BJP systematically working to disempower Muslims in IIOJK: Report

ISLAMABAD   -  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is systematically working to dis-empower Muslims and erode their religious and cultural identity in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). A report released by Kashmir Media Service, today said under the RSS/BJP regime, occupied Jammu and Kashmir is facing a relentless assault on its Muslim identity. It said the BJP’s agenda in the occupied territory seeks to erase its Islamic roots and impose Hindutva ideology, adding the RSS-backed Modi regime aims to transform Kashmir from a land of Sufi saints into a Hindutva bastion of hatred

The report lamented that the current BJP policies are designed to create a Hindu majority by disempowering Muslims and altering IIOJK’s demographics. It said RSS/BJP’s aggressive promotion of Hindutva through cultural programs and policies demonstrates a concerted effort to undermine Kashmir’s rich Islamic heritage It said the BJP government officials are instructing Muslim shopkeepers in the Jammu region of the territory to cease selling meat, targeting their economic and cultural practices. It said the BJP administration is facilitating Hindu Yatra in IIOJK while imposing restrictions on Kashmiri Muslims observing their own festivals like Eid.

The Modi regime, the report said, is opening wine shops in predominantly Muslim areas of IIOJK with the aim of undermining Muslim community’s moral fabric. The BJP’s actions, the report said, are systematically dismantling Kashmir’s Islamic heritage and replacing it with a Hindu-centric narrative. BJP’s control over IIOJK’ s religious sites, including Eidgahs, mosques and shrines, reveals a troubling strategy to undermine the region’s Muslim identity, it added.

The report maintained that the BJP’s takeover of IIOJK Waqf Board is part of its broader effort to dominate prominent places of religious significance for Kashmiri Muslims. Seizing control of IIOJK’ s religious sites is a repressive tactic aimed at eliminating their political role & erasing their Muslim identity, it deplored. It said the Modi’s regime is appointing non-Kashmiri officers and systematically eroding IIOJK’ s religious and cultural heritage as BJP is forcing Muslim students to sing Hindu hymns to accelerate the so-called integration of IIOJK’ s younger generation with Hindutva ideology. It said establishment of Hindu temples and promotion of Hindu traditions in the occupied territory is a deliberate attempt to alter its demographic & cultural landscape.

The BJP’s decision to end Urdu’s exclusive status & grant official language status to other languages reflects an assault on Kashmir’s linguistic heritage, the report lamented. The report said saffronisation of textbooks by the BJP represents a relentless drive to reshape Kashmir according to their ideological goals. Efforts by the Indian army & affiliated NGOs to promote Hinduism in remote IIOJK areas show a disturbing trend of cultural imposition & religious coercion, it added. It maintained that the Indian security establishment was organizing tours for Kashmiri students to Indian cities to undermine their traditional values and promote immorality. The report said forced integration of Hindu symbols and traditions into daily life in Kashmir reflects a broader agenda of cultural domination. With each new policy and cultural imposition, the BJP is intensifying its campaign to convert Kashmir into a bastion of Hindutva, the report concluded.

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