Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat forum and other pro-freedom leaders have strongly denounced the custodial murder of a youth in Sopore and brutal killing of a woman and three other youth in Srinagar by Indian police and troops.
A youth, Irfan Ahmed was murdered in custody by Indian police in Tujjer Sharief area of Sopore while a woman and three youth were brutally killed by Indian troops in Batamaloo area of Srinagar.
The Hurriyat forum in a statement issued in Srinagar termed the killings as gruesome acts by the Indian forces. It said that the incidents of killing of Kashmiris by Indian police and troops continued unabated for the past thirty years. The Hurriyat forum also welcomed the statement of UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in which he called for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute. It said that the UN should ensure settlement of the Kashmir dispute through dialogue between Pakistan and India as per the wishes of people of Jammu and Kashmir. The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Youth Social Forum, Umar Aadil Dar, in a statement in Srinagar also welcomed the UN Chief’s statement on Kashmir.
Hurriyat leaders, Farida Bahenji and Yasmeen Raja and Executive Director of a human rights organization Voice of Victims, Abdul Qadeer Dar, in their statements in Srinagar termed the killing of Irfan Ahmed Dar and Kausar Sofi as the worst examples of Indian state terrorism in the occupied territory.
Senior Hurriyat leader, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, and delegations of Jammu and Kashmir Youth Social Forum visited Islamabad, Tangmarg, Baramulla, Bandipora and Srinagar areas and expressed solidarity with the families of the youth martyred by Indian troops during this month.
Meanwhile, Batamaloo and its adjoining areas remained shut against the killing of the woman and youth. The occupation authorities continued to suspend internet service in Sopore.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference spokesman in a statement in Srinagar paid rich tributes to prominent martyred freedom leader, Aijaz Ahmed Dar, on his 32nd martyrdom anniversary. Aijaz Dar was martyred by Indian troops on this day in 1988.
In Muzaffarabad, a sit-in protest and a rally were held by the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights Jammu and Kashmir against the surge in Indian state terrorism including killing of innocent Kashmiris by Indian troops in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing the demonstrators over phone from Srinagar, the Chairman of International Forum for Justice and Human Rights Jammu and Kashmir, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, said that India was systematically killing the Kashmiri youth to suppress the Kashmiris’ ongoing struggle for securing their right to self-determination.
Hurriyat AJK leaders at a condolence reference held at the office of APHC-AJK chapter in Islamabad paid rich tributes to prominent Kashmiri intellectual, Engineer Abdul Majeed Butt, who recently passed away in Saudi Arabia. The Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Young Mens League, Zahid Ashraf, in a statement in Islamabad condemned the fresh spate of killings by Indian troops in IIOJK.—KMS
