17 injured in forces action in IHK

SRINAGAR: In Held Kashmir, 17 persons were injured when Indian troops and police personnel sprayed pellets and bullets on protesters in Shopian district Sunday.

According to Kashmir Media Service, anti-India protests were staged after Indian forces personnel cordoned off Laddi Imam Sahib village of the district and started a search operation. The people from the village and adjoining areas took to streets against the cordon and search operation and pelted stones at the troops. The troops used teargas shells and fired pellets and bullets on the protesters injuring 17 protesters.

Three persons with pellet wounds were shifted to Zainpora hospital while two with pellet injuries in eyes were brought to Shopian district hospital. They were later referred to Srinagar for treatment.

Meanwhile, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) in IHK has urged the local Human Rights Commission to take its own investigations and recommendations regarding the unmarked and mass graves to the logical conclusion by taking up the matter with the high court of the territory for implementation.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the association in a statement issued in Srinagar said the families of the disappeared persons have neither been able to get emotional nor legal closure. Therefore, due to the nature of the continuing crime, it is incumbent on Commission to play a role in accordance with its mandate and responsibility towards the victims of (Indian) state violence, an APDP spokesman said.

The APDP also appealed to United Nations Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNOHCHR) that during its forthcoming sessions, consider establishing a commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive independent international investigation into all the allegations of human rights violations including enforced disappearance in Held Kashmir.

In Held Kashmir, several journalists associations have demanded the release of journalist Asif Sultan of Batamaloo from police custody.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the chief spokesman of Kashmir Working Journalist Association (KWJA) and Kashmir Journalist Association (KJA) in a statement in Srinagar condemned his arrest.

“We are outraged to learn that journalist Asif Sultan has been under illegal detention at Batamaloo Police Station for the last six days.

We demand his immediate release from illegal custody, he said. Asif Sultan, an assistant editor with the monthly newsmagazine, Kashmir Narrator, has been picked up from his home at Batamaloo Monday night, purportedly for questioning, and since then police has not released him, he added.

The associations also demanded disciplinary and legal action against police officials for violation of the fundamental rights of an individual.

Meanwhile, the Washington-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a statement expressed deep concern over the ongoing detention and interrogation of Asif Sultan.