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Pakistan's Premier Multilingual News Agency

Kashmir: A Tipping Point – GNP

Adeel Mukhtar

The martyrdom of Riaz Naikoo, Hizul Mujahideen Chief, has become Kashmiris fuel for hate and freedom struggle against India. Because of India’s continuous human rights’ abuses in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJK), every Kashmiri is Riaz Naikoo for India now. Riaz Naikoo was martyred in a cordoned operation by Indian Army in Pulwama district of IOJK. According to Kashmir Media Service, “a secret operation was carried out by the occupying Indian Army in Baigpura village of Pulwama district on the information of the presence of Hizbul Mujahideen chief in the area, Hizbul Mujahideen chief commander Riaz Naikoo and his associate Adil Ahmed were martyred”. According to KMS, “two more youths were martyred in another clash.”

Riaz Naikoo was designated as the Commander-in-Chief of Hizbul Mujahideen after the affliction of Burhan Wani in 2016. After Riaz Naikoo’s death, an influx of sadness and shock spread over the valley. Kashmiris are protesting on Indian brutal actions in IOJK. The Indian Army is utilizing power, curfew and shutting down of mobile networks to scatter the dissenters. In these testing times, the All Party Hurriyat Conference with Kashmiri population paid homage to Riaz Naiko and other martyrs. The Hurriyat leadership also asked people to funerals of the martyrs, followed by a strike against India in the Valley. Many who could not attend the funeral were advised to offer funeral prayers in absentia in their cities and villages.

In strikes and protest followed by Riaz Naikoo’s martyrdom in IOJK, Indian policy resorted to violence, resulting in injuring many including a woman in Srinagar. According to media reports, “a mother and her son were injured after Indian police fired pellets and teargas shells inside a house during an anti-India protest demonstration in Khankah-e-Mo’alla area of the city. People in large number took to the streets and protested against frequent cordon and search operations and harassment by Indian forces in the area. The protesters raised anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. Police arrested over a dozen youth during house raids and search operations in different areas of Badgam district.” Furthermore, “mobile internet service continued to remain suspended across the Kashmir valley for sixth consecutive day, today. The mobile phone service has also not been restored in Pulwama and Shopian districts.”

While Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has become a major worry for the entire world, India is still executing its anti-Kashmir policy (curtail Muslim seats in the Kashmir assembly by delimitation of constituencies) on war-footing. For this purpose, India has constituted a Delimitation Commission to change its fantasy into reality. Furthermore, Indian is also taking desperate measures to stop unrelenting resistance by the people of IOJK against India’s illegal occupation. According to credible sources, “having realized that India cannot win its war in occupied Kashmir, it has resorted to stupid tactics like broadcasting weather of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan to hide its defeat in the occupied territory”.

The world is with Kashmir against India’s human rights violations. London’s Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, however, clearly and aptly gave words to Kashmiris emotion through a statement that “his party’s position on Kashmir has not changed and it still supports and recognises UN resolutions on the rights of the Kashmiri people”. Keir Starmer stressed “the importance of hearing the voices of the Kashmiri communities and upholding respect for international law and human rights”. The Foreign Office of Pakistan also “condemned fake encounters by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir and urged the world to hold Delhi accountable for its illegal actions”. Speaking at the weekly televised briefing, FO spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said “the internet has again been shut down in the occupied valley after a local Kashmiri resistance fighter was slain in an encounter with Indian security forces and pellet guns and live bullets were fired on protesters, causing the death of another innocent Kashmiri and wounding of several others”. The spokesperson said “Pakistan strongly condemns the ongoing state terrorism and extrajudicial killings of innocent Kashmiris in so-called ‘cordon-and-search’ operations in occupied Jammu and Kashmir”.
In an inhuman practice”, she said, “the remains of the fighters were not being returned to their families”. “It is a matter of grave concern that the situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir continues to deteriorate due to the brutal military crackdown by Indian occupied forces,” Ms Farooqui said. She said “India needed to realise that resistance in the valley had grown because of oppression and brutalisation of Kashmiris”. “India cannot break the will of the Kashmir people and suppress their indigenous resistance movement through the use of force,” she added.

In another development, three photographers of Associated Press, Dar Yasin, Mukhtar Khan and Channi Anand, were awarded Pulitzer prize for coverage on unprecedented lockdown in IOJK. With recognizing Kashmiris struggle, it is high time that International Community take strict actions against India and should be held accountable for its illegal actions in the Valley. As for Kashmiri’s struggle, the recent incident has also exposed the lies of Indian government. As the Indian govt claims that everything is under control in IOJK, but the recent encounter shows otherwise. Kashmir is on tipping point and the world might soon observe the entire South Asian region engulfed in the conflict.

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