Posts Tagged ‘Indian-controlled Kashmir’

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Kashmir police threaten to shoot curfew violators

October 7, 2008

Indian authorities threaten to shoot violators of curfew in Kashmir to prevent rally

AIJAZ HUSSAIN | AP News, Oct 06, 2008 05:47 EST

Police warned Monday they would shoot any violators of a curfew imposed in Indian-controlled Kashmir to prevent a large pro-independence rally planned later in the day.

Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear drove through neighborhoods and went to people’s homes warning them to stay indoors, said Ghulam Nabi, a resident of Nowhatta district in Srinagar, the main city in India’s only Muslim-majority state.

In recent months the disputed Himalayan region has seen some of its largest protests against Indian rule in two decades. At least 45 people have died in the unrest, most of them killed when Indian soldiers opened fire on Muslim demonstrators.

While streets in Srinagar were largely deserted, hundreds of protesters defied the curfew in Baramulla, a town 35 miles north of Srinagar. Government forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and no one was injured, said Abdul Gani Mir, a senior police officer.

Reyaz Ahmed, a local resident, said by telephone that authorities entered homes, smashed windows and beat residents. Mir said police were looking into the allegations.

Several hundred people also defied the curfew in the nearby village of Rafiabad, but later dispersed peacefully.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Indian-administered Kashmir, where most people favor independence from mainly Hindu India or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

Separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule, leaving an estimated 68,000 people, mostly civilians, dead.

Indian police and paramilitary forces also prevented people from visiting mosques for Monday morning prayers in Srinagar and other places in the region, residents said. Shops, schools and businesses shut for the day.

Police announced over loudspeakers they would shoot anyone found violating the curfew, residents said.

“People should not violate the curfew, it’s an offense,” warned B. Srinivas, inspector-general of state police.

The recent demonstrations subsided during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended Sept. 30. But separatist leaders sought to rekindle the protests with a huge rally Monday at Lal Chowk, a central square in Srinagar.

Authorities announced a curfew across the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley on Sunday.

Police also arrested Mohammed Yasin Malik, a key separatist leader, on Saturday and put another top leader, Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, under house arrest, Srinivas said.

“By imposing the curfew, India’s false claims of democracy and freedom of expression are exposed,” Farooq told The Associated Press by telephone.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, which both claim the region and have fought two wars over it.

Source: AP News

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Indefinite curfew imposed in Indian-controlled Kashmir

October 6, 2008
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GK NEWS NETWORK

Srinagar, Oct 5:  All major towns and tehsils in the Kashmir valley were brought under indefinite curfew early today in wake of ‘Lal Chowk Chalo’ call for Monday by the Coordination Committee.
Official sources said curfew was imposed from 0430 hrs in the morning to prevent people from participating in the ‘Lal Chowk Chalo’ march called by the Coordination Committee (CC), spearheading the present movement in the valley.   The CC is demanding, among other things, opening of all cross-Line of Control(LoC) roads for trade and free movement, release of all detenues and revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which provides impunity to the  troopers operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
After holding five well-attended rallies from August 11 to August 22, Coordination Committee had initially called for ‘Lalchowk Chalo’ on August 25 but the government on August 23 clamped the curfew in all ten districts of the Valley for nearly 11 days and arrested more than 100 second-rung  pro-freedom leaders during the curfew period. Many arrested leaders were booked under Public Safety Act and shifted outside the Valley.
Coordination Committee had postponed ‘Lalchowk Chalo’ for over a month in wake of holy month of Ramadhan.
Situation peaceful: Police
There was no report of any violation of curfew in the Valley, including Srinagar city. “The situation was by and large peaceful in all parts of the Valley and no violation was reported till late in the evening,” a police spokesman said.
However, reports said that a minor clash between the youth and policemen broke out at Nowahata in old city this morning. “The youth were dispersed and situation was brought under control within few minutes,” official sources said.
Pro-freedom demonstration in Varmul
Scores of youth defied curfew at old town Varmul in north Kashmir on Sunday and staged a pro-freedom demonstration.
Witnesses told Greater Kashmir youth raising pro-freedom slogans marched through the bye lanes of the old town this afternoon. However after the march protesters dispersed off peacefully.
Minor clash in Kulgam
Reports said that hundreds of youth tried taking out a pro-freedom demonstration at Kulgam in south Kashmir on Sunday morning. “Policemen and troopers intercepted the protesters and resorted to baton charge to disperse them.  Protesters were dispersed and no one was injured in the police action,” official sources said.
Lal Chowk sealed
The historic Lal Chowk was sealed last night from all the sides. Besides, the CRPF and policemen had also been deployed in strength in the civil lines to prevent any gathering there, official sources said.
All the routes leading to Lal Chwok were sealed. Tin sheets and barbed wire were put around Ganta Ghar (Clock tower).
Gulmarg under curfew
Law enforcing agencies imposed curfew strictly in famous health resort of Gulmarg on Sunday. Reports said that policemen and troopers asked the shopkeepers not to open their shops and the tourists who were present in the health resort were directed to remain inside the hotels, and the huts they were putting up in. “This is for the first time that curfew had been enforced so strictly in Gulmarg,” a caller from the health resort told Greater Kashmir over phone.
He said that tourists present in Gulmarg were facing severe hardships due to curfew.

