Hurriyat leaders have once again urged the Kashmiri people to observe August 5 as ‘Youm-e-Istehsal’ (Day of Exploitation), marking the fifth anniversary of India’s Hindutva regime’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the leaders including Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, Advocate Arshad Iqbal, Muhammad Saleem Zargar, Syed Bashir Andrabi, Khawaja Firdous, Muhammad Yousuf Naqash, Advocate Devinder Singh Behl, Ghulam Nabi War, Muhammad Haseeb Wani, Yasmeen Raja, Fareeda Behanji, Muhammad Aqib, and Hafsa Bano have issued statements in Srinagar condemning the move as a severe assault on Kashmiri identity and territorial integrity. They denounced it as a calculated conspiracy to alter the territory’s demographic makeup and strip its people of their resources, jobs, identity, and right to self-determination.

The leaders criticized the Indian government’s settler-colonial policies and anti-Kashmiri laws, calling on the international community to take effective action against India’s actions in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.