ISLAMABAD - Indian police and troops have launched a massive crackdown against pro-freedom leaders and activists in Indian occupied Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Indian police took the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, into custody after raiding his Maisuma residence in Srinagar and lodged him at Kothibagh police station.
Indian troops and police arrested dozens of leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami of the occupied territory from their residences during nocturnal raids across the occupied territory. Those arrested included JI Ameer Dr Abdul Hamid Fayaz, Advocate Zahid Ali, Ghulam Qadir Lone, Abdur Rauf, Mudassir Ahmed, Abdul Salam, Bakhtawar Ahmed, Muhammad Hayat, Bilal Ahmed and Ghulam Muhammad Dar.The JI in a statement termed the crackdown a well-designed conspiracy to further add to the already deteriorated situation in occupied Kashmir. It said that something seemed fishy at this moment when petitions challenging Article 35-A were listed in Indian Supreme Court.
Article 35-A grants special rights and privileges to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir and debars non-Kashmiris from purchasing property in the territory. Narendra Modi-led BJP government through its agents wants to abrogate the Article 35-A by using judiciary to pave way for settling Indian citizens in Occupied Kashmir thus changing the demographic composition of the territory.
“Any attempt of eroding or tempering with Article 35-A is unacceptable for people of Jammu and Kashmir,” it added.
On the other hand, India is airlifting 100 additional companies of paramilitary soldiers to Srinagar to be deployed in the occupied territory on urgent basis.
There has been a considerable build-up of Indian forces across occupied Kashmir after last week’s Pulwama incident. Since then, the situation has been tense across the territory, especially in the Kashmir Valley.
Meanwhile, the targeted onslaughts against Kashmiris across India continues unabated as three more Kashmiri youth were attacked in New Delhi, while a journalist was beaten up in Pune.
According to KMS, Hindu fanatics assaulted three Kashmiri youth in Nangloi area of New Delhi.
In another incident, a 24-year-old Kashmiri journalist, Jibran Nazir, was beaten up in Pune. Jibran, who works with a newspaper in Pune, said the assailants told him that they would send him back to Kashmir.
The authorities have booked an illegally detained youth under draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA), in Pulwama district.
Hindu fanatics damaged three shops and two vehicles in Mendhar town of Poonch district. The overnight damage caused by the extremist Hindus prompted the authorities to impose section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code, banning assembly of more than five persons in the town, KMS reported. Official said that one shop and one vehicle were completely damaged while others were partially damaged.
Meanwhile, the Bareilly police in Uttar Pradesh have registered a false case against three Kashmiri students.
Chairman of Hurriyat Forum Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said only sustained dialogue can lead to the settlement of the lingering Kashmir dispute.
According to KMS, Mirwaiz in a statement issued in Srinagar urged people of India to understand ground situation in Kashmir, saying people of the Valley are not fighting for any economic package or development schemes but for a legitimate birthright to right to self-determination.
He said New Delhi must understand that the talk about waging war against Pakistan will lead to destruction in the entire South Asian region as both the countries are nuclear powers. He said “Kashmiris don’t support war between India and Pakistan but a resolution of the dispute by peaceful means. History is witness that many nations even after fighting wars, had to sit on a negotiation table to hammer out solutions of the issues.”