LAHORE: A veteran leader of the business community on Thursday condemned the life sentence handed down to well-known Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik by an Indian court and urged the international community to intervene forthwith for his release.

Talking to a delegation of youths jointly led by Muhammad Umar and Humna Rathor, president of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik said the Indian government implicated the brave freedom fighter in a false case and handed down a life sentence in a sham trial with the sole objective of quelling the ongoing movement for independence in Occupied Kashmir.

Lauding the Kashmiri leader’s tireless efforts for independence of the disputed Himalayan region, the chamber’s president said that since its inception Yasin Malik’s Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has been struggling for freedom from the clutches of brutal Indian rule and tens of thousands of Kashmiris have been martyred by Indian forces over the years.

He urged world leaders and international human rights activists to take cognisance of the blatant and flagrant violations of human rights in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The octogenarian trade leader said the people of Occupied Kashmir should be allowed to determine their future through a free and impartial plebiscite, as enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.

He condemned the fascist tactics adopted by the Narendra Modi government to keep Occupied Kashmir under Indian rule, and added that the atrocities perpetrated by Indians can never subdue the spirit of Kashmiris.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022