Srinagar: In occupied Kashmir, the people will observe Friday, tomorrow, as the Day of Pledge Reaffirmation, as part of the campaign for the boycott of sham Indian parliamentary elections in the territory.
Call for the observance of the day has been given by the joint resistance leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. As per the protest calendar issued by the leadership, complete shutdown will be held on April 9 & 12, in Islamabad and Srinagar constituencies where the farcical elections are scheduled to be held on these days.
The joint resistance leadership in a statement while condemning the harassment and arrest of Hurriyet leaders and activists urged people to follow the Hurriyet calendar with the same spirit as was witnessed during the popular uprising in the year 2016.
APHC leaders, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi, Mirwaiz-led Hurriyet forum, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement and High Court Bar Association in their separate statements said that plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations was the only solution to the Kashmir dispute. They said that the authorities had turned the disputed Jammu and Kashmir into a police state suspending all basic human, political and religious rights. They asked people to stay away from polling on election days.
The All Parties Hurriyet Conference in a statement in Srinagar while terming the scheduled election drama as a military drill criticized India and its puppet regime for deployment of forces in educational institutions, which it said, is a total disregard to the education system.
Meanwhile, Indian police arrested dozens of youth during raids on their houses in Pulwama, Islamabad and Badgam districts ahead of Indian farcical parliamentary elections in the territory. The police also arrested many people including a minor boy in Kupwara district.
In view of the inclement weather and prediction of rains and snowfall, there is a fear of flooding in Kashmir Valley. Emergency control rooms have been established in all the districts of Kashmir due to flood-like situation. Resistance leadership in a statement expressed serious concern over the prevailing weather conditions in the territory.
