SRINAGAR In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops have intensified cordon and search operations to harass and intimidate the masses for showing resistance to its illegal hold on the territory. The troops in the cordon and search operations in Srinagar, Badgam, Islamabad, Pulwama and other areas have arrested several youth during last few days. The residents told media that the troops have made their lives a hell. They said the forces’ personnel barge into the houses, harass the inmates and ransack household goods. The people of the Kashmir Valley continued to face tremendous hardships due to unrelenting military lockdown and suspension of broadband and high speed mobile internet on 195th consecutive day, today. Meanwhile, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference sources have said that the occupation authorities have increased the deployment of Indian troops and police personnel around the residence of the ailing Hurriyat Chairman, Syed Ali Gilani, in Hyderpora area of Srinagar. The sources said that the police and troops were not allowing people to visit the veteran leader and even preventing his family members to enter or leave the house. The Secretary General of Washingtonbased World Kashmir Awareness Forum, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, and the Convener of APHC-AJK chapter, Syed Abdullah Gilani, in their statements appealed to the Kashmiris in general and Muslims in particular to pray for the early recovery of Syed Ali Gilani. The occupation authorities booked former officer of Indian Administrative Service and Kashmiri politician, Shah Faesal, under draconian law, Public Safety Act. Shah Faesal has been under detention since August 14, last year. Kashmir Tehreek-e-Khawateen in a statement in Srinagar strongly condemned the cold-blooded murder of prominent leader of Kashmir freedom struggle, Abdul Ghani Dar alias Abdullah Ghazali. Ghazali was found dead in a mosque in Maisuma area of Srinagar and locals said that his assassination was the handiwork of Indian intelligence agencies. Senior Hurriyat leader, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, addressing a gathering in Sopore and the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, in a statement issued in Islamabad paid rich tributes to noted freedom leader, Ghulam Muhammad Bulla, on his martyrdom anniversary, today. Ghulam Muhammad Bulla was arrested by Indian police and killed in custody on this day in 1975 for leading a protest rally in Sopore against Indra-Abdullah Accord. The Delhi-based foreign envoys, who visited occupied Kashmir, have urged the Indian government to swiftly lift the restrictions on communications still imposed in the territory. Virginie Battu-Henriksson, European Union Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told media that the EU would want to see the swift lifting of restrictions on communications in the territory.—KMS
