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Srinagar, April 15, 2020 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference has said that the life of the illegally detained Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders is at a high risk due to the spread of COVID-19. In a statement issued in Srinagar, an APHC spokesman said, the announcement of the occupation authorities of releasing the Kashmiri detainees is just an eye wash.
He lamented that barring a few Hurriyat associates, thousands of Kashmiris including top Hurriyat leaders, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, MasarratAalam But, Mian Abdul Qayoom, Dr Abdul Hameed Fayaz, Altaf Ahmad Fantosh, Ayaz Akbar, Pir Saifullah, Aasiya Andrabi, Fahmeeda Sofi, Nahida Nasreen and Nayeem Ahmad Khan, are still under illegal detention.
The APHC spokesman maintained that these incarcerated Hurriyat leaders are being deprived of basic human facilities as well as the medical care. He pointed out that they have been put in such conditions in jails that they can easily be infected by the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Hurriyat leader, Muhammad Yousuf Naqash, in a media interview in Srinagar expressed concern over increase in the miseries of Kashmiri people due to the continued lockdown. He said, the people of the territory are facing a shortage of daily commodities and medicine as the lockdown has been further intensified due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
Jammu and Kashmir Students and Youth Forum Chairman, Manzoor Butt, in a statement in Srinagar rejected the newly introduced domicile law in occupied Kashmir, calling it an Indian act of colonial design to usurp local land and change the demography of the territory. He maintained that the people of Kashmir would never allow the sacred blood of their great martyrs to go waste.
Students in occupied Kashmir talking to media men complained that they were facing difficulties in accessing educational sites due to continued gag on high speed internet. They demanded immediate restoration of the facility in the territory.
Apple growers and traders in Kashmir are forced to pay for cold storages in exchange for earning nothing as all markets and transport are shut because of the lockdown. As many as one lakh tonnes of apple are lying in cold storages in Pulwama, Shopian, and other areas of occupied Kashmir.
Amid strict lockdown in India due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 40,000 labourers from occupied Kashmir are stranded in various Indian states without food and money. They told media persons in Srinagar over phone that they had nothing to eat as they had no money to buy food.
On the other hand, the Indian Supreme Court has rejected the bail petition of renowned writer, human rights activist and vocal defender of human and political rights of the Kashmiri people, Gautam Navlakha and handed over his case to the notorious National Investigation Agency for investigation. He is booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act on the ridiculous charge of plotting to kill Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Navlakha has a long association with Kashmir. He frequently wrote about human rights violations by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org