Srinagar: In occupied Kashmir, many people including the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik, were injured in police action on protesters in Pulwama, today.
Muhammad Yasin Malik, who gave a slip to police and reached Pulwama, early morning today, came out of the town’s Jamia Masjid after Friday prayers to lead an anti-India march in the town. Police personnel, deployed outside the mosque, attacked JKLF Chief and arrested him in injured condition. People staged strong protests against his arrest. Police retaliated with lathi-charge, triggering clashes between police and the protesters. Over a dozen people were injured in clashes erupted in Samboora area of Pulwama district.
Meanwhile, complete shutdown was observed in Srinagar, Bandipora, Pulwama, Baramulla, Islamabad and other parts of Kashmir Valley against the issuance of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiri Hindu refugees. Call for the strike was given by the joint resistance leadership comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. Shops, petrol pumps and other business establishments were shut, while public transport was off the road. The forces were deployed in strength in all district headquarters to prevent protests. The joint resistance leadership said that the issuance of certificates was aimed at changing the demography of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Syed Ali Gilani in a statement issued in Srinagar said that oppressive measures by the occupied authorities had made the situation of human rights violations in the territory alarming. He expressed deep concern over the rising incidents of state terrorism, saying that men in uniform, suffering from power of arrogance, were forgetting that youth were sacrificing their lives for the future of Kashmiri people.
The authorities re-arrested senior Hurriyet leader, Masarrat Aalam Butt immediately after being released from Kathua jail on court order. He has been shifted to unknown location by Indian police. Hurriyet leaders and organizations in their statements condemned the re-arrest of Masarrat Aalam Butt.
Around 34 houses were gutted in the devastating blaze that broke out at Wadder Payeen Rajwar area of Handwara town. The fire has rendered at least 19 families homeless in the town