Srinagar, March 23, 2020 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani and other Hurriyat leaders and organizations have felicitated the people and the Government of Pakistan on the occasion of Pakistan Day, today, and have prayed for a strong, prosperous, stable and safe Pakistan.
Syed Ali Gilani in a statement issued in Srinagar greeted the people and the government of Pakistan and said that Pakistan was the centre of hope for the oppressed Kashmiri people as well as the Muslim Ummah and this country was a great blessing for the Muslims. He said that Pakistan was created on the basis of a great vision and the people of Kashmir were fighting for the survival of this vision and were sacrificing their lives on daily basis.
Hurriyat leaders Bilal Ahmed Siddiqui, Shabbir Ahmad Dar, Umar Adil Dar, Farooq Ahmad Tawheedi, Khawaja Firdous, women leaders Zamruda Habib and Shameem Shawl, Patron of Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Syed Hussain, and Jammu and Kashmir Islami Tanzeem-e-Azadi in their separate statements said, the Indian authorities in the territory have crossed all limits of cruelty and persecution. They urged Pakistan to raise the plight of Kashmiris at all international forums with more strength and intensity.
Deploring the ravages of coronavirus and the lockdown worldwide, the leaders said the Kashmiris have seen dead bodies of their dear ones while experiencing shortage of food, medicines and other daily items due to the lockdown imposed by India since August 5, last year. They added that it was all man-made crisis, but now the world is facing coronavirus pandemic and the people of Jammu and Kashmir pray for the safety of all nations around the globe.
Various Sikh organizations at a meeting in Jammu while greeting Pakistan on its National Day said the solution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute is the dream of the Kashmiri people and lashed out communal forces of India for trying to create hurdles in the settlement of the oldest dispute at the UN agenda.
Meanwhile, as the authorities in occupied Kashmir ordered shutdown across the territory till 31st of this month in the name of containment of coronavirus cases, Al Jazeera quoting medical experts said the real crisis lies in Kashmir’s hospitals, which remain understaffed and ill-equipped to fight the coronavirus pandemic. A veteran doctor, who is the former principal of Government Medical College in Srinagar, warned that if the outbreak happens in Kashmir, people will be devastated and will die like cattle. Al Jazeera further said that four coronavirus cases were detected in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and 13 in Ladakh region.
Due to the clampdown, no night-long prayers were held on Shab-e-Meraj in any major mosques or shrines in occupied Kashmir. Indian troops arrested six Kashmiri youth during a cordon and search operation in Keran area of Kupwara district, today.
National Conference leader, Justice (retired) Hasnain Masoodi, in a statement in Srinagar deplored that, on one hand, Indian government was taking all possible steps to combat coronavirus challenge and, on the other, it was insensitive to the plight of the Kashmiri detainees under draconian Public Safety Act.
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