Masood Khan welcomes letters by US Congress members to Indian govt.

ISLAMABAD -- Sardar Muhammad Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has welcomed and appreciated a letter addressed to the Indian government by six members of the US Congress' House Foreign Affairs Committee seeking information about the number of detainees held under the Public Safety Act and demanding that the US Congress members and journalists be allowed free access to the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir to ascertain human rights situation on the ground.

The President thanked members of the US Congress - David Cicilline, Dina Titus, Chrissy Houlahan, Andy Levin, James McGovern and Susan Wild - for their communication in which they have raised pertinent questions about the internet and communication blockade, arrests of local politicians and activists and the imposition of a prolonged curfew.

Sardar Masood Khan said that the number of people of detained after August 5 is public knowledge despite Indian restriction on the media. He cited the findings of the National Federation of Indian Women which reveal that 13,000 boys, some of them as young as 12, 13 and 14 have been detained and have been transferred to prison houses all over India where they have been tortured.

The six US Congress members have also expressed concern that rubber bullets are being used for crowd control and in certain instances, protestors have been blinded by the use of these bullets. They have sought information about such blindings including of children. They have also inquired about the Indian government's steps for ensuring the rights of protestors.

The AJK President also thanked US lawmakers - Ilhan Omar, Ted Yoho, Abigail Spanberger and Michael Fitzpatrick - who expressed deep concern over the human rights situation in IOK and India's conduct in IOK in a hearing on 'Human Rights in South Asia' held by a...

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