Srinagar : In occupied Kashmir, people staged forceful demonstrations in Srinagar and other major towns, today, to protest against the victimization of the Muslims of Jammu region by the goons of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and other extremist Hindu organizations.
Call for the demonstrations was given by the joint resistance leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik to express solidarity with the Muslim victims of Kathua.
People took to the streets in Srinagar, Badgam, Ganderbal, Sopore, Palhallan, Baramulla, Bandipora, Kupwara, Islamabad, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and other areas and shouted pro-Pakistan, pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. They demanded stern actions against the perpetrators of the attacks in Kathua. The protests were led by Hurriyet leaders including Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi, Syed Imtiyaz Haider, Umar Aadil Dar, Ghulam Nabi Zaki, Farooq Ahmed Mamoosi, Sheikh Abdul Rasheed, Zahoor Ahmad Butt, Firdous Ahmed Shah، Shabbir Ahmed Dar and Imtiyaz Ahmed Reshi. Indian forces’ personnel fired teargas canisters and PAVA shells to disperse the demonstrators at various places injuring several of them.
Meanwhile, Muslim Shoora Committee in Kishtwar area of Jammu also held a protest against attacks on the Muslims in Kathua. The demonstration was led by Imam Jamia Masjid Kishtwar, Farooq Ahmed Kitchloo.
The puppet authorities continued to put Hurriyet leaders, Syed Ali Gilani, Shabbir Ahmed Shah and Hilal Ahmed War under house arrest to prevent them from leading the demonstrations. They were not even allowed to offer Juma prayers.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik in their statements in Srinagar said that the attacks on Muslims in Kathua by the fanatics associated with RSS were unacceptable to the people of the Kashmir Valley. They said that such actions were aimed at forcing the Muslims in Jammu region to abandon their houses and migrate from the area.
Meanwhile, APHC leaders including Mohammad Yousuf Naqash and Saleem Zargar visited the residence of a martyred youth, Nasir Shafi Qazi, at New Theed Harwan in Srinagar and expressed solidarity with his family. Nasir was martyred during the 2016 uprising. The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement, Zafar Akbar Butt, and other party leaders led funeral prayers in absentia in Srinagar and other areas for the Kashmiri martyrs. The leaders paying glowing tributes to the Kashmiri martyrs said that their sacrifices would not be allowed to go waste and their mission would be accomplished at all costs.