Indian troops,in Indian occupied Kashmir, martyred six more youth during a fresh act of state terrorism in Kupwara district.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the youth were killed in a siege and search operation in Keran area of the district, early morning. The killing of youth came at a time when the Indian government had announced a so-called ceasefire in the occupied territory.
The Chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir and senior leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai in a statement issued in Srinagar said that occupation authorities were victimizing people for their involvement in pro-freedom activities. He denounced the continued arrest of three elderly people from Handwara, Haji Ghulam Hassan Khan, Abdul Ghani Butt and Muhammad Maqbool Pir by Indian police.
The people of Yambar Zalwari area of Sopore staged a protest outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla, against the cruelties perpetrated by the Indian troops. The protesters said that troops from a camp in the area had besieged the village by blocking all its roads for traffic. They said that even patients were not allowed to visit nearby Sopore hospital, while students and teachers were not attending schools due to the continued blockade of the village.
People in Tral and Awantipora areas of Pulwama district complained that Indian troops subjected them to random searches and frisking in the holy month of Ramadan. They questioned the usefulness of so-called ceasefire when people were made to suffer on roads.
Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Chairman Shabbir Ahmed Dar in a statement in Srinagar said that any offer for talks by India would carry no weight unless New Delhi clearly showed its intent to resolve the lingering dispute over Jammu and Kashmir. Zamrooda Habib addressing a party meeting in Srinagar said that the settlement of the Kashmir dispute was imperative for progress and prosperity in the South Asian region.
Pro-India politician and former puppet Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah in a media interview in Srinagar said that India should come up with a concrete proposal for the resolution of the Kashmir issue before any formal talks with Hurriyat leadership. He said that New Delhi was just trying to hoodwink the people of Kashmir and the world community to ward off the international pressure for settlement of the Kashmir issue.
