Indian lockdown of Occupied Kashmir enters 41st day, Kashmiris defying curfew hit with pellet guns

Indian lockdown of Occupied Kashmir enters 41st day, Kashmiris defying curfew hit with pellet guns

SRINAGAR – Life continued to remain paralysed as the unprecedented lockdown entered 41st day, on Saturday, in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) with schools, markets and other business centres closed and public transport off the roads.

Kashmiris defied all restrictions and staged demonstrations against India at several places. Indian troops fired to pellet guns to disperse the protesters, injuring several.

Communication links including mobile and internet services and TV channels are snapped in the entire Kashmir valley and areas of Jammu region since August 5, the day India scrapped Kashmir’s special status.

Lockdown, curfew and communication blockade continue to take a heavy toll on the lives of all residents irrespective of caste, age, gender and creed. They are facing shortage of food stuff, milk, life-saving drugs and other commodities. According to doctors at Soura hospital, Srinagar, more than six patients die in the hospital on daily basis specifically due to the lockdown-generated issues.

Meanwhile, in view of the worsening state of healthcare amid continued military siege in Occupied Kashmir, a group of doctors in New Delhi have urged their government to allow them to visit the Kashmir valley to assess the exact situation in different parts of the valley.

The doctors associated with Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare in a letter to the Indian government said that the reports emanating from the valley are contradicting the government’s all-is-well claim.