In occupied Kashmir, normal life came to a grinding halt due to complete shutdown in the valley of Kashmir and Chenab valley districts of Jammu region against the massacre of the youth carried out by Indian troops in Kulgam, yesterday.
Call for the strike was given by the Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. All shops, business establishments and educational institutions were closed and examinations were postponed across the valley and Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban and Bhadarwa areas of Chenab valley. There was very thin traffic on road while internet and mobile phone services were suspended in most parts of the territory. Meanwhile, a march towards Lal Chowk would be held, tomorrow, to protest against the Kulgam carnage. 10 youth were killed and dozens injured in destruction of a house and firing by troops and in an explosion at Laroo in Kulgma.
The Joint Resistance leadership in a statement issued in Srinagar said that Indian tyranny and oppression had crossed every limit. The leadership said that it would soon send a memorandum to UN General Secretary António Guterres to draw his attention towards unabated killings in the occupied territory due to unresolved Kashmir dispute.
Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi, Maulana Abbas Ansari and other Hurriyat leaders and organizations in their statements condemned the killings and expressed solidarity with the bereaved families.
Indian authorities put Hurriyat leaders Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Hilal Ahmad War, Bilal Ahmad Siddiqui, Zafar Akbar Butt, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza and Muhammad Yasin Atai under house arrest or in jails to prevent them from leading the march towards Lal Chowk, tomorrow.
Students of University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Sopore held a massive protest demonstration against the killing of innocent civilians in Kulgam. The students were holding banners and placards, which read: “Stop innocent killings” and “We Want no jobs No roads, But freedom.” Hundreds of people led by Engineer Abdur Rasheed also staged a protest march in Handwara. Protest rallies were also held in different parts of Azad Kashmir including Muzaffarabad to condemn the killings in occupied Kashmir.
President of Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights Dr Syed Nazir Gilani in a letter addressed to UN Chief António Guterres said that the images coming out of Kashmir of brutalities committed by Indian troops were causing a stir among the Kashmiri diaspora.
In New Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union in a statement condemned the civilian killings in Kulgam and said that BJP government wanted to put Kashmir on fire for its electoral gains inside India.
