In occupied Kashmir, Indian police arrested Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik near Avantipora in Pulwama on Sunday as he along with his colleagues was on his way to Bijbehara to address a public gathering.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the JKLF chief, accompanied by other leaders of his party, was stopped by police at Lettipora in Avantipora. The leaders staged a sit-in against the highhandedness of police. A large number of people from adjacent areas also joined the protest. The police on the occasion resorted to brute force on protesters and arrested Yasin Malik and other JKLF leaders, and took them to Avantipora police station.
Earlier, Yasin Malik addressing the protesters, said that the puppet regime had failed to subdue pro-freedom leaders on the political front and was now hell-bent on muzzling their voice by use of oppression.
Veteran Hurriyet leader Syed Ali Gilani in a statement issued in Srinagar warned Indian authorities of serious consequences against crackdowns on Hurriyet leaders and activists in Kashmir. He termed the conditional release of ailing Tehreek-e-Hurriyet Bandipora President Rayees Ahmad Mir from illegal Indian detention, a violation of basic human rights.
Senior Hurriyet leader Shabbir Ahmad Shah in a statement issued in Srinagar cautioned that the blasphemous remarks of Hindu extremist leaders like Kamlesh Tiwari could fuel communal discord in the territory.
Dukhtaran-e-Millat Chairperson Aasiya Andrabi, in a statement, condemned the arrest of dozens of young boys by Indian police in Nowhatta and Pampore areas of Srinagar.
Hurriyet leaders Mohammad Yousuf Naqash, Bilal Sudiqui, Hakeem Abdul Rashid, Syed Bashir Andrabi, Molvi Bashir Ahmad and Muhammad Ramzan Khan in their joint statement termed the demolition of Babri Masjid by fanatic Hindus on this day in 1992 as a display of intolerance in India.
