70 Kashmiris martyred in 200-day military siege in IOK

SRINAGAR (KMS) – In Occupied Kashmir, 70 Kashmiris including two women and four young boys were martyred by Indian troops during the past 200 days of military lockdown and siege in the territory. According to the data released by Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, of those martyred, 11 were killed in fake encounters or custody. At least 942 Kashmiris were critically injured in the firing of bullets, pellets and teargas shells on peaceful protesters by Indian forces in the occupied territory since August 5, 2019 till date. Thousands of Kashmiris including Hurriyat leaders, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Aasiya Andrabi, Masarrat Aalam Butt, Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Dr Abdul Hameed Fayaz, High Court Bar Association President Mian Abdul Qayoom, Nayeem Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Aiyaz Akbar, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Peer Saifullah, Merajuddin Kalwal and Farooq Ahmad Dar are under illegal detention in different jails of occupied Kashmir and India. Kashmir Civil Society and pro-freedom organizations while expressing serious concern over the continued illegal detention and deteriorating health of the political detainees appealed to the international community and world human rights bodies to play role in their early release. Meanwhile, daily life remains badly hit in the occupied territory due to the unrelenting military siege, harassment, cordon and search operations and internet gag. Several residents were injured when troops barged into houses and subjected the inmates to torture in Ibhama area of Pulwama district. The Islami Tanzeem-e-Azadi, in a statement, said that the recent statement of the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, on Kashmir is a victory of Pakistan’s stance. Freelance Kashmiri journalist, Ahmer Khan, was named the winner of the 2019 Kate Webb Prize of Agence France-Presse for his coverage during the ongoing lockdown in Kashmir. An Assistant Commandant of the Indian Border Security Force, identified as V B Yadav, committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle inside a camp in Kathua district. This incident raised the number of such deaths among Indian troops and police personnel in occupied Kashmir to 447 since January 2007. Two US Congressmen, Ami Bera and George Holding, while expressing concern over the grim situation in occupied Kashmir, stressed the