Complete shutdown was observed in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, today, against the posting of a blasphemous video about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by a Hindu student from India studying in an institute in Srinagar.
According to Kashmir Media Service, call for the shutdown was given by All Parties Hurriyat Conference and supported by other pro-freedom organizations. The shutdown was also aimed at protesting against illegal arrests, booking of seven Kashmiri students under a draconian law, dismissal of government employees and confiscation of properties of Kashmiris for their affiliation with the freedom struggle.
Shops and business establishments were closed in Srinagar and other major cities and towns of the territory while traffic movement on roads was very thin. At many places Indian troops and police personnel forced the shopkeepers to open their shops in an attempt to give an impression that the situation was normal.
The occupation authorities deployed Indian troops and police personnel in strength across the occupied territory to prevent people from holding protest demonstrations. Despite the heavy presence of Indian forces’ personnel, the students of Kashmir University held a massive demonstration against the blasphemous act of the Hindu student. Indian police locked the Jamia Masjid Srinagar on the 8th consecutive week and prevented people from offering Juma prayers fearing that the congregation at the grand mosque could turn into an anti-India and anti-Israel demonstration. The occupation authorities also put senior APHC leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and noted religious scholar, Agha Syed Mohammad Hadi Al-Moosvi, under house arrest.
Illegally detained APHC Chairman, Masarrat Aalam Butt, in his message from New Delhi’s notorious Tihar Jail said the heinous act of the Hindu student is part of the attempts by Hindutva followers to hurt the sentiments of the Muslims of occupied Kashmir. He demanded strict action against the student involved in this atrocious act. Senior APHC leader, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi, addressing a gathering in Badgam strongly condemned the sacrilegious act of the student.
Meanwhile, the data released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, today, revealed that Indian troops in their unabated acts of state terrorism martyred 15 Kashmiris during the last month of November in occupied Kashmir. The killings rendered 3 women widowed and 17 children orphaned. Indian troops, paramilitary, police personnel, the notorious National Investigation Agency and State Investigation Agency arrested 368 people, mostly youth, activists and students and booked many of them under black laws during cordon and search operations and house raids in the month. The troops also destroyed 5 residential houses during the period.—KMS
