Srinagar, March 01, 2018 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat forum and High Court Bar Association have condemned the custodial killing of a youth, Mushtaq Ahmad Chopan and summoning of youth by Indian army at camps and force them to do labour work. A spokesman of the Hurriyat forum in a statement issued in Srinagar rejected the police version of the killing of Mushtaq Chopan at Tral police station terming it a totally concocted story in the light of the statements of the locals.
The spokesman demanded impartial probe into the killing saying that such suspicious incidents also occurred in the past where inmates were killed by the Indian forces in custody. He appealed to the international human rights organizations to come forward and play their role to stop unabated killings, bloodshed, torture and other human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.
The spokesman also condemned the harassment of youth at the hands of the Indian army at Ashmuji in Kulgam. “The act of forced labour is totally inhuman and the worst type of human rights violations,” he added. The High Court Bar Association of occupied Kashmir while expressing its deep concern over the killing of Mushtaq Chopan cited his relatives and neighbours and said that he was killed in a fake encounter. It demanded a judicial inquiry into the killing and making the findings public.
Denouncing the summoning of youth and snatching of their identity cards by the army in Ashmuji village of Kulgam, the HCBA maintained that the army was violating legal and fundamental rights and the safeguards available to a person in a conflict area under the International Law.
The HCBA also condemned the arrest of four life convicts namely Muhammad Ayoub Dar, Muhammad Ayoub Mir, Nazir Ahmed Sheikh and Showkat Ahmed Khan, who had been released on parole and in respect of whom the High Court had passed various interim orders directing that they should not be taken into custody until the disposal of their cases pending in the court.
Hurriyat leaders including Zafar Akbar Butt, Ghulam Muhammad Khan Sopori, Shabbir Ahmad Dar, Muhammad Iqbal Mir, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, Imtiaz Ahmed Reshi and Ghulam Nabi War in their statements strongly denounced the custodial killing of Mushtaq Ahmed Chophan. They also paid glowing tributes to the youth martyred by Indian troops in Hajin area of Bandipora.
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