ISLAMABAD – In a foreign policy success for Pakistan, Russia rejects latestIndian offer cum invitation over Occupied Kashmir lockdown.
Russia has declined the invitation by India to be a part of the fresh batchof selected foreign envoys who will be sent to occupied Kashmir, this week,Radio Pakistan has reported.
Russian Ambassador to India,Nikolay Kudashev, informed Indian diplomats,today, that he would not be a part of the 25-member team visiting theterritory.
In occupied Kashmir, complete shutdown was observed, today, to mark the36th martyrdom anniversary of prominent Kashmiri liberation leader,Muhammad Maqbool Butt.
Call for the strike was given by the All Parties Hurriyat ConferenceChairman, Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat forum, theJammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and other pro-freedom leaders andorganizations.
Maqbool Butt was hanged in New Delhi’s Tihar jail on this day in 1984 forhis active role in pro-freedom activities and was buried in the jailpremises.
Indian authorities imposed strict restrictions to prevent anti-Indiaprotests. The troops were deployed at all entry and exit points while theroads were blocked with barricades.
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Scores of women and children defying curfew and other restrictionsassembled in Trehgam area of Kapwara district, the hometown of MuhammadMaqbool Butt, and staged anti-India protests.
Several people were injured when the troops opened fire on protesters andmany others arrested by the troops.
Rallies and functions were also held in different areas of Azad Kashmir,Gilgit Baltistan, Islamabad and capitals of some European countriesincluding Brussels and London to pay tributes to Muhammad Maqbool Butt.
Meanwhile, normal life continued to remain paralyzed in the Kashmir Valleydue to the military lockdown and suspension of internet on 191stconsecutive day, today.