SRINAGAR In occupied Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders and organizations have strongly condemned the killing of three civilians including a woman and a child in India’s artillery fire in Kupwara district. Senior APHC leader and President of Jammu and Kashmir Anjuman Sharie Shian, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi AlSafvi, in a statement issued in Srinagar expressed grief over the loss of lives. He said the unending war has a devastating effect on the lives of the Kashmiri people. He urged both India and Pakistan to work for restoration of peace and termed the situation at the Line of Control “not in interest of anyone at a time when the whole world is fighting the coronavirus pandemic.” Jammu and Kashmir Youth Social Forum (JKYSF) Chairman, Umar Aadil Dar, in a statement issued in Srinagar while denouncing India’s military adventurism urged New Delhi to desist from military adventurism and show maturity to peacefully resolve the Kashmir dispute in its historical perspective. He said the root cause of tension between the two nuclear-armed neighboring countries, Pakistan and India, is the lingering Kashmir dispute. He expressed concern over the escalation of tension on the LOC, relentless killing of youth and civilians, arbitrary arrests, harassment and torture of young boys and imposition of curfews and restrictions in occupied Kashmir. Umar Adil Dar said India will have to shun its military approach in dealing with the Kashmiri people and initiate serious steps towards resolving the lingering Kashmir dispute. Meanwhile, the Vice President of Jammu and Kashmir Pir Panjal Peace Foundation, Khawaja Aijaz Madani, in a statement issued in Jammu said that the people of occupied Kashmir had been facing immense hardships due to strict military lockdown since August 05, last year. He said that the miseries of the people of the occupied territory increase manifold after the occupation authorities intensified the restrictions in the name of preventing the spread of coronavirus.—KMS
