Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and other Hurriyat organizations have reiterated call for shutdown on Thursday to pay homage to over 50 innocent Kashmiris on the 31st anniversary of January 1990 Gaw Kadal massacre.
The APHC spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said that Gaw Kadal and other such massacres reminded the notorious Jalianwala carnage, perpetrated by the then British government in India. Senior Hurriyat leader, Ghulam Mohammad Khan Sopori, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, Jammu and Kashmir National Front, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Association in their statements termed the tragedy as the darkest chapter in the history of illegal occupation of the territory. They deplored that despite the passage of three decades, the victims were still awaiting justice.
An analytical report released by Kashmir Media Service, today, said that memories of as many as five major massacres that took place in the month of January over a span of eight years starting 1990 are still fresh in Kashmiris’ minds. The report said that as many as 634 people were killed and property worth billions of rupees was ruined in around 30 massacres carried out by Indian forces since January 1990 till date. Besides, tens of thousands of Muslims were butchered in Jammu by Indian Army and Hindu fanatics in November 1947. Citing fiery statements of BJP leaders and ministers of Modi-led fascist Indian government coupled with warnings by international human rights organizations particularly the Genocide Watch, the report feared that BJP-RSS nexus was planning more such bloodsheds in occupied Kashmir.
Meanwhile, police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in strength in Bellow area of Pulwama district to prevent a protest demonstration, called by the family of Athar Wani, the teenage victim of Srinagar fake encounter. All roads leading to the area were blocked with the deployment of armoured vehicles. However, the family members managed to hold a protest which was led by Athar’s father, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani. Police arrested two youth during a raid on Srinagar-Jammu highway in Ramban district.
Indian government has constituted a committee to conduct the auction of 13 structures to facilitate the construction of separate colonies in the name of transit accommodation for Kashmiri Pandit employees in Baramulla district.
Noted editor and owner of Srinagar-based Urdu daily ‘Wadi ki Awaaz’, Ghulam Nabi Shaida, passed away in Srinagar. APHC General Secretary Molvi Bashir Ahmad, Shabbir Ahmed Dar, Mohammad Ahsan Untoo, Mehmood Ahmad Saghar and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in their separate statements expressed condolences over his demise.—KMS
