ISLAMABAD: In the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Narendra Modi-led government continues to confiscate properties of Kashmiri people for their affiliation and role in the ongoing freedom movement on Saturday. According to Radio Pakistan, the Indian Home Ministry declared the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League as unlawful and also banned the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir.
The Modi regime has directed its puppet administration in the territory to seize all assets and freeze bank accounts and finances belonging to these two organizations. The Indian authorities had already confiscated the headquarters of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Srinagar and hundreds of houses and properties belonging to Hurriyat leaders and organizations across the occupied territory.
The authorities have also demolished many residential houses, shops and plazas of civilians in the occupied territory as part of collective punishment. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference and other pro-freedom organizations in their statements in Srinagar have termed the brutal policies of the Indian government as a threat to peace in entire South Asia. They urged the international community to take notice of Indian state terrorism in the territory and settle the Kashmir dispute by the Kashmiris’ aspirations.
Earlier, Last year, during this season, the apple and other farms, sprawling over thousands of hectares, were carpeted under a thick layer of snow, particularly in the upper reaches of south Kashmir, signaling a bountiful harvest. According to Kashmir Media Service report on Sunday, although an erratic weather condition, which was experienced from March to June, impacted various horticulture crops, the farmers by and large harvested a good crop.
However, this year the situation seems diametrically different with a long-drawn-out dry spell becoming a cause of concern for thousands of apple farmers across occupied Jammu and Kashmir. While a good snowfall often holds the promise of quality harvest, its continued absence during the ongoing winter has begun leaving thousands of farmers, particularly the apple cultivators, distraught. “We are deep into Chillai Kalan – the harshest leg of winter – and still there is no snowfall. It is a cause of worry for the farmers’ community,” said Muhammad Ashraf Wani, a fruit grower and former president of Fruit Mandi Shopian.
He said that apart from spurring water shortages, the dry spell would significantly affect the yield and quality. “The warmer temperatures could also precipitate early flowering of stone fruits,” he added. Experts say a significant dip in temperature coupled with a good snowfall is imperative for the quality and good production of apples and other crops.
Many growers from south and north Kashmir districts said that they were anxiously waiting for snowfall. Kashmir produces around two million metric tonnes of apples annually. The industry provides livelihood to more than three million people directly or indirectly. –Agencies
