In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, protest demonstrations and candlelight marches were held in the valley against the deteriorating law and order situation in the territory. One such demonstration was held in Main town Shopian which saw participation of hundreds of general public of the district.
Protest demonstrations and candlelight marches were held in Kupwara and Bandipora districts in north Kashmir and Shopian district in the south against the new spate of killings including that of a Kashmiri Pandit, Puran Krishan Bhat. General public who participated in the long candle light march across the town shouted slogans against the innocent civilian killings.
Similar demonstrations were held in all three major towns of Bandipora, Sumbal and Gurez. Number of persons including civil society members, traders associations and others participated in the evening marches. The participants raised slogans against the failure of the administration in preventing the killings.
Later, the participants held candle marches at Bandipora, Sumbal and Gurez along prominent chowks of the respective towns. In Kupwara, a rally started from Fountain Point Derzipora Kupwara, went through by pass road and culminated at DC Office Kupwara. Slogans like “Stop Innocent Killings” and “Stop Terrorism in Kashmir” were written on banners.
It is worth mentioning here that killing of innocent Kashmiris in fake encounters and cordon and search operations by Indian troops and in some targeted attacks has increased manifold since the Modi regime revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in August 2019.—KMS
