Kashmir to shut down as Modi visits occupied valley

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ISLAMABAD: A complete shutdown will be observed in India-held Kashmir on Sunday to register a protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the territory.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the shutdown call has been given by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. Narendra Modi is visiting Srinagar, Ladakh and Jammu to lay foundation stones of development projects.

The JRL, in a statement issued in Srinagar, said that the five years of Modi’s rule were marred with tyranny and oppression in the occupied Kashmir. It said that a person who in his pursuit to crush Kashmiris’ genuine demand for the right to self-determination ordered killings, arrests, destruction of properties and other oppressive tactics deserved to be welcomed only with protest.

Meanwhile, the occupation authorities have beefed up the security forces across occupied Kashmir ahead of Narendra Modi’s visit by deploying Indian police and troops in strength in Srinagar, Jammu and other areas. The troops and police personnel after setting up security check-points in different areas are conducting thorough checking and frisking of vehicles and commuters.

The authorities have also put Hurriyat leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Mukhtar Ahmed Waza and Hilal Ahmed War under house arrest or in custody to prevent them from leading anti-India demonstrations on Narendra Modi’s visit. The authorities have also confined the Chairman of Awami Ittehad Party, Engineer Abdur Rasheed, to his residence.

All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Gilani, in a statement, paid glowing tributes to the two youth martyred by Indian troops in Pulwama district on Friday. He said that the Indian oppression had left the Kashmiri youth with no other option than resisting India’s military and forcible occupation of their homeland.

Several people including a woman were injured after Indian troops used brute force on peaceful demonstrators who were protesting against a cordon and search operation by the Indian forces in Tral town on Saturday.

Ruwa Shah, the daughter of illegally detained Hurriyat leader, Altaf Ahmed Shah, in a statement to the media said that the health condition of her father had deteriorated due to denial of proper medical care to him by the authorities of New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, despite court orders.