In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred six Kashmiri youth in south Kashmir’s Islamabad district, today.
The troops killed the youth during a cordon and search operation at Sekipora in Bijbehara area of the district. The troops also destroyed a residential house in the area. The martyred youth were identified as Azad Ahmed Malik, Basit Ishtiyaq Mir, Anees Shafi Butt, Atif Najar, Firdous Najar and Shahid Bashir. People took to the streets in Shalgund, Kanelwan, Dachnipora, Khanabal and other areas of the district and staged massive demonstrations against the killings. Indian troops and police used brute force to disperse the protesters, triggering severe clashes between the demonstrators and the forces’ personnel. Several people sustained injuries in the forces’ brutal actions.
Tens of thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of the martyred youth in their native areas. Multiple rounds of funeral prayers were held to accommodate the huge rush of the people. The occupation authorities had snapped mobile internet services in Islamabad district and imposed restrictions in several areas of south Kashmir. The authorities also suspended train service in the occupied territory.
Meanwhile, people staged forceful demonstrations in Srinagar, Bandipora, Shopian, Pulwama, Kulgam and other areas on the call of Joint Resistance Leadership against the killing of youth and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader, Mir Hafeezullah, by Indian troops. The demonstrations were led by Hurriyat leaders, Muhammad Yousuf Naqash, Bilal Siddiqi, Showkat Ahmed Bakhshi, Noor Muhammad Kalwal, Khawaja Firdous Wani, Ameer Hamza, Rafique Ahmed Owaisi, Syed Imtiyaz Haydar, Rameez Raja, Meraj-ud-Din Rabbani, Mustafa Sultan, Jan Muhammad Najar, Abdul Ahad Butt, Abdul Rasheed and Mukhtar Ahmed Dar. The JRL has also called for complete shutdown in poll-bound areas on the occasion of polling for the third phase of Panchayat elections, tomorrow, and urged the people to totally boycott the poling. Indian police arrested the leader of Tehreek-e-Wahdate-e-Islami, Muhammad Maqbool Magami in Badgam, today.
A visiting delegation of Norway led by former Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, called on the Joint Resistance Leadership at the Hyderpora residence of APHC Chairman, Syed Ali Gilani in Srinagar, today. During the meeting, Syed Ali Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq apprised the delegation of the gross human rights violations being perpetrated by Indian troops in the territory. Muhammad Yasin Malik could not attend the meeting due to being under detention. The delegation also met Hurriyat leader, Zafar Akbar Butt.
Senior APHC leader and the Chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, in a statement in Srinagar welcomed the adoption of the Pakistan-sponsored draft resolution on right to self-determination by the United Nations General Assembly.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the Mirwaiz led-Hurriyat forum and the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League in their statements expressed concern over the shifting of illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists to Indian jails, terming the action as political vengeance.
