IIOJK authorities extend ban on 4G internet service till January 8

Jammu, December 26, 2020 (PPI-OT): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the authorities have once again extended the ban on high speed internet service till January 08, 2021. An order issued by Principal Secretary Home Department of IIOJK, Shaleen Kabra, said that the high speed internet would remain suspended in the entire territory barring two districts of Ganderbal and Udhampur.

The 4G internet service remains suspended in IIOJK since 5th August, 2019 when Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government repealed the special status of the territory and placed it under strict military siege. The residents of the occupied territory continue to suffer immensely in the times of coronavirus pandemic due to continued blockade of high speed internet service. When the entire world is relying on the latest means of communications particularly internet to remain aware of the situation caused by the COVID-19, the people of IIOJK have been kept deprived of this basic facility for the past over 16 months.

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JKLF leader Abdul Hameed Butt passes away in Mirpur

Mirpur, December 26, 2020 (PPI-OT): A great companion of prominent Kashmiri martyred liberation leader, Muhammad Maqbool Butt, and leader of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Abdul Hameed Butt, passed away late last (Friday) night in Mirpur. After kidney failure Abdul Hameed Butt was on dialysis for last more than a year. He underwent a minor surgery on 22nd December at DHQ Rawalpindi and was shifted to DHQ Mirpur, AJK, on 24th December where he breathed his last at the age of 66.

Abdul Hameed Butt was born on 7th May, 1954, and was one among the two young boys who accompanied Maqbool Butt in 1976 while crossing the ceasefire line. Later, they were arrested by Indian police at Tangdhar in Kupwara area of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He spent more than 12 years in Indian Jails and interrogation centres and was later released and pushed back to AJK in 1988.

Abdul Hameed Butt worked at different levels for the freedom struggle of Jammu and Kashmir on the platform of JKLF and worked as its Acting Chairman after the death of Amanullah Khan. Muhammad Rafiq Dar, the spokesman of JKLF, in a statement has announced a 3 days mourning on the death of Abdul Hameed Butt while appealing the Kashmiris to pray for his eternal peace. Abdul Hameed Butt’s funeral prayers are scheduled to be offered today at 4pm in Jinaza Gah Khambaal, Mirpur, AJK.

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Javaid Mir arrested in Srinagar, shifted to unknown place

Srinagar, December 26, 2020 (PPI-OT): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian police and sleuths of India’s notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Hurriyat leader, Javaid Ahmed Mir, in Srinagar. The police and NIA shifted Javaid Ahmed Mir to some unknown location. The family members of Javaid Ahmed Mir talking to media persons expressed serious concern about his safety.

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KPC demands inquiry into thrashing of journalists by troops

Srinagar, December 26, 2020 (PPI-OT): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Kashmir Press Club (KPC) has demanded an inquiry into the thrashing of three journalists by Indian Army during a function in Baramulla district and stern action against the involved troops.

The journalists covering the function, Jashn-e-Baramulla, organised by the Indian Army in the north Kashmir district, where Bollywood actress Amisha Patel was the chief guest, said that the scribes were abused and at least three of them were thrashed by the Indian soldiers.

The KPC in a statement issued in Srinagar demanded an inquiry into the attack on the journalists. “The Kashmir Press Club notes with concern the incident that has taken place with three video-journalists during an event in north Kashmir and calls for a probe into the matter,” the statement said.

It said the KPC received several calls by the anguished local journalists that the scribes were thrashed by soldiers while covering the function. As per them, the incident took place without any provocation when they were trying to get a sound byte of the Bollywood actress on the sidelines of the function, it added. The KPC terms the incident very unfortunate and urges the Army authorities to inquire into the matter and take stern action against those found guilty, the statement maintained.

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Seven US lawmakers write to Pompeo on farmers’ protest in India

Washington, December 26, 2020 (PPI-OT): A group of seven influential US lawmakers, including Indian-American Congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, have written to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to raise the issue of farmers’ protest in India with his Indian counterpart. The lawmakers in their letter to Pompeo dated December 23 said, this is an issue of particular concern to Sikh Americans linked to Punjab, although it also heavily impacts the Indian Americans belonging to other Indian states.

“Many Indian Americans are directly affected as they have family members and ancestral land in Punjab and are concerned for the well-being of their families in India. In view of this serious situation, we urge you to contact your Indian counterpart to reinforce the United States’ commitment to the freedom of political speech abroad,” they said.

In their letter, the lawmakers said that the US as a nation that is familiar with political protests can offer counsel to India during their current period of social disturbance. “As national legislators, we respect the right of the government of India to determine national policy, in compliance with existing law. We also acknowledge the rights of those in India and abroad who are currently protesting peacefully against agricultural laws that many Indian farmers see as an attack on their economic security,” the lawmakers said.

In addition to Jayapal, the letter has been signed by Congressmen Donald Norcross, Brendan F Boyle, Brian Fitzpatrick, Mary Gay Scanlon, Debbie Dingell and David Trone. Over the past few weeks, more than a dozen US Congressmen have expressed their concerns on the ongoing protest by the farmers in India.

Earlier this month, Congressman John Garamendi, Co-Chair of the American Sikh Caucus, along with Congressman Jim Costa and Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee members of the American Sikh Caucus sent a letter to Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, expressing solidarity with the protestors and defending their right to peaceful protest.

Democratic American lawmaker David Trone on Tuesday urged the Indian government to provide safety to the protesting farmers. It is to mention here that thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and several other states have been protesting on various borders of Delhi since November 26, seeking repeal of three farm laws enacted in September. They term these laws as anti-farmer.

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Surge in Indian state terrorism in IIOJK denounced

Islamabad, December 26, 2020 (PPI-OT): APHC-AJK leader and the Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM), Abdul Majeed Malik, has strongly condemned the surge in Indian state terrorism in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Abdul Majeed Malik in a statement issued in Islamabad said that Indian police and troops had launched a crackdown against Hurriyat leaders and human rights activists in IIOJK and were raiding their houses.

The JKPM leader said that India was committing grave human rights violations in IIOJK and using black laws to arrest and harass the people of the territory. He said the Modi government has used all the brutal tactics but failed to suppress the resolve of the Kashmiri people and they are determined to take their freedom movement to its logical conclusion.

He said that India has also started an undeclared war on Line of Control and the Working Boundary. “Everyday people are getting injured and martyred due to the Indian firing from across the Line of Control. There is a fear and anxiety among the people living near the LoC,” he said.

Abdul Majeed Malik maintained that the Kashmiri people will not allow the sacrifices of their martyrs go waste and will accomplish their mission at all costs. He appealed to the UN to fulfill its responsibilities regarding settlement of the Kashmir dispute by granting the Kashmiris their right to self-determination.

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Muslims help perform last rites of Kashmiri Pandit in Ganderbal

Srinagar, December 26, 2020 (PPI-OT): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, at a time when Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government is hell bent upon stoking communal discord in the territory to further its Hindutva agenda, in an exemplary display of communal harmony, the Muslims in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district helped perform the last rites of an elderly Kashmiri Pandit.

Pandit Naath Ji Bhat, 90, of Wussan Ganderbal died on Friday morning. He was living in Wussan since 1984 and was among a few families from the Pandit community living in the Muslim-majority area. As soon as the news of the death of 90-year-old Pandit, Naath Ji Bhat spread, members of Muslim community came together to help in performing his last rites. Many people visited the home of the deceased to express condolences with the family.

“We feel we have lost one of our own. He was just like an elder brother and I used to take suggestions from him,” Sheikh Bashir, a local, told media. Meanwhile, a few Kashmiri Pandits, who arrived to help his family and local Muslims in cremation of the deceased expressed gratitude to the local Muslims. They said that it was only because of their Muslim brothers that they could fulfill the cremation without any hardship.

“The communal harmony and brotherhood between Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits has always remained an example. Today, the Muslims showed that they love and honour Kashmiri Pandits,” they said. Pandit community had migrated from the Kashmir Valley to Jammu and in different parts of India in 1990s when the then Governor of IIOJK, Jagmohan Malhotra, who was notorious for anti-Muslim bias, launched massive killing of Kashmiris to suppress their ongoing freedom movement. A very small percentage of Kashmiri Pandits, however, stayed back and are living in the Kashmir Valley.

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