of the Maulanas and five JeI activists. The Foreign Office of Pakistan, said in a statement, said, "These deplorable actions only days ahead of the UN General Assembly session manifest India’s growing intransigence, and utter disregard of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

 

It also said these "arrests have marked a new low in the Indian occupation forces’ blatant and continued onslaught on the human rights of the innocent Kashmiris". "The illegal detention of the Kashmiri Islamic scholars while the true representatives of the Kashmiri people are already under Indian custody under fictitious cases and on fallacious grounds, is yet another Indian attempt to rob the Kashmiri people of their distinct religious and cultural identity," it said."

 

 

Calling PSA "a deplorable preemptive step by the Indian authorities", it said that India is planning to illegally occupy the religiously significant ‘Waqf Board’ properties. "Apprehensive of widespread protests and unrest in the face of such a malicious move, these scholars have not only been unjustifiably arrested but shifted from Kashmir to a prison in the Hindu majority Jammu. These politically motivated arrests are clearly meant to stifle the voice of the Muslims of IIOJK and further marginalize them," it said.

 

Further, it added, "Pakistan calls for the immediate release of these religious scholars and all other Kashmiri prisoners illegally detained by India. We also urge the international community to take note of the dangerously growing trajectory of Islamophobia in India, instigated at the behest of the BJP-RSS nexus, that is aimed at suppressing the Muslims of India, denying them space to freely practice their faith and attacking their places of worship."