India never respected the autonomy of occupied Kashmir, says Riz Ahmed

British actor and activist of Pakistani descent, Riz Ahmed is the latest celebrity to express his concern over the on-going situation in occupied Kashmir.

He took to Instagram and condemned India’s recent decisions to revoke the special status of occupied Kashmir. “Article 370 of the Indian constitution, guaranteeing the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, has never been respected and has always been a sham,” the actor wrote.

“For starters, direct rule by Delhi has been imposed 8 times since 1977, and Kashmir has been subjected to the most intense occupation on Earth (soldier per capita),” Ahmed added.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist star called out India for not respecting the constitutional autonomy of occupied Kashmir and termed it as a root cause of the conflict. “The centre’s lack of respect for the constitutional autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir is the root cause of the conflict,” he wrote.

On Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the bill in the upper house of the Indian parliament to scrap Article 370 from the constitution amid opposition members’ protest.

Ahmed continued “This latest move makes the status quo official, and will make the issue much worse in the short and long term. It will worsen the security situation in the valley, damage India’s reputation abroad, and makes Indian soldiers less not more safe – not to mention the horrors that will continue to be visited in Kashmir’s population.”

In another post, Riz shared an article by Amnesty International to back his statements. The international rights group said in a statement that India’s unilateral move to revoke Kashmir’s special status will increase the risk of further human rights violations.

Other celebrities also voiced out their opinions on social media on the Kashmir issue.