SRINAGAR: Two young men were martyred by Indian forces in the Budgam district of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) as the valley went on a strike on Wednesday.
According to the Kashmir Media Service, the youth were martyred during a search and cordon operation in Chadoora area of the district.
This development comes as the valley observed a two-day strike against India’s threats that it will repeal Articles 35A and 370 of the Indian constitution that grant special status to the Kashmiris.
Article 35A empowers the legislature of Indian occupied Kashmir to define permanent residents and provides special rights and privileges to those residents. Article 370 gives autonomous status to occupied Kashmir and restricts the government’s power only to defence, foreign affairs, and communication.
The strike was called by Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik who had said that the people of IOK would “resist every effort by India to change the demography of the valley”.
In 2018, Indian troops had martyred 375 innocent Kashmiris, including 10 women and 35 young boys.
According to a report quoting data issued by the research section of Kashmir Media Service, Indian troops had conducted 2,939 cordon and search operations all across the territory during the year.
The martyrs included highly qualified people like Professor Dr Muhammad Rafi Butt, Dr Manan Bashir Wani, Dr Sabzar Ahmad Sofi, Dr Aijazud Din Khan, and Dr Abdul Ahad Ganai.
The killed also included Hurriyet leaders, namely, Mir Hafizulla, Tariq Ahmad Ganie, Mohammad Yousuf Nadeem and Hakim-ul-Rehman Sultani. Of the martyrs, 21 were killed in custody.
The killings rendered 34 women widowed and 78 children orphaned while 75 women were molested by the men in uniform. Indian forces destroyed 605 residential houses during the period. Also, the vision of 1302 people was affected by pellets fired by the troops on peaceful protesters.
The report had said that resistance leaders including Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Syeda Aasiya Andrabi, remained in detention in Delhi’s Tihar jail in fake cases.
Over 500 people, including Hurriyat leaders, remained in different jails of occupied valley and India under the Public Safety Act.