In occupied Kashmir, complete shutdown will be observed in all poll-bound areas of Kalaroos, Machil, Rajwar, Ganstan, Nowgam, Sangrama, Wagoora, Kangan and Rathsun, Bijbehara during the second phase of so-called panchayat elections in the territory, tomorrow.
Call for the strike has been given by the Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. The leadership in a joint statement issued in Srinagar, today, asked people to demonstrate total rejection of this futile exercise by staying indoors on the day.
Indian police arrested Muhammad Yasin Malik during a raid on his party office at Abi Guzar in Srinagar, today. He was lodged in Kothi Bagh police station. Before his arrest, Muhammad Yasin Malik participated in the congregational prayers held in the memory of Aali Kadal martyrs at Martyrs’ Graveyard, Eid-Gah in Srinagar, today. He also participated in a blood donation camp organized by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation at Abi-Guzar in the city.
The authorities shifted as many as twenty three Kashmiri political detainees including ailing senior APHC leader Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori from Kotbhalwal and Kathua jails in Jammu to jails in Haryana in India. This was disclosed by Sajjad Ahmad, the son of Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, who citing Kotbhalwal jail administration told media in Srinagar that his father along with 22 other detainees were shifted to Haryana jails, overnight.
Senior Hurriyat leaders and organizations including Syed Ali Gilani, Muhammad Yasin Malik and Jamaat-e-Islami in their separate statements condemned the move and demanded immediate shifting of the detainees to the Valley. Syed Ali Gilani said the transfer of Kashmiri political detainees like ailing Ghulam Mohammad Khan Sopori to Haryana jail is nothing but a clear manifestation of political victimization.
The Chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai in a statement paid glorious tributes to the martyrs, Yawar Wani and Nawaz Ahmed, who were killed by Indian troops during a cordon and search operation at Zainapora in Shopian, yesterday.
Former Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh in an interview in New Delhi while admitting the disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir said that it was India’s mistake to move the United Nations on the Kashmir issue. He said the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was pushed into it by Governor General Mountbatten.
