Srinagar
In occupied Kashmir, the family members of missing PhD scholar, Basit Hilal, once again staged a protest in Srinagar to seek his whereabouts.
The protesters including women and children were carrying placards which read that Basit Hilal was subjected to enforced disappearance by occupational forces.
Basit who had gone along with his friends in Naranag area of Ganderbal, last week, for trekking went missing. His relatives believe that he was either picked up by Indian troops and Indian Army-backed men.
The protesters refuted the police claim that Basit Hilal had joined armed struggle. “Even if has joined armed struggle, police should cooperate with us and help us in tracing him,” said one of Basit’s relatives told media men during the protest.
The relatives said that on one hand, policy say they are looking for Basit Hilal, and on the other, the same police claim that he has joined the armed struggle, making the disappearance of Basit suspicious.—KMS