Life in occupied Kashmir remained paralysed on 72nd day

Srinagar, October 15 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops arrested several women after subjecting them to brute force during an anti-India demonstration in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar, today.

A large number of women including rights activists and leading academicians carrying placards gathered at the Pratap Park in Srinagar. As they started march, the police swooped in on them and arrested several women including the daughter and the sister of former puppet Chief Minister of occupied Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, during the protest against the revocation of Kashmir’s special status. Ms Hawa Bashir, the wife of former Chief Justice of IOK High Court, Bashir Ahmed Khan, was also among the detainees. The protesters were dragged and subjected to torture by the police. This was the first anti-India protest of its kind in Lal Chowk area, the center of Srinagar, after 5th August 2019.

The police also tried to stop the protesting women from distributing a statement to the media, which said that they expressed their outrage against the Indian media for its false/misleading coverage of ground realities in the territory. Demanding restoration of civil liberties and fundamental rights of the citizens as well as immediate release of detainees and demilitarization of rural and urban areas, the women said they feel betrayed, humiliated and violated as people. »

Telangana (India), October 13 (KMS): More than 200 students of the University of Hyderabad in Telangana participated in a candlelight march to protest against the continued lockdown in occupied Kashmir.

Over 70 members of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association also took part in the march.

Hadif Nisar, President of Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, was quoted by a daily newspaper as saying, “There is no normalcy in Kashmir and the media, which is showing normalcy, is spreading only fake news. I had been in Islamabad town a month ago to meet my family and the trauma of the people was palpable. »

Burton (UK), October 12 (KMS): British Kashmiris living in Burton will be heading to London to take part in an anti-India demonstration on October 27, 2019 to be marked as black day by the Kashmiris.

India had landed its troops in Srinagar on October 27 in 1947 and illegally occupied the territory of Jammu and Kashmir against the will of the Kashmiri people and Partition Plan. Since then Kashmiris on both sides of the world and across the world have been observing 27th October as black day. »

Islamabad, October 11 (KMS): The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter held a protest demonstration outside the UN Office in Islamabad, today, against the continued lockdown and communication blockade imposed by India in occupied Kashmir.

Hurriyat leaders addressing on the occasion expressed serious concern over the continued grave situation in the territory. They said that India was facing continuous criticism at the international level for imposing siege and communication blackout in the territory. »

New Delhi, October 05 (KMS): The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary, Sitaram Yechury, has said that the election for Block Development Council (BDC) to be held on October 24 in occupied Kashmir, which is in a state of lockdown, is a travesty of democracy.

Following the party’s three-day central committee meeting, Sitaram Yechury told media in New Delhi that the situation in Kashmir was far from normal despite the Indian government and the BJP claiming the opposite.

“Even CPI-M Central Committee member, Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami was not granted permission to attend the meeting of the Central Committee, though the authorities claimed in the Supreme Court that he is not under detention. This shows that all the claims that so-called normalcy exists in the valley is against the ground realities,” Yechury said. »

Lockdown in Kashmir valley completes two months

Srinagar, October 04 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, forceful demonstrations were held in central, north and south Kashmir, today, against the Indian occupation and repeal of special status of the territory by India.

As the Juma congregational prayers culminated, people took to the streets in Srinagar, Badgam, Ganderbal, Islamabad, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Bandipora, Baramulla, Kupwara and other areas of the occupied territory. The protesters shouted high-pitched pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. Indian troops and police personnel fired teargas shells and pellets on protesters at several places, injuring many of them. The occupation authorities had imposed restrictions in Srinagar and other areas to forestall the demonstrations. The authorities disallowed the people from offering Juma prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid, Dargah Hazratbal, Dastgir Sahib and Charar-e-Sharif and many other major mosques or shrines in the Kashmir valley for the 9th consecutive week, today, since 5th August.

Meanwhile, the sufferings of the people of Kashmir valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu region continue unabated as restrictions and communications blockade completed two months, today. The continued gag on communications means is badly affecting the common people especially students, journalists and other professionals. Normal life remains crippled with shops, markets, business establishments and educational institutions closed and public transport off the road. »

Srinagar, October 04 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, where the people have been suffering due to the imposition of continued lockdown and communication blockade by the Indian government since August 5, when it repealed the special status of Kashmir, the media persons are also facing hardships in news gathering.

Kashmir valley was once considered a hub for news as countless reports about Indian state terrorism and rights violations were available on daily basis. But now the news gathering for the journalists has become a difficult task due to the continued communication blockade and arrest of political activists and Hurriyat leaders.

A journalist from Srinagar told an Indian Urdu newspaper that the official sources used to openly talk about any important issue but now they hesitate to give details about any matter. »

New Delhi, October 04 (KMS): In New Delhi, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University during an event attended by Indian Minister Jitendra Singh staged a protest against the scrapping of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that granted special status to occupied Kashmir.

A heated exchange of words took place between groups of students from Left leaning organizations and the Hindu extremist RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The groups also resorted to sloganeering.

The students protesting outside the JNU convention centre carried posters and raised slogans like “Kashmir hai kashmiriyon ka, Hindustaniyon ki Jagir nahin” (Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris – It’s not an ancestral property of Indians). »

Victoria, British Columbia (Canada), October 03 (KMS): A large number of students of University of British Colombia (UBC) in Canada held a rally to express solidarity with the oppressed people of occupied Kashmir.

Around a hundred students marched from the Martha Piper Fountain to the Nest in protest against the restrictions and communications blackout imposed by India in occupied Kashmir.

Echoing across University Boulevard were chants of “Free, free, free Kashmir!”, “Hear our voices! Tell our stories!” and “Hum Kya Chahte! Azadi!” which translates to “What do we want? We want freedom!”. They were also holding banners reading “Lift The Iron Curtain”, “Stand Up Against Fascism” and “Value Human Lives – Stop The Genocide”.

In between marching, organizers and Kashmiri students spoke to the crowd about human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and the importance of speaking out against them. »

Dhaka, September 28 (KMS): People marched in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, against Indian state terrorism in occupied Kashmir and demanded of the Indian government to end continued curfew in the territory.

The members of a group Kashmir Solidarity Council Bangladesh (KSCB) gathered in Maghbazar, neighborhood of the city, and took out a procession.

Demanding restoration of the special status of occupied Kashmir, they urged the Indian government to stop persecution of the Muslims in the territory.

“Without holding a referendum as recommended by the United Nations, peace cannot be established in Kashmir,” Mufti Habibur Rahman, KSCB central leader, said in his address to the rally. »