India asked to remove curbs on civilian traffic movement

Srinagar, July 04, 2019 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has asked the Indian authorities to remove restrictions on civilian traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway and train service during the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. He termed the restrictions as an anti-people move.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said this while addressing a meeting of the amalgam in Srinagar, today. A statement issued after the meeting said the yatris had always been welcomed by the people of Kashmir who had always facilitated the smooth conduct of yatra. However time and again Kashmiris are subjected to harassment and inconvenience as the highway is shut down for them on one pretext or other, the statement said. The forum said if those in power claim that the situation has greatly “improved,” then why are such extreme and unprecedented measures being used that were never used during the last three decades of conflict.

Commenting on the Indian home minister’s statement in the Indian parliament where he said that when J and K got divided between India and Pakistan Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru took it to the UN and made promises before the world. The statement said as PM of India Nehru represented Government of India when he took it to the UN. “So it is a political and humanitarian issue since, and the people of Kashmir and Hurriyat as their representative are only demanding the resolution of this issue peacefully for all times.”

Locking up Kashmiri’s including senior Hurriyat members in jails and detention centers and propagating threats, intimidation and maligning campaigns against them will neither solve the issue nor finish it off, it added. The forum vowed to keep pursuing a peaceful resolution of the issue as per the democratic principle of respecting people’s sentiments and promises.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits led by Satish Mahaldar met the leaders of the forum at its Rajbagh office. The statement said that the meeting was very cordial and all members of the forum assured the delegation of their deep desire and that of the Muslims of the valley to see Kashmiri Pandits back in Kashmir. The forum decided to form a committee that would take the process forward to facilitate return of the Kashmiri Pandits to the Kashmir valley.

On the other hand, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in a statement also strongly condemned the autocratic order of the government to restrict the civilian movement on the Srinagar – Jammu highway to facilitate Amarnath yatra. The APHC said this is not only ridiculous, humiliating, undemocratic, immoral, but negates Indian leaders’ own statements that Kashmiri Muslims are supportive and helpful in making the yatra a success.

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