Posts Tagged ‘Mohammed Yasin Malik’

Yasin Malik: Include Kashmiris in talks

July 16, 2009
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GK NEWS NETWORK

Srinagar, July 15: The chairman of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik, on Wednesday reiterated that bilateral talks between India and Pakistan couldn’t yield any result till Kashmiris were recognized as a principal party to the dispute and were included in the process.
Commenting on the forthcoming proposed meeting between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan scheduled  to be held at Sharm-ul-Sheikh in Egypt, the JKLF chairman said, “We welcome it and hope that this time the talks will prove constructive and will end on a positive note,” Malik, said in a statement.
“Three generations of Kashmiris have so far been destroyed due to non-resolution of this issue while crores of people in India and Pakistan have been forced to live in the state of continued restlessness and disquietude,” he added.
Malik said the Kashmiris widely known for their intellect, intelligence, hard work and industriousness, had not been provided any opportunity to decide their future. “History is witness to the fact that talks on Kashmir issue between India were always held to meet, talk and leave. There was never any serious and meaningful effort to resolve it,” he said, hoping that this time the prime minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the prime minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, would make a departure from their previous traditions and write a new history.
Malik said the Kashmir issue was not a border dispute between India and Pakistan but it was the matter concerning the determination of the future of Kashmiris. “So their participation in every decision making process is imperative,” he added.
Malik said Kashmiris in 2008 presented a unique example of peaceful and non-violent mass revolution. “So they deserve to be heard and reciprocated with respect and honour for this positive change and Kashmir issue should be resolved on priority,” he said.

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Posted in Human rights, India, Kashmir, Pakistan | 1 Comment »

Muslims take to streets as Kashmir protests continue

August 14, 2008

Yahoo News, Thu Aug 14, 4:41 AM ET

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) – Protesters shouting “we want freedom” took to the streets of Kashmir on Thursday as a land dispute between Muslims and Hindus boiled into a litmus test of New Delhi’s hold on the troubled Himalayan region.

The row pits Muslims in Kashmir against Hindus in Jammu — the two main regions which make up the state of Jammu and Kashmir — in what is one of the hardest challenges facing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government since it took office in 2004.

At least 23 people have been killed and over 500 injured in clashes between Muslim protesters and police this week, hospital records show.

The protests are some of the biggest since a separatist revolt against New Delhi broke out in the region 20 years ago.

The dispute over land allocated to Hindu pilgrims visiting a shrine in Kashmir has snowballed into a full-scale anti-India protest, uniting Kashmiri separatists and reviving calls for independence.

A curfew remained in force in many parts of the state, but the protests seemed not to have spread elsewhere.

“I strongly condemn the reign of terror let loose by the Indian forces against the besieged people of Kashmir,” said Mohammed Yasin Malik, who led a protest in Srinagar.

“Indian troops cannot suppress our struggle.”

The dispute began after the Kashmir government promised to give forest land to a trust that runs Amarnath, a cave shrine visited by Hindu pilgrims. Many Muslims were enraged.

The government then rescinded its decision, which in turn angered Hindus in Jammu who attacked lorries carrying supplies to Kashmir valley and blocked the region’s highway, the only surface link with the rest of India.

Challenging the blockade, Kashmiris took to the streets.

Muslim Pakistan, which controls part of Kashmir, condemned the violence, sparking angry protests from India which accuses its nuclear-armed rival of supporting Kashmiri separatists.

Through Wednesday night, thousands of Kashmiri protesters shouted anti-India slogans, condemning security forces. Hundreds of Muslims also assembled in mosques and shrines which relayed the slogans on loudspeakers.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch urged India to show restraint.

“The Indian government should order troops and police to refrain from using lethal force against violent protesters in Jammu and Kashmir unless absolutely necessary to protect life,” it said.

(Reporting By Sheikh Mushtaq; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and David Fox)

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Posted in Human rights, India, Islam and Muslims | 1 Comment »