Srinagar
In occupied Kashmir, the authorities imposed strict curfew, today, to prevent people from offering funeral prayers in absentia for the mujahid commander, Riyaz Naikoo, and other youth martyred by Indian troops during military operations in the territory.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference had called for holding of the funeral prayers in absentia and anti-India demonstrations to pay tributes to the martyred youth. As per the protest calendar issued by the APHC, people have been asked to call for prayers [azan] on their rooftops after Isha prayers on Sunday to invoke Allah’s help for the emancipation from Indian occupation and coronavirus.
The occupation authorities deployed Indian troops and police personnel in every nook and corner of the occupied territory to keep the people indoor.
The forces’ personnel blocked all roads and lanes with razor wire to restrict the public movement. However, despite strict curfew, people in small numbers in local mosques offered funeral prayers in absentia for Riyaz Niakoo and other martyrs and paid rich tributes to them.
The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League leaders, Molvi Ahmad Rathar and Professor Ahmed Sheikh, visited the house of Riyaz Naikoo in Pulwama and expressed solidarity with his family. On the occasion, they deplored that India had waged a war against the innocent people of occupied Kashmir. Hurriyat leaders and organizations including Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, Firdous Ahmed Shah, Jammu and Kashmir National Front, and former General Secretary of Kashmir High Court Bar Association, GN Shaheeen, in their statements paid glowing tributes to Riyaz Naikoo and other martyred youth. They said that the sacred blood of the Kashmiri martyrs would not go waste and the day was not far when the dawn of freedom would rise in Kashmir.
A media report said that while high-speed internet was helping people to guard against coronavirus across the world, ban on the service was preventing the residents of occupied Kashmir from learning or sharing important information about the disease.
On the other hand, a joint statement issued at a Kashmir conference held simultaneously in Brussels and London through video link said that as the world was engaged in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, India was shamelessly exploiting this crisis situation to unleash its terror against the youth in occupied Kashmir. The ‘COVID-19 Kashmir Youth Conference’ was organized by Kashmir Youth Assembly and Organisation of Kashmir Coalition and the speakers included Shiraz Yoonus, National Coordinator Muslim Affairs to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka; Marina Zucca, Expert in International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law; Nasir Mohammed, Police Advisor, General Council Brussels City; Sardar Hussain Ibrahim Khan, Member of AJK Legislative Assembly, and Kashmiri representatives, Sardar Usman Attique Khan, Professor Nazir Ahmed Shawl, Barrister Abdul Majeed Tramboo, Yaser Ahmad and Zubair Awan.
The President of Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights, Dr Syed Nazir Gilani, in a letter sent to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged her to take urgent cognizance of killing of the Kashmiri youth under the cover of curfew and the massive abuse of human rights by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir.—KMS
