Srinagar : In occupied Kashmir, thousands of people braving heavy snowfall and chill, today, attended funeral prayers of three youth, martyred by Indian troops in Islamabad district.
Bodies of the youth identified as Adil Ahmad Reshi, Abid Ahmad Sheikh and Masood Ahmad Shah were recovered after Indian troops during their siege and search operation destroyed a residential building at Awoora in Pahalgam area of the district. People in large number escorted the bodies of the martyred youth to their native areas in Bijbehara, Saktipora and Bewoora. Thousands of mourners defying restrictions participated in the funeral prayers held at three different places. The South Kashmir areas reverberated with high-pitched pro-freedom and anti-India slogans before and after the funeral prayers.
Dozens of people including a local photojournalist, Bilal Bahadur, were injured after being directly hit by a teargas shell fired by Indian forces. The journalist was hit while covering funeral procession of the martyred youth in Bijbehara. Kashmir Press Photographers Association in a statement strongly condemned the deliberated targeting of the photographer by Indian forces.
Resistance leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik in their statements paid glowing tributes to the martyred youth. They said that the youth had sacrificed their lives in pursuit of the noble mission of freedom. The leaders reiterated the Kashmiris’ resolve to take the martyrs’ mission to its logical conclusion, against all odds.
Meanwhile, a forceful anti-India protest was held at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar after Zuhar prayers, today. A large number of people including resistance leaders and activists participated in the protest, called by the joint resistance leadership to express solidarity with thousands of people arrested arbitrarily under draconian laws.
On the other hand, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Syed Ali Gilani in a statement urged people to maintain brotherhood and harmony, saying some anti-social elements and secret agencies were conspiring to ignite sectarian disharmony to dent the ongoing freedom struggle. He said that every possible step would be taken to make the sinister designs of anti-freedom forces a failure