close
Friday March 29, 2024

13 martyred in Indian state terrorism in IHK

By Mariana Baabar
May 28, 2017

Martyrs include Burhan Wani’s successor; Indian troops impose curfew in IHK with start of Ramazan; Pakistan says India not learning any lesson from history

ISLAMABAD: Huge anti-India protests hit the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) on Saturday as the death toll in Indian state terrorism rose to 13, including the head of the Hizbul Mujahideen Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, who was the successor commander of Burhan Wani.

The Indian troops imposed a curfew in many parts of the main Srinagar city as violence spread across the region after Sabzar Ahmad Bhat’s death. The protesters were subjected to torture, baton charge and firing by the occupation troops, while several arrests were also made.

“How many more Kashmiris would India kill mercilessly? If India thinks that by killing more and more Kashmiri youth, it would suppress the Kashmiris’ movement for their right to self-determination, it has not learnt any lesson from history,” Adviser on Foreign Policy Sartaj Aziz commented while also writing to the United Nations and seeking attention from important world capitals.

Strongly condemning the killing of 12 Kashmiri youth in IHK since Friday by the Indian forces in Pulwama and Baramulla, he noted that three of them were martyred extra-judicially as has been done on numerous occasions in the recent past.

Sartaj Aziz pointed out that in their desperation to hide the reality of the indigenous uprising of young Kashmiris, including by tens of thousands of girls and boys, India is trying to equate it with terrorism. “The facts have repeatedly come out proving that indigenous Kashmiris were killed by Indian occupation forces in fake encounters and buried, claiming them to be infiltrators from across LoC, the adviser reminded.

Taking note of the outrage within and outside India, he added that there is no respite from violence in parts of Kashmir and along the LoC and the international border. “The situation is far from normal in Jammu and Kashmir and we cannot continue to live in denial. The loss of precious human lives, including of the security forces, should be unacceptable to all peace loving people and should be ended at the soonest,” he said.

He pointed out that it is notable that several military commanders with years of experience in Kashmir have spoken in favour of a dialogue as a necessary step towards bringing peace to the troubled region. “We must record our dismay at the hardening of attitudes all around,” he added.

Highlighting the gravity of the situation, the adviser urged the international community, particularly the UN, OIC, P-5 members and human rights organisations, to call upon India to immediately stop the ruthless killing of defenceless Kashmiris in IHK.

Earlier, a host of leading Indian personalities like Justice (retd) AP Shah, Yashwant Sinha, Salman Haidar, JF Ribeiro, Wajahat Habibullah, Vappala Balachandran, AS Dulat, Nirupama Rao, Aruna Roy, Syeda Hameed, Kapil Kak, Manish Tewari, Badri Raina, Zoya Hasan, Ramhchandra Guha, S Irfan Habib, Prem Shankar Jha, Shekhar Gupta, John Dayal, Bharat Bhushan and Sushobha Barve also called out to the Modi government.

“The suffering of people along the Line of Control and the international border has crossed all limits and has become intolerable. The government must take all measures to stop this mayhem. We once again urge the government of India to use the opportunity to begin the dialogue with all stakeholders as promised in the agenda for alliance of the Jammu and Kashmir government,” these notables wrote in an open letter.

“We strongly urge all concerned who are wielding the gun or are pelting stones to desist from doing so during this holy month. We would like to appeal to the government of India and the state government also to take the lead and declare that the security forces will respond only in cases of extreme provocation and in self-defence. Let there be no violence in Kashmir during Ramazan.”

AFP adds: The nearly 16-hour gunfight ended early Saturday when Sabzar Bhat and his associate were killed. “Yes, both of them were gunned down and the operation is still going on,” police chief Shesh Pal Vaid told AFP.

Sabzar Bhat succeeded charismatic leader Burhan Wani after he was martyred in a gunfight in July, which triggered months of anti-India protests in which nearly 100 people died.

Burhan Wani’s popularity grew after he extensively used social media to post pictures of himself and of other gun-wielding young freedom fighters in army fatigues to attract new recruits. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in IHK, one of the world’s most heavily militarised areas.

Police said hundreds of villagers tried to break the cordon by throwing rocks at security forces. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that a protester was killed after troops opened fire on the villagers. At least three other protesters sustained bullet injuries in the clashes.