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Kashmiri leader seeks special UN meet on Kashmir

October 4, 2008

Geelani seeks special UN meet on Kashmir

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Greater Kashmir News Network

Srinagar, Oct 3: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has sought a special United Nations session to discuss the present situation in Kashmir.

Applauding the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) for supporting the Kashmir cause, the veteran pro-freedom leader asked the body to do more by writing to the United Nation’s secretary general for convening a session on Kashmir.

“We welcome OIC statements which openly express support for the struggle of the people of Kashmir. But people of Jammu and Kashmir want more from the OIC. And time has come when it should do something concrete,” Geelani said in a statement. He said the OIC should write to the UN secretary general Bon Ki Moon and ask him to convene a special session on Kashmir.

The present condition in Kashmir, Geelani said, has necessitated the need for such a session. “Unarmed protesters are being crushed by the Indian troops and the paramilitary forces in Kashmir and they (troops) have crossed all limits and civilized norms,” Geelani alleged.

Strongly opposing handing over of land of joinery mill Pampore to paramilitary forces, Geelani said ‘such moves give credence to our doubts that the Government of India was turning Kashmir into a big garrison.’

Asking people to make Lal Chowk march successful, Geelani said on October 6 people should move towards Lal Chowk without any fear. He asked people to carry black flags with them.

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CCS protest against enforced disappearances in Kashmir

September 28, 2008

Source: Kashmir Watch
Amin Masoodi

SRINAGAR, Sep 27: Seeking the whereabouts of disappeared persons in Kashmir valley, Coalition of Civil Societies (CCS), today staged a sit-in at Sher-i-Kashmir Park here. CCS, is a body pursuing the cases of persons who have gone missing during past 20 years of turmoil in Kashmir.

The relatives of missing persons from different parts of valley were wearing “disappeared” bands on their heads and staged silent a sit-in, demanding the whereabouts of missing persons. They said, their relatives have been subjected to enforced disappearance and the successive governments have maintained a criminal silence on this issue.

This ‘dharna’ by the CCS representing the disappeared persons though was held every month but due to the Amaranth land row and subsequent protest demonstrations, it was held today after more than two months.

The relatives also included children and women, who were carrying the pictures of disappeared persons and banners seeking the whereabouts of these persons. Talking to reporters, spokesman of civil societies, Ghulam Nabi Mir claimed that since the imposition of Governor’s rule in the state, at least six persons have been subjected to enforced disappearance.

He said that police has not even registered the missing report of Khaliq-ul Haq, Shafiq Ahmad of Rajouri, Abdul Khaliq Sheikh of Beerwah, Mukhtar Ahmad Rather Ajas of Bandipora, Zahoor Ahmad Poshwari of Machil, and Tariq Ahmad.

