AsiaNet-Pakistan Premier Editorial Content and Press Release Distribution Service
Srinagar, February 08, 2014 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front has strongly condemned the arrest of innocent people including the party leaders and activists by Indian police to foil its programmes to be organized in connection with the martyrdom anniversaries of prominent liberation leaders, Muhammad Maqbool Butt and Muhammad Afzal Guru. The JKLF spokesman in a statement in Srinagar said that the police raided the houses of many party leaders and activists including the Chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, the other night.
He said that the police had arrested party leaders including Bashir Ahmad Butt, Showkat Ahmad Bakhshi, Sheikh Khalid, Ghulam Muhammad Dar and Abdul Sattar. He said that the police were searching for senior party leaders Sheikh Abdul Rasheed, Bashir Ahmad Kashmiri, Muhammad Haneef Dar, Muhammad Amin Jaan, Shabbir Ahmad Boitengo and Bashir Ahmad Rather Boya.
The spokesman said that the police had raided the houses of Muhammad Yasin Malik and Bashir Kashmiri several times since Thursday night. Many JKLF activists were also being called to police stations, he said, adding that the cops raided various houses in Srinagar, Baramulla, Islamabad, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Kupwara, Pulwama, and Bandipora districts.
The JKLF Chairman, who is scheduled to lead the march towards Lal Chowk on Sunday, has gone into hiding to evade arrest. In a statement, he strongly condemned the police crackdown on party leaders and activists, terming it an act of sate terrorism. He said that despite restrictions and crackdown, the JKLF would conduct the Lal Chowk march on Sunday.
Meanwhile, condolence meetings were held in Badgam, Kupwara and Ganderbal districts in connection with the 10-day programme announced by the JKLF to mark the anniversaries of Muhammad Maqbool Butt and Muhammad Afzal Guru. Speakers on the occasion paid glowing tributes to the martyred leaders.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Phone: 92-51-4435548, 4435549
Fax: 92-51-4861736