Shutdown observed in IIOJK against civilian killings

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, complete shutdown was observed, today, against repeated incidents of civilian killings by Indian troops in staged encounters in the territory.

Call for the strike was given by the illegally detained All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman, Masarrat Aalam Butt from New Delhi’s Tihar jail. Shops and business establishments were closed and the vehicular movement on the roads was very thin. The APHC chairman has also called for shutdown on Friday, tomorrow.

Indian authorities continued to enforce strict restrictions in Srinagar and other areas of the Kashmir valley. Internet service was also suspended in almost all parts of Srinagar and Pulwama districts immediately after the killing of three youth by Indian troops in a fake encounter in Rambagh area of Srinagar, last night. However, hundreds of people flouting restrictions came out of their houses and offered funeral prayers in absentia for the martyred youth identified as Mehran Ahmad, Manzoor Ahmad and Arafat in Nawa Kadal and other areas of Srinagar. After the funeral prayers, the mourners staged pro-freedom and anti-India protests. Indian police used brute force against the protesters, injuring several of them.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses as well as locals refuted the police claim and said the youth were dragged out of a car by Indian troops in Rambagh area of Srinagar, and killed on road in full view of the public. The videos of the scene also confirmed that the youth were pushed out of the car and shot dead. An eyewitness added that one of the three youth tried to run into a nearby alley, but the troops went after him and brought him back and killed him on the road.

APHC Chairman Massarat Aalam Butt and other Hurriyat leaders, organizations and human rights activists in their statements while strongly condemning the fake encounter killing demanded a probe by the International Court of Justice. They asked India not to forget the reality that the freedom movements could not be suppressed through such brutal tactics. Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti also punctured the police claim and said that the firing was one sided and that police version was far from the ground realities.

A report released by Kashmir Media Service on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, today, said that over 2,347 women had been martyred and 11,246 molested by the Indian troops in IIOJK since 1989. It said, the Indian state terrorism has rendered 22,939 Kashmiri women widowed in the past 33 years. The report deplored that India was using molestation of women as a weapon of war in the occupied territory to suppress the Kashmiris’ freedom struggle.

On the other hand, India’s notorious National Investigation Agency carried out raids on the residences of political activists associated with Jamaat-e-Islami, Peoples Democratic Party and National Conference and government employees in Zainpora area of Shopian district.

APHC-AJK held a protest demonstration outside Indian High Commission in Islamabad and Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir took out a rally in Muzaffarabad against civilian killings by Indian troops in IIOJK.