Indian troops martyr seven more Kashmiris

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SRINAGAR: Indian troops on Sunday martyred seven more Kashmiri youth in Kupwara district of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) in a continuing spate of violence.

The latest deaths come as a state of fear gripped the Himalayan territory after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government called in additional troops and ordered tourists to evacuate the region.

A day earlier, the Indian occupying forces martyred three Kashmiris during a cordon and search operation at in Sopore area of Baramulla district.

Thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of one martyred youth, Zeenat-ul-Islam Naikoo at his native Memmander village in Shopian district. The participants of the funeral raised pro-freedom slogans on the occasion.

Scores of students reportedly assembled at the Kashmir University and held a demonstration against the war hysteria created by India in the Kashmir valley.

In a statement, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement Chairman Mir Shahid Saleem also warned the Indian government that any move to tinker with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir would have disastrous consequences.

The state government in a statement said tourists should leave the occupied valley “immediately” because of intelligence about “terror threats” to a major Hindu pilgrimage in the region.

The order came as the Indian government called in thousands of military reinforcements to the Himalayan territory. The Indian government has admitted that 10,000 extra troops were sent to occupied Kashmir a week ago, but media reports Friday said a further 25,000 had been ordered there.

Kashmir politicians have raised fears that the additional troops are a sign that the BJP government could carry out a threat to scrap IoK’s special status under the Indian constitution.