In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat forum, and Hurriyat leaders and or-ganizations have strongly denounced the use of brute force by Indian police on Muharram mourners in Srinagar, terming it interference in the religious affairs of the Muslims.
Several mourners were injured when Indian po-lice subjected the participants of a Muharram pro-cession to teargas shelling, pellet firing and lathi-charge in Jahangir Chowk area of Srinagar on Tues-day.
The police also arrested dozens of mourners on the occasion. The police also thrashed more than a dozen media persons who were covering the proces-sion and police atrocities on the mourners.
The APHC spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar termed the use of brute force on mourners and arrest of dozens during the Muharram proces-sion as blatant interference in religious matters.
He said India has usurped all basic freedoms of the people of IIOJK including the religious freedom.
The spokesman also denounced police raids on the residences of Hurriyat leaders and activists in the length and breadth of IIOJK and sought intervention by the international community to stop New Delhi from committing war crimes against humanity in the occupied territory.
The Hurriyat forum led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a statement issued in Srinagar strongly denounced the police brutality against the mourners and media persons.
It said that through forcible closure of mosques and other places of worship, banning religious gatherings, processions and events and instead ruthlessly beating up people who stand up for their religious rights in the garb of COVID concerns, the authorities completely expose them-selves.
The same authorities force public participa-tion in official functions and events that they hold with scant COVID concern or following the proto-cols, it said.
The statement said official diktats are enforced to ensure people participate in official events and are threatened with consequences otherwise.
But religious places are barred to public, even though all COVID SOPs are in place and bans are forcibly executed, it deplored..—KMS
