Online Desk: India’s Modi-led fascist regime has introduced and revised numerous laws in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) to alter its demographic composition and undermine the socio-economic and political rights of Kashmiris, who have been a ‘headache’ for New Delhi for 77 years by demanding their birthright to self-determination, as enshrined in United Nations resolutions on the lingering Kashmir issue. Under the cover of draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), Public Safety Act (PSA), and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), India’s notorious agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the State Investigation Agency (SIA), have been intimidating the freedom-loving people of IIOJK.Property seizures have become a new tactic, adding to the countless methods of torture and terror used to control and suppress them, as these laws effectively grant Indian troops a license to arrest, detain, and kill Kashmiris without trial, while also allowing them to confiscate properties with complete impunity.

Jammu and Kashmir has been a point of contention between India and Pakistan since partition in 1947. From a legal perspective, property rights in the region have been shaped by a complex interplay of state, Indian and international laws. The revocation of Article 370 in 2019, which granted special autonomy to IIOJK, further distorted the region’s legal framework concerning property rights. The abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A escalated tensions, resulting in intensified crackdowns and deployment of additional security forces to suppress the ongoing struggle of pro-freedom activists.
With the abrogation of statehood in 2019, India provided a legal basis to non-state actors by issuing domiciles and allowing them to become permanent residents of IIOJK, thereby making them eligible for rights reserved for the state’s subjects. Such developments have worsened the human rights situation in IIOJK to an alarming degree. Surveillance and monitoring of freedom-loving individuals, leaders and workers of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), political and social activists, as well as raids on media outlets and human rights defenders have increased dramatically.
Amendments to land laws in IIOJK have granted legal authority to illegal settlers from India to confiscate the ancestral lands of the region’s inhabitants. This systematic land seizure has opened the door for Hindu extremists to enter the occupied valley under the guise of pilgrims, settle around various Hindu religious shrines, and establish separate colonies. Their mission is to alter the region’s demographic composition while providing refuge to Hindu criminals who further advance these designs of demographic engineering in the occupied territory.it is incumbent upon the international community to unequivocally denounce the inhuman tactics of Indian state terrorism, including property attachments, and to support the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people for freedom, justice, and self-determination. Only through concrete efforts to uphold human rights, enforce international law, and ensure the Kashmiri people`s right to self-determination can a just and lasting resolution to the conflict in the state of Jammu and Kashmir be achieved.