Spokesman of CCS said that the participation of PDP and NC leaders in recently held International conferences on human rights in some countries was shocking as thousands of people have been subjected to enforced disappearance during the reign of these parties.
“NC leader, Abdul Rahim Rather criticized the special powers given to the security forces in the state and also shed crocodile tears on disappearances here. From 1996 to 2002, at least four thousand people disappeared and the party also created SOG and Ikhwan forces only to commit excesses on people,” he said adding that notorious pro-government gunmen, Papa Kishtawari killed many people in Pampore alone and has been charge sheeted now.
He said that during the tenure of PDP and Congress, at least 175 and 111 people went missing. He alleged that after a report on mass graves was made public on March 28, the office bearers of CCS were being harassed and the mainstream politicians, who had claimed to raise the issue in parliament, have maintained criminal silence.

[Kashmir Times]

[KW Note: Jammu and Kashmir is the U.N. recognized disputed state under the illegal occupation of India.

Since 1988, the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir has been hit by confrontation between Kashmiri Freedom Fighters and the Indian Military, which has resulted in more than One hundred thousand of deaths. Unofficial sources put the number of Indian troops deployed in the state to seven hundred thousand.

Local human rights group, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS) has reported that 8 to 10 thousand had disappeared in the U.N. recognised disputed state since the armed resistance against Indian rule.]

Posted on 28 Sep 2008 by Webmaster

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Kashmiri leader: Make October 6 protest march a success

September 27, 2008

Make Lal Chowk march a success: Geelani

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Not Allowed To Offer Friday Prayers Again

FAHEEM ASLAM | Greater Kashmir

Srinagar, Sep 26: Veteran pro-freedom leader and the chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G), Syed Ali Geelani, on Friday urged people to participate in the march to Lal Chowk on October 6 to show the world that Kashmiris were united in their struggle for right to self-determination.

Talking to Greater Kashmir this afternoon, Geelani said, “People from every nook and corner of the Valley should ensure their presence at Lal Chowk on October 6. They should follow the coordination committee’s call as they have been doing so far.”

Geelani stressed that people should be peaceful during the march and only raise the relevant slogans. “The more peaceful people would be, the more world attraction it will evoke,” he said. “It is therefore necessary that people should march peacefully and abandon from provocative sloganeering.”
Geelani was scheduled to offer prayers at Hazratbal, but was not allowed by the police as the leader continues to be under house arrest for the past 19 days.

He said every participant in the march should carry black flags with ‘we want right to self-determination’ written on it. “There should be no banners of any party or any organisation. People must follow the directions in letter and spirit.”

He said the slogans to be raised should be: “Hum Kya Chahtay Azadi, Islam Zindabad, Shohada Kay Waaris Zinday Hai and Awwaz Do Hum Ek Hain.”
Geelani urged people to go for a social boycott of the pro-India leaders who are desperate to see elections taking place in Jammu and Kashmir. “Kashmir is not the issue of elections or governance. It is an internationally recognized dispute which must be resolved as per the wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Geelani said it was unfortunate to see some pro-India leaders advocating elections at a time when the whole Valley is up in arms against India. “Kashmir issue is the issue of India’s illegal occupation of Kashmir and not about elections. Kashmir is not a border dispute between India and Pakistan.”

Geelani reiterated that right to self-determination was the only solution to Kashmir dispute. “It is our obligation to free ourselves from the Indian occupation. The recent protests have given a new dimension to the freedom struggle and it is great to observe our youth realizing their insecurity under the Indian occupation,” Geelani said.

Geelani said it was shocking that he was not allowed to offer any Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadhan. “It is my 20th day under house arrest and it is painful to observe that I am being barred from offering prayers,” Geelani said.

Meanwhile, Hurriyat (G) acting general secretary, Pir Saifullah addressed a mammoth gathering at Hazratbal shrine here, urging people to stand united in the struggle for freedom. “Anything short of self-determination is not acceptable to us as solution to Kashmir dispute. This basic right must be given to the people of Kashmir,” Saifullah said.

Saifuallah urged people to make the march to Lal Chowk on October 6 successful to show the world that Kashmiris were united. Saifullah strongly condemned the house arrest of Syed Ali Geelani, who was scheduled to address people at Hazratbal today.

Flanked by some other Hurriyat (G) leaders, Saifullah asserted that if Geelani was not released from house arrest before Eid-ul-Fitr, lakhs of people would offer themselves for arrest as a mark of protest.

