Times of Islamabad

Tens of thousands of Kashmiris defy restrictions to attend funeral prayers of three martyred youth

Tens of thousands of Kashmiris defy restrictions to attend funeral prayers of three martyred youth

SRINAGAR – In occupied Kashmir, thousands of people braving snowfall andrain and defying restrictions thronged Tral town in Pulwama district toattend funeral prayers of three Kashmiri martyred youth.

The youth were killed by the troops during a cordon and search operation inGulshanpora area of the town, yesterday. Amid vociferous pro-freedom andanti-India slogans, the funerals of the martyrs were held in their nativeSeer, Mandoora and Monghhama areas of Tral town. The mourners on theoccasion reiterated to continue their struggle for freedom till completefreedom from the Indian bondage.

Meanwhile, Indian troops thrashed the locals and forced them to stayoutdoors during the ongoing cordon and search operations in Srinagar,Budgam, Kupwara, Bandipore, Baramulla, Islamabad, Shopian, Pulwama, Kulgamand Rajouri districts. The troops subjected pedestrians to brute force atSarnal in Islamabad district.

Speakers at a seminar organised by Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement andForum for Peace in Jammu warned the Indian government against pursuing thebrutal policy of suppression in the occupied territory. They said that theroad to peace and stability in South Asia passes through Kashmir. Speakingon the occasion the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement, MirShahid Saleem, said that illegal and unconstitutional act of Indiangovernment to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir can neverchange the disputed nature of the territory.

Amid continued military siege and lockdown on the 162nd day, on Monday, thelife in the Kashmir Valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu region wasalso paralyzed due to the closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway. The Kashmirvalley is cut off from rest of the world due to the closure of the highway.

The APHC-AJK at a meeting in Islamabad said that India had converted theentire occupied territory into a big jail.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury responding to a recent statement ofIndian Home Minister Amit Shah disputed the New Delhi’s assertions thatJammu and Kashmir was an internal matter of India. He asked Amit Shah thatif Kashmir was an internal matter of India then why the United Nations ismonitoring it since 1948. He also took a swipe at newly-appointed IndianArmy Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane over his remarks on Azad Kashmirand advised him to focus on his work.

The French government in a statement, today, said that Paris was closelyfollowing the situation in Kashmir and noted that the issue was discussedduring a recent telephonic conversation between French President EmmanuelMacron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi..