Srinagar, July 22, 2020 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, a woman has said that she and two family members have been asked to appear for questioning in connection with her travel to Turkey. Shazia Bakshi in a tweet said in a pandemic, she, her 72-year-old mother, and 9-year-old niece have been asked by the police to visit Kothi Bagh Police Station. She said that it was because they spent holidayed in Turkey in 2017 for 5 days. She said apparently taking a holiday is now a crime in occupied Kashmir and they will gladly ‘comply’ to this diktat. This should be interesting, she added.
In another tweet, she said that according to a policeman from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) who visited her home Tuesday, this was a “routine check” on all travellers who had visited Turkey as “relations are now bad between India and Turkey”. Shazia Bakshi is the grand niece of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, former so-called prime minister of occupied Kashmir.
Turkey criticized India’s decision last August for repealing special status of occupied Kashmir. The Indian government was riled in February when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared the struggle of Kashmiris with the Ottoman empire’s fight during World War I.
Erdogan told the Pakistani parliament that there was “no difference between Gallipoli and Kashmir.” The battle of Gallipoli was fought between allied powers and the Ottoman Empire. “Turkey will continue to raise its voice against the oppression. The troubles our Kashmiri brothers have suffered for decades have been exacerbated by the latest unilateral steps,” Erdogan said.
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