Saifullah condemned what he called the daily police excesses on Kashmiris. “I wonder where these policemen will live when we will achieve freedom. The police excesses on Kashmiris must stop forthwith,” he said.

He said more than 80 Kashmiris have been killed in police action in the past two months. “In Jammu, police uses rubber bullets to break the violent protests, but when it comes to Kashmir, people are ruthlessly killed for holding peaceful protests,” Saifullah said.

He said unity among pro-freedom leaders was the need of the hour.
Later, Saifullah led a peaceful pro-freedom demonstration at Hazratbal. The demonstration was attended by thousands of people who raised pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.

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Kashmir Countdown

September 21, 2008

Source:  Kashmir Watch

Anil Raina chronicles the recurrence of Kashmir’s freedom cries from generation next

Protestors pelting stones at policemen in down town Srinagar


Till last summer, Kashmir had managed to reclaim its status of a tourist’s hub. Hotels were booked till year end, business was picking up after years of turmoil and it seemed that good times were returning to the Valley.

People were coming to terms with the pain of loss and getting over the fatigue of being hapless victims of 19 years of strife. At the time, no one knew that the situation would change so dramatically and so soon. Today, the state resembles the days of early militancy. The air is once again rent with calls for Azadi and the baton of freedom struggle has once again been passed from one generation to the other, with even children participating in the movement.

AN AUGUST MARCH

The march in Srinagar’s Muzaffarbad Road on August 22 looked like an ocean of people covering the highway from Pattan to Sheeri: a generation of young men, who were toddlers in 1990 when Kashmir exploded with massive public demonstration, was leading the procession. The security forces had withdrawn after failing to halt this march at 10 different places. Hurriyat leader Sheikh Aziz was killed on August 11, which lent fuel to the movement. Aziz’s killing during the Muzaffarbad Chalo march organized by the Kashmir based separatist groups and supported by People Democratic Party (PDP) made the situation volatile. People in the valley came out on the streets and started demanding instant Azadi (freedom) angered by what they called a cold-blooded murder by the security forces.

Burned CRPF bunker in Srinagar


Following this, all of Kashmir had erupted; dozens of people were killed in police firing and soon the Valley took on a different hue from what it was two months ago when the only buzz in the air was of election rallies, a pleasant spring and thousands of tourists. The People’s March at Srinagar’s Muzaffarbad Road changed all that. “We will not stop. We have to cross the LoC. We have to re-unite Kashmir,” said Abdul Rasheed Dar, a peace-loving businessman until now. “Kashmir has woken up. The movement is alive again.”

UNITED THEY STAND

For the first time, a million Kashmiris assembled in Eidghah last month at the call of the Hurriyat to conduct a rally to voice their demand for a free Kashmir. The rally lasted for 12 hours. Earlier it was a fight for leadership and ideology between the several extremist groups such as JKLF, People League, Dukhtaran-e-Millat and others, but following the Amarnath land row, they have melted their differences and become united with a single point agenda of making Kashmir an independent country. The stage was shared by hardliners such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and the merger was named the Co-ordination Committee. Hurriyat Chirman Syed Ali Shah Geelani wanted an end to the dialogue with the Centre, demanding trilateral talks involving Pakistan. The hardliner wanted the moderate faction to launch an active boycott campaign in the forthcoming assembly elections and stop offering a resolution proposal on Kashmir to the Centre. “We cannot let go of the opportunity. If we fail to rise up to people’s expectations, they will never forgive us,” said a senior Hurriyat leader on condition of anonymity. “Only a united Hurriyat will be in any position to lead and maintain the current momentum.

More than 10 lakh people responded to the Eid Ghah Chalo call sent out by the Hurriyat


“We have seen the beginning of militancy in our Valley through the ’90s. We have seen the crisis during the first elections in 1996 and as members of the minority community we still survived by sheer determination of not abandoning our heaven but now we shall pay the price for being on the other side of extreme militancy engineered by own brethren in our own land,” says a distraught Pran Nath Koul, a school teacher, who managed to stay in the Valley despite decades of militancy, but could not stand the threat caused by the mobilization of erstwhile lower heads of extremist Jehadi groups in the wake of Amaranth land row. Koul did not sleep at night just to guard his wife and three children from those who protected him even in adverse crisis. Koul’s family is one of the over 1,500 Hindu families who were not targeted by extremist Islamic Militants even through that time in the last 20 years.

