The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has said that the Indian BJP government’s rigidity on the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and its policy of militarization pose a grave threat to peace, and to economic and political stability in South Asia.

APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement issued in Srinagar, said Pakistan is a proponent of peace in the world and in the region. He added that for sustainable peace in South Asia, it is imperative to resolve the core issue of Kashmir in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and the aspirations of the oppressed Kashmiri people, whose immense sacrifices are evident.

The statement said the Narendra Modi-led Indian government is hell-bent on pursuing its Hindutva agenda in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), but the Kashmiris are ever ready to frustrate its nefarious designs.

The APHC spokesman said the Modi regime, through its so-called Waqf Board led by BJP’s Darakhshan Andrabi, is attempting to Hinduize Kashmiri Islamic culture in IIOJK. “The BJP leader used Kashmiri schoolgirls and made them dance in the Indian Independence Day official programme, which is an attack on Kashmiri culture and the latest bid to Hinduize the occupied territory,” he said. He added that such actions are aimed at erasing Muslim culture in occupied Kashmir.

The spokesman deplored that establishing Hindu hegemony and a Hindu way of life by reviving pre-Islamic Hindu civilization in Kashmir is the goal of the BJP and RSS. He said India wants to alter the Muslim-majority status of IIOJK and that the BJP government’s illegal actions of August 5, 2019 were meant to snatch the Kashmiris’ Muslim identity and dignity.

The spokesman maintained that Kashmiris are determined to protect their unique identity and culture at all costs. “The Indian BJP and RSS establishment’s evil tactics cannot stop Kashmiris from pursuing their just struggle for securing their right to self-determination,” he added.