Moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Saturday termed the prevailing political situation in Jammu and Kashmir extremely worrying and disturbing and said the additional deployment of forces in the Valley has created an atmosphere of panic and insecurity among the people.

The separatist amalgam, quoting newspaper reports, said in severe cold, people are being subject to regular stoppage and frisking on roads by the security forces who have set up roadblocks all over the city and towns causing great harassment to the public.

The prevailing political situation in Jammu and Kashmir is extremely worrying and disturbing. The large-scale additional deployment of armed forces in cities and towns has created an atmosphere of panic and insecurity among the people. Besides, the policy of arrests, raids, killings and severe human rights violations continues unabated, the Hurriyat said in a statement issued here. Crackdowns are also routinely carried out in various areas and men and women paraded indiscriminately and being subject to harassment, it said.

The Hurriyat said the humanitarian and political crisis in Kashmir keeps worsening with passing time and unless the conflict is addressed to be resolved , it is unlikely that the situation will change for the better.

It also criticised authorities for forcibly preventing Muslims of the valley from offering Friday prayers at Jammu and Kashmir's largest place of worship -- the Jama Masjid in Srinagar -- from August 6, 2021. The religious sentiments of the people were being severely hurt by these measures, it added.

The amalgam also demanded the release of its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who continues to be under house detention since August 5, 2019, when the Centre revoked J-K's special status and other separatist leaders including Mohammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Shahid-ul-Islam and Aasiya Andrabi.