BUSINESS FIRST

Koul’s sentiments are seconded by several Hindu families in the Valley who feel that their own Hindu brethren have left them fighting a cause that was never their own. Had their brothers in Jammu for the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir not blocked the economy of Kashmir after the Amaranth land row, they would still continue to live in peace.

Protestors torch a police van in Srinagar


“Whatever the people are doing is the manifestation of their anger against the government of India,” said senior Hurriyat Leader Bilal Lone. Sahil-ul-Islam, political advisor to Hurriyat chairman Merwaiz Umer Farooq said, “We have repeatedly informed Delhi about the anger in the new generation. The Kashmir issue remains unaddressed but they can’t take every Kashmiri for a ride as they did before. Mobilization is the only answer.

“Unity is the need of the hour and that is why the leadership is united once again and we just want to channelize it and carry out a peaceful, non-violent movement, keeping the aspiration of the people of Kashmir in mind. The bandage approach of the people of India is no longer needed and we want the issue to be resolved for once and for all,” said Hurriyat chairman Merwaiz Umer Farooq. The 32-year-old is considered a moderate Kashmiri separatist leader  and has a strong base in the Bakra community. The Bakras are traditionally well-to-do people based in Srinagar, and have been at the forefront of anti-India politics in Kashmir.

(L) Unity among pro-freedom leaders: Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Shabbir Shah (R) About 3 lakh people gathered for the UN rally at TRC ground at Srinagar


Sajad Bhat, an apple supplier whose business was hit by the blockade on the highway because of which his produce could not be transported for 10 days and suffered great loses said, “So far it was a battle between Jammu and Kashmir and with rest of India, but now it has become too personal. My driver, who was delivering fruits to a Delhi market, was beaten so badly that I had to compensate their family despite incurring huge loses in business. I do not believe in massacring those responsible for the economic blockade, but in future if this continues, I have no option but to support the cause of fellow businessmen who for no fault of theirs have become victims of vote bank politics.”

However, the point in question is not about individuals gains or loses, says Riyaz Khan a chemist in Srinagar who has been in business since 10 years. “I never used to visit religious meetings since I believe that the protector is bigger than the destroyer; I would not even have participated in rallies until my business got hampered. I have got six people to feed from the profits that I earn from the shop. I used to get adequate supplies from the distributors before the road was blocked. I could not support my family for those 10 days when my people were dying for the medicines that could have saved their lives,” he says.

CRPF personals in action


The political leadership of all hues in the Valley is in a dilemma. Rendered ineffective by the mass upsurge, they are unsure about the way out of this situation which most of them felt was too serious. A senior leader said that dialogue was the only way out. But he has no clue where and how to get started. “If India and Pakistan fail to include Kashmiris in the dialogue process, we will be forced to launch non-violent agitation in Kashmir,” rounded off JKLF Chief Yasin Malik.

[Mumbai Mrror]

Posted on 21 Sep 2008 by Webmaster

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Thousands protest Indian rule in Kashmir

September 20, 2008

REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service

Sep 19, 2008 05:37 EST

SRINAGAR, India, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Shouting anti-India slogans, thousands of Muslims marched in Kashmir’s main city on Friday, part of an ongoing campaign against New Delhi’s rule that has become an embarrassment for the Indian government.

The current round of protests are some the biggest since a separatist revolt broke out in the disputed Himalayan region in 1989, a conflict that has killed thousands of people.

Thousand of policemen and soldiers were deployed across the region ahead of protests called by Muslim separatists after Friday prayers.

“Go India go, we want freedom,” shouted protesters led by separatist leader Yasin Malik in Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital.

At least 37 protesters have been killed by government forces since last month in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. More than 1,000 people have been injured.

The protests were sparked by a government decision to grant land to build shelters for Hindu pilgrims travelling to Kashmir, one of the world’s most militarised regions.

Shops, businesses and schools were closed on Friday and streets in the strife-torn region wore a deserted look. Only security patrols were on the roads.

