Srinagar, October 11, 2019 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, people held forceful demonstrations in different areas of Kashmir Valley, today, to register their protest against the Indian occupation and repeal of special status of the territory by India.
As the Juma congregational prayers culminated, people took to the streets in Srinagar, Badgam, Ganderbal, Islamabad, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Bandipora, Baramulla, Kupwara and other areas of the occupied territory and raised high-pitched pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. The protesters at several places were subjected to brute force by Indian police and troops. Many demonstrators sustained injuries in the brutal actions of forces’ personnel. The authorities did not allow people to offer Juma prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid and many other major mosques or shrines in the Kashmir Valley for the 10th consecutive week, today, since 5th August.
The protesters told media on the occasion that they will continue their freedom struggle despite all odds. They thanked Pakistani people and Prime Minister, Imran Khan, for supporting their just cause and expressing solidarity with the besieged people of occupied Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the occupation authorities continued to keep the Kashmir Valley under strict military siege on 68th consecutive day, today. Normal life remains badly hit as all shops, markets, business establishments and educational institutions are closed while public transport is off the road. The communications means including mobile and internet services and TV channels continue to remain shut in Kashmir valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu region. News portals are in off-line mode in occupied Kashmir for the past over two months due to continued closure of internet services. Scores of websites from the occupied territory have last been updated in the early hours of August 5 and till date these portals have frozen. Even newspapers are not able to update their websites.
The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement Chairman, Mir Shahid Saleem, in a statement issued in Jammu, said that India was staging another polls drama in the name of Block Development Councils elections after putting eight million people under siege and snapping all means of communications in the territory.
In Islamabad, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir chapter held a protest demonstration, today, outside the UN office against the continued lockdown and communications blockade imposed by India in occupied Kashmir. A memorandum addressed to the UN Secretary General was presented to the office. A US Senator, Maggie Hassan, has called for finding ways to de-escalate tension between India and Pakistan. She said this in a tweet after her visit to Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
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