Life remains badly hit as clampdown enters 65th day in IOK

ISLAMABAD/SRINAGAR: In Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), life remains badly hit in the Kashmir valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu region, as military clampdown coupled with communications blackout entered 65th running day on Tuesday.

According to Kashmir Media Service, with main markets shut and public transport off the roads since August 5, the people in the territory are facing shortages of essential items including food and medicines. Educational institutions and offices though open yet barring few officials nobody is showing up there.

The authorities have been claiming that the offices are running and attendance of students is slowly picking up, but these claims don’t hold merit in the face of facts which are quite the opposite.

National Conference President Farooq Abdullah has demanded unconditional release of all those detained or arrested since August 5. As per a party spokesman, this was told by the NC president to a 15-member delegation who met him on Sunday in Srinagar first time since his detention.

Faizan Mustafa, the VC of NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, has argued during a lecture in Madras that the BJP government had done a mistake by abrogating Art 370 in Kashmir. Pointing out many legal implications of the issue, he opined that it is not a matter of integration, adding the problems of the territory can’t be resolved by imposing the rule and restrictions like this.

Meanwhile, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred a Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district on Tuesday. The tw3o youth were martyred by Indian troops during a cordon and search operation in Awantipora area of the district. The operation was going on till last reports came in.

Meanwhile violent cordon and search operations are going for the past 12 days in Ganderbal, Bandipore, Kupwara, Baramulla, Srinagar, Islamabad, Kulgam, Shopian, Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar and several other towns and areas of the territory.