“I appeal to people to protest peacefully,” Malik told the protesters, many of them carrying his picture.

The protests come at a time when violence involving Indian troops and separatist guerrillas has declined significantly after India and Pakistan, who claim the region in full and have gone to war over it, began a slow-moving peace process in 2004.

But people are still killed in shootouts and occasional explosions. (Reporting by Sheikh Mushtaq; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Sanjeev Miglani)

(For the latest Reuters news on India see: in.reuters.com, for blogs see blogs.reuters.com/in)

Source: Reuters North American News Service

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Right time for the freedom of Kashmir: Arundati Roy

September 19, 2008


-‘It is the biggest chance Kashmiris have’

Source: Kashmir Watch

Srinagar, September 18 (Newsline Monitoring Desk):  Arundati Roy, noted human rights activist and writer, in an interview, has suggested “the time has come for the people of Kashmir to ask for Azadi (freedom) from India”

“I think it’s the biggest chance Kashmiris have had in their struggle for Azadi in a very long time” she however said she is skeptical that “a spontaneous uprising can ‘down-rise’ just as spontaneously as it ‘up-rose’ and hence the people need to act fast”

Calling the security forces as “state forces” Arundhati opined the minute people retreat, these forces will take back the streets. “People cannot go on forever without a clear idea of where it’s all going. Right now the Coordination Committee is very fragile and the Intelligence Agencies are trying very hard to break it up” she said.

Arundati said New Delhi has still not learnt its lesson and instead used the same old methods to deal with the situation in Kashmir. “I don’t think the Indian state is even now willing to listen to what people are saying” she said “It is trying to work out a way to defuse the situation and how to manage crowds and send them back home”

The booker prize winner writer believes India does not want the vicious cycle of violence to end in Kashmir. “The United Jehad Council has unanimously declared that militants must silence their guns. But the Deep State in India wants nothing more than the return of an armed militancy” she averred “So if real militants don’t appear, I think the Deep State will manufacture some”

Arundati maintained that as a right thinking person of the society she will always try to speak out and reveal the truth about issues. Emphasising that sentiments of Kashmiris be respected she said “Some people said I should be charged for the offense of sedition. If so it implies millions of Kashmir’s should be charged too. Instead if only I am charged and not them, it would mean a tacit acceptance of the fact that Kashmir is not a part of India”

While stressing that anybody who has ever walked the streets of Srinagar cannot but see the moral legitimacy of what people are demanding she said “It’s the least I could do for those who have faced so many years of terror, torture and disappearances. I don’t think there could be a single Kashmiri in the valley who has not been humiliated in some way by the occupation

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Kashmir Interview by Arundhati Roy

September 18, 2008

by Roy, Arundhati
Briemberg, Mordecai

Source: Redeye

Arundhati Roy’s ZSpace Page

Download this audio in
mp3 format

Author and activist Arundhati Roy has visited Kashmir several times in the past two months. She says she has never seen anything like the non-violent mass movement that is filling the streets of Srinagar.

In this interview, she talks about the recent history of Kashmir and why Kashmiris have poured onto the streets in their hundreds of thousands to demand freedom.

22:04 minutes, 20.2 Mb
Host: Mordecai Briemberg

To find out more about Redeye, check out their website.

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Massive protests against Indian rule continue in Kashmir

September 15, 2008

MASSIVE PROTESTS ROCK HSHS

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MALIK, GEELANI CONDEMN SHRINE DESECRATION, DELHI BLASTS
 NO CURFEW RELAXATION IN SHOPIAN

MUDDASIR ALI | Greater Kashmir

Srinagar, Sep 14: Massive protests rocked Amira Kadal and adjoining Hari Singh High Street and Sarai Bala here on Sunday against the alleged desecration and damage of the shrine of Hazrat Peer Dastageer Sahib at Saraibala on Saturday by paramilitary CRPF troopers.

Scores of people from Saraibala, Maharaj Bazaar, Ghoni Khan, Koker Bazaar and Magermal Bagh came on streets early morning and staged a dharna in the Hari Singh High Street Chowk against the incident.

