Srinagar: Joint resistance leadership on Thursday called for peaceful protests after Friday prayers against the alleged “highhandedness of forces” on the people of South Kashmir.
The leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik also asked people to make the strike call for weekend a success.
“After Friday prayers on August 11, people will stage peaceful protest against the forces highhandedness and new wave of terror unleashed on the people of South Kashmir,” said the leadership in a statement.
The leaders urged the Imams of all the masjids across Kashmir to raise the voice against the alleged unabated atrocities by the forces during sermons and condemn forces’ “brutalities in unison” to express solidarity with the people of southern districts of Kashmir
In a statement issued here, the leadership also strongly condemned the killing of a 16-year-old student Mohammad Younis at Gulabagh Tral in Puwlama due to indiscriminate pellet firing by the forces.
“The forces are on a terror spree in South Kashmir areas every day. Under the garb of CASO (cordon-and-search operation) youth are being brutally killed and a huge population placed under siege, people harassed, property damaged and even women and children terrorised,” the leadership said in the statement.
The leadership said that it seems that government and its forces, police, army, CRPF have declared war against the people of South Kashmir as there is no end to “atrocities including arrests, torture, raids and frequent siege on the people.”
They also urged the people of Kashmir to make the strike call given for August 12 (Saturday) a success, stating that the call was against the assault on the J&K’s special status and continuous killings of Kashmiris at the hands of Indian forces.
The JRL also termed the arrest and shifting of senior resistance leaders Shabir Ahmed Shah, Advocate Shahidul Islam, Ayaz Akbar and Farooq Ahmed Dar to Delhi’s Tihar Jail and keeping others including Muhammad Altaf Shah, Mehrajudin Kalwal, and Peer Saifuallh under NIA custody, as sheer political vendetta to defame the resistance camp.
The leadership also called condemned the summoning of Naseem Geelani, Nayeem Geelani, sons of Syed Ali Geelani, and Fahim Ali and many members of the Kashmirs trading fraternity by the NIA.
“The ploys adopted by the government using NIA to muzzle and build pressure on the resistance leaders of Kashmir won’t deter the resolve of the pro-freedom camp who are committed towards the peoples’ movement of Self-determination,” they said and also paid paid rich tributes to Sheikh Abdul Aziz, on his 9th ‘martyrdom’ anniversary.