APHC calls protest demonstrations in IOK on Friday

Srinagar, January 28, 2014 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference has called for massive demonstrations across the territory on Friday as part of its weeklong programme to protest against the closure of Pathribal fake encounter case by Indian Army.

Following the killing of 35 Sikhs in Chatisinghpora on the 20th of March in 2000, the Indian Army shot dead six men on the 25th of the same month in the Pathribal area of Islamabad dubbing them as foreign militants, responsible for killing the Sikhs. However, the investigations later proved that the victims were locals and were killed by Indian army in a fake encounter.

The army has now given a clean-chit to its personnel responsible for the fake encounter. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik in a statement also called for the massive protest demonstrations on Friday against the Indian army’s decision.

Hurriyet leaders Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan and Shabbir Ahmad Dar during interactions with people in Islamabad said that massacres like Gaw Kadal, Handwara and Kupwara would continue to take place till presence of Indian troops in the territory.

APHC leaders, Zafar Akbar Butt, Javed Ahmad Mir and Syed Bashir Andrabi during meetings with people in Srinagar and Pulwama reiterated the Kashmiris’ commitment to continue the freedom struggle till freedom from Indian bondage.

The forum led by the veteran leader, Syed Ali Gilani in a statement demanding right to self determination for the entire Jammu and Kashmir said that the disputed nature of the territory could not be changed through India’s repressive policies. The forum also condemned the arrest of a 16-year-old boy, Nadeem Ahmad Dar, under draconian law, Public Safety Act.

Indian police resorted to brute force on a rally led by the member of so-called Kashmir Assembly, Engineer Abdur Rasheed in Srinagar against the closure of the Pathribal case. The police arrested Engineer Abdul Rasheed along with his party activists when they tried to hoist a black flag atop Clock Tower at Lal Chowk as a mark of protest.

Meanwhile, women members of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons observed a one-day hunger strike in Srinagar as a part of the ongoing global campaign against enforced disappearances. APDP in a statement appealed to the international community to impress upon India to release all political prisoners languishing in different jails in Kashmir and India.

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