Situation unchanged in IOK on 129th day of Indian lockdown

SRINAGAR: In Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), the situation on ground remained more or less same on the 129th day of military lockdown and internet shutdown.

Restrictions under Section 144 continued to remain in force while internet services are suspended in the Kashmir valley and Jammu region. The Kashmiris have ridiculed the claim by the Indian media that incoming text messaging facility has partially been restored.

They said that the ban has, in fact, been lifted only on the incoming text messages from the mobile companies, and the subscribers are still unable to send or receive meaningful messages.

Indian troops deployed in occupied Kashmir have started receiving newly acquired American SiG Sauer assault rifles to be used against the Kashmiri people during siege and search operations in occupied Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir Social Peace Forum Chairman, Advocate Devinder Singh Behal while addressing a function in Jammu appealed to the United Nations and human rights organisations to come forward to resolve the Kashmir dispute and to put an end to human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

Noted Kashmiri journalist, writer and the executive editor of Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin, while addressing a seminar on ‘Media Freedom for Kashmir’ at Thrissur in Kerala, said that the media in occupied Kashmir was struggling for survival like a patient on ventilator. She added that media persons in Kashmir have to negotiate with silence as communications systems including the Internet and cellphones remain restricted in the territory.

More than 500 signatories through a statement in New Delhi condemned the continued clampdown in occupied Kashmir. The signatories said that many people in Kashmir were held without charges or trial, while the whereabouts of a large number including children remained unknown. At least 25 non-profit organisations and the Communist Party of India protested in Mumbai against human right violations in the occupied territory.