Many injured as India tortures Kashmiris hoisting Pakistani flags

SRINAGAR: Three people were martyred in Kupwara in an “encounter” and several more were wounded in Srinagar after India resorted to firing and baton-charging protesters hoisting Pakistani flags and demonstrating against the house arrest of Kashmir Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani.
The Indian forces went all out to suppress the protesters as they targeted them with shelling, baton-charging and firing. The demonstrators kept chanting pro-Pakistan slogans including ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ (long live Pakistan).
Panicked over Pakistan’s firm stance over the talks and support for the Kashmir cause, India has resorted to virtually everything, including using violence on unarmed protesters.
Several Kashmiri protesters were also arrested. The protests were held by the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir at the Hyderpora Chowk in Srinagar, where slogans like “We Want Freedom” and “Pakistan Zindabad” were raised.
The protesters condemned the authorities for imposing a ban on the holding of a convention by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir on its foundation day on Sunday.
Meanwhile, dozens of Hurriyat activists were injured and many arrested including party general secretary Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai when the Indian police used brute force on them. Police used teargas shelling and water cannons on the protesters. Geelani, in a statement, termed the use of force as the worst kind of Indian-state terrorism.
As the sloganeering of the protesting activists increased, the police fired many shells of tear gas and used coloured water cannons, sources said. Police sources said that the protesters pelted stones on the police and paramilitary forces.
Earlier, authorities banned the proposed party convention of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat at Hyderpora by deploying a heavy contingent of police around the entire venue. “Our party delegates were not allowed to enter the venue and the police have turned the area into a virtual garrison,” Hurriyat (G) spokesman, Ayaz Akbar told Rising Kashmir.
Later, Hurriyat leaders and activists held a sit in at the Hyderpora Chowk against “police highhandedness”.
On the other hand, the Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred three youth in the Handwara area of Kupwara district. The Indian Army claimed that the youth were martyred in an encounter with the troops. An Indian soldier was critically injured in the Krumhura area of the district.
Police sources said that a search party of 21 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and police was fired upon by militants hiding in the Khumhaira forests (Handwara) in the Kupwara district late last evening that resulted in an encounter. They, however, did not reveal the identification of the martyrs.
They said the area was immediately cordoned off and reinforcements were rushed to ensure that the hiding militants could not escape.
Meanwhile, the Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing in the Battal Sector on the Line of Control (LoC). According to reports, one civilian Muhammad Akhtar was martyred due to the shelling.