Commenting on the Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti’s ‘revelation’ that 60,000 Kashmiri families are indexed not to receive CID clearance for passports, the Hurriyat Conference (G) Spokesman Ayaz Akbar termed it highly ‘shameful’. “The members of these families are not allowed to visit foreign countries,” said Ayaz Akbar adding that “the purpose behind denying the passports to Kashmiris is that the world community should not become aware about the real situation of Kashmir.”
The spokesman alleged that the government was even denying temporary passport to many Kashmiri Muslims for carrying out Hajj pilgrimage on different pretexts. “Although there is apparently an elected government in Jammu Kashmir but the real power rests with the armed forces. There is virtually martial law in force in the state,” he said. The spokesman termed the ‘denial’ of passport to people as the worst human rights violation.