In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian troops and police continued their violent cordon and search operations and house raids in different areas of the territory, today, subjecting the people to intimidation and harassment.
The troops and police personnel conducted search operations and house raids in different areas of Srinagar, Badgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Islamabad, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian districts and took many people into custody. The residents of several areas told the media that the forces’ personnel barged into the residential houses, abused the inmates and vandalized the household goods.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader, Syed Bashir Andrabi, in a statement issued in Srinagar said the people of Kashmir are engaged in a peaceful struggle to achieve freedom from Indian yoke but New Delhi is using brutal tactics to prolong its illegal hold on Jammu and Kashmir. He urged the international community to take cognizance of the unabated killing spree unleashed by Indian troops in IIOJK.
Meanwhile, the New Delhi Delhi-controlled State Investigation Agency has summoned the acting Editor of Srinagar-based news portal, The Kashmir Walla, Yashraj Sharma in connection with a case related to publication of an article in the magazine in 2011. The article titled, “The shackles of slavery will break,” was written by a Kashmiri author, Abdul Aala Fazili, who is also under illegal detention. The Editor-in-Chief of the Kashmir Walla, Fahad Shah, is already facing unlawful detention under draconian laws Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Public Safety Act. He was booked for publishing the narrative of the families of some fake encounter victims, which was in conflict with the Indian police version.
Several Indian soldiers were injured, some of them critically, in an explosion in Shopian district, today. The explosion took place inside a private vehicle, which was hired by the troops in Sedow area of the district.
On the other hand, succumbing to the pressure of Hindutva groups, the authorities of Sri Varshney College in Aligarh district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh sent a Muslim professor on enforced leave for offering prayers in the college. Hindutva groups demanded action against the associate professor Dr Shah Raziq Khalid after a video emerged on social media showing him offering namaz on the lawns of the college.
An FIR against Muslim journalist and co-founder Alt News Muhammad Zubair has been filed in Khairabad police station in Uttar Pradesh for his tweet calling militant Hindutva leaders – Yati Narasinghanand, Mahant Bajrang Muni and Anand Swaroop, hate-mongers. These Hindu extremist leaders have a long history of hate speeches.—KMS
