Pak asks international community to urge India to free political prisoners in Kashmir

Pakistan on Sunday asked the international community to urge India to release all political prisoners in Kashmir and allow unfettered access to medical and other essential supplies there. The Foreign Office in a statement alleged that thousands of Kashmiri youth, members of civil society, journalists and Kashmiri leaders were in prisons, many of them at undisclosed locations and away from their families.

It asked the international community to "urgently demand from India the lifting of communication restrictions and allowing unfettered access to medical and other essential supplies." "The Indian government must also be urged to immediately allow release of all political prisoners from Indian jails," it added. Tensions between India and Pakistan have spiked since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August last year. India's decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of the Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.