Srinagar: In occupied Kashmir, the Resistance Day, today, was marked by forceful anti-India demonstrations by people and use of brute force on protesters by Indian police and troops in the territory.
Call for observance of the Resistance Day was given by the joint resistance leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik to protest against the surge in innocent killings by Indian troops in the territory.
The puppet authorities deployed Indian police and troops in strength in all major towns to thwart the demonstrations. However, people took to the streets in Srinagar, Badgam, Ganderbal, Bandipore, Sopore, Palhallan, Islamabad, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, Kupwara and other areas and shouted pro-freedom, pro-Pakistan and anti-India slogans. They also waved Pakistani flags. Indian police fired pellets and teargas and PAVA shells to disperse the protesters in Srinagar, Sopore, Islamabad, Pulwama and other areas, triggering clashes between the demonstrators and the police personnel. Several people were injured in the police action.
The authorities kept Hurriyet leaders Syed Ali Gilani, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Mukhtar Ahmed Waza and Qazi Yasir under house arrest or in custody to stop them from leading the protests. They were not even allowed to offer Juma prayers.
Meanwhile, senior Hurriyet leaders, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi addressing public gatherings in Srinagar and Badgam said that the recent statement of Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, reflected India’s approach under which its troops had been given a licence to kill innocent people in the occupied territory. Hurriyet leaders including Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, Muhammad Yousuf Naqash, Zafar Akbar Butt, Farida Bahenji, Zamruda Habib, Nahida Nasreen, Muhammad Ramzan Khan and Shabbir Ahmad Zargar in their statements and High Court Bar Association of the occupied territory in a meeting in Srinagar also condemned the threatening remarks of the Indian Army Chief. General Rawat had stated that protesters in the territory would be taken as over-ground workers of mujahideen and dealt with sternly.
On the other hand, a large number of people including Hurriyet leaders and activists attended the funeral prayers in absentia held at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, today, for the victims of recent bomb blasts in Pakistan.
An Indian soldier committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle in Maheshwar area of Samba district. This raised the number of such deaths amongst Indian troops and police personnel to 377 since January 2007.
