Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian troops have intensified cordon and search operations across the territory and arrested hundreds of people ahead of so-called District Development Councils and Panchayat elections.
The polling for the first phase of the eight-phased elections for DDC and vacant seats of panchayat is being held tomorrow. Indian troops and police personnel have been carrying on CASOs in Srinagar, Badgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Bandipora, Kupwara, Pulwama, Islamabad, Kulgam, Shopian, Doda, Kishtwar, Samba, Poonch, Rajouri and other areas of the territory for the past several days. The residents of these areas told media that the troops have arrested hundreds of people during these operations. People staged a demonstration against arrest of youth in Dargam area of Pulwama. Indian police during a raid at the house of Ummat-e-Islami Chairman, Qazi Ahmed Yasir, in Islamabad town, harassed and misbehaved with his family members.
Hurriyat leaders and organizations including Abdul Samad Inqilabi, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Political Movement, Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-Islami and Jammu and Kashmir Civil Society Forum, in their statements in Srinagar strongly condemned the arrest spree unleashed by the authorities in the territory.
Meanwhile, posters issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League in various areas of Srinagar and Pulwama urged the people to boycott the sham polls. Hurriyat leader, Jahangir Ghani Butt, addressing a meeting in Srinagar said Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and so-called elections by India in the territory cannot be an alternative to the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.
The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, Shabbir Ahmed Dar, in a statement in Srinagar expressed concern over the continued killing of innocent civilians due to the unprovoked firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The occupation authorities have extended ban on high speed internet services till December 11, 2020. The high speed internet remains suspended in IIOJK since August 05, last year, when the Modi-led fascist Indian government repealed the special status of the territory and put it under military siege.
On the other hand, people belonging to different walks of life in IIOJK told Kashmir Media Service that the BJP-led communal regime repealed Roshni Act in the territory to render Muslim particularly those living in Jammu, landless. They said that the Roshni Act was abrogated because through it mostly Muslim communities got ownership rights in Hindu-majority Jammu division. They said, Modi regime was applying every tactic to turn Muslim majority of IIOJK into a minority.
In Islamabad, the APHC-AJK chapter in a condolence meeting, today, expressed profound grief and sorrow over the sad demise of the wife of senior Hurriyat leader, Maulana Abbas Ansari.—KMS