The protesters, who included a large number of youth and women, raised pro-freedom and anti-CRPF slogans. They accused the CRPF troopers of indiscriminately beating the locals on Saturday. “They even barged into some houses at Saraibala and beat the inmates. The troopers damaged the windowpanes of many houses,” said Ghulam Rasool, a local resident.

Senior pro-freedom leaders, including the chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G), Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik, visited the shrine and strongly condemned the act. They joined the protestors in the dharna.

Addressing the people, Geelani and Malik said that no force on earth can stop Kashmiris from achieving their right to self determination.

India might use more force, but aspirations won’t die: Malik

Malik said, “Even if India put Kashmiri people to test again and again by using indiscriminate force, our aspirations for right to self determination wouldn’t die down.”

Malik said: “Kashmiri people continue to offer sacrifices to get freedom. Hundreds and thousands of people have been subjected to the custodial disappearances. Hundreds of Kashmiris are lodged in dreaded jails of India including Tihar and Jodhpur. Let India put Kashmiris to test again and again, we wouldn’t give up till our nation gets Azadi.”

Referring to the BJP’s demand for ‘nationalizing’ the Amarnath Yatra route, Malik said entire Kashmir was out on the roads seeking “Azadi.” “The BJP statement doesn’t hold any importance when Kashmir will be free,” Malik said.

Earlier Malik, joined by senior pro-freedom leaders, Javaid Ahmad Mir, advocate Shahid-ul-Islam, Showkat Ahmad Bakshi and others appealed to the international community, including United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Conference to intervene in Kashmir. “More than 50 people were killed by CRPF and police during the recent agitation and hundreds have sustained the bullet injuries. We appeal the UN and the OIC to visit the Kashmir and see for themselves how unarmed and peaceful protesters are killed and injured with impunity.”

Malik also called upon people to abide by the programme of Coordination Committee. He strongly condemned the blasts in Delhi, describing it as “barbaric act.”

No force can stop us from achieving right of self-determination
Geelani said, “Kashmir has risen to seek the right to self determination and there is no force which can stop us now from achieving this goal”.

Geelani and Malik were referring to the statement by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to the party’s working committee in New Delhi on Saturday that “there is also no question of pandering to or being soft on the separatists (in Kashmir).”

Geelani said, “I want to tell the people in New Delhi that it is the people’s movement in Kashmir. How many voices can the state government and New Delhi suppress by using indiscriminate force.”  The government, Geelani said, had given “unbridled powers” to the CRPF and police to suppress the people. “We condemn the use of force on unarmed and peaceful protesters in Kashmir,” he said.

On Bhartiya Janta Party’s demand of “nationalization” of the entire route to Amarnath cave, Geelani warned New Delhi of “dire consequences” if any attempt was made to change the demography of the state. “We wouldn’t allow creation of a Hindu state in the disputed region of Kashmir,” he said.
Rejecting the accord between the governor’s administration and the Jammu-based Sangrash Samiti over Baltal land, Geelani said, “Instead of raising prefabricated huts and toilets, concrete structure are being constructed at Pahalgam and Sonmarg, en-route to the cave. We wouldn’t allow creation of Amarnath Nagar in Kashmir and we wouldn’t sit silent.”

While referring to National Conference patron, Dr Farooq Abdullah’s statement that even if there is five per cent voter turn out, elections should be held, Geelani said, “These are the people who live only to see their petty interests fulfilled. Kashmiri people can’t expect anything else from NC and its leaders as they have always betrayed the nation.”

Geelani condemned the blasts in New Delhi that have killed more than 30 people. “Such inhuman acts should be condemned by one and all,” Geelani said and asked people to strictly follow the program of Coordination Committee.

Curfew lifted but demos continue in VarmulHundreds of people took to the roads in north Kashmir’s Varmul district on Sunday and staged pro-freedom demonstration.

Authorities lifted the curfew from the township this morning. Curfew was imposed in the township on Friday after a youth was killed in police firing near Cement bridge.

After the curfew was lifted, residents raising pro-freedom slogans assembled in the Varmul Chowk and took out a procession. Demonstrations were on when this report was filed.

Curfew continues in ShopianThere was no relaxation in curfew in Shopian on the second day today. The curfew was imposed in the township on Friday after a youth was killed and many others injured in Police and CRPF firing.

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