Complete shutdown, protests in Occupied Kashmir on Indian PM Modi’s visit
OCCUPIED KASHMIR (Sunday, Feb 3rd, 2019) – Complete shutdown was observed today in occupied Kashmir, to register protest against Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s visit to the territory.
Call for the shutdown was being given by the ‘Joint Resistance Leadership’ comprising Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammed Yasin Malik.
All shops and other business establishments are closed while traffic is off the road.
Meanwhile, the occupation authorities have put many Hurriyat leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammed Ashraf Sehrai, Mukhtar Ahmed Waza, Hilal Ahmed War, Javaid Ahmed Mir and Molvi Bashir Ahmed Irfani under house arrest to prevent them from leading anti-India demonstrations.
Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat forum, Peoples Political Party and Hurriyat leader, Zafar Akbar Butt, in their statements strongly denounced detention of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Mukhtar Ahmed Waza, Hilal Ahmed War and other Hurriyat leaders and activists.
Indian police arrested three youths from Sopore area of Baramulla district by falsely labelling them as over-ground workers of a mujahid organization.
On the other hand, Pakistani wives of many former mujahideen staged a protest at the Press Enclave in Srinagar.
The protesting women were holding banners reading we are Pakistanis and send us back.
In Islamabad, All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir chapter staged a protest demonstration outside Indian High Commission, today, to register protest against Narendra Modi’s visit to occupied Kashmir.
Meanwhile, American news agency AP reports from Srinagar India’s prime minster paid a daylong visit to Occupied Kashmir amid a complete shutdown in the Himalayan region.
Shops and businesses were closed while thousands of armed government forces and commandos in flak jackets spread out across the Occupied territory.
Roads were closed with razor wire and iron barricades to prevent protests and attacks during Modi’s visit.
Modi reviewed developmental projects in the city amid a massive security blanket around a lakeside convention center.
Traffic was sparse, with public transport staying off the roads and few cars venturing out in Srinagar.
Authorities detained dozens of activists overnight and put Kashmiri leaders under house arrest to stop them from staging any anti-India protest.
They also shut internet on mobile phones and suspended train services in the Kashmir Valley, a common tactic to make organizing protests difficult and discourage dissemination of protest videos.
Indian forces also enforced a security lockdown in downtown Srinagar, the urban heart of anti-India protests, as they warned residents to stay home to foil demonstrations.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, which in recent years has seen renewed attacks and repeated public protests. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the following Indian military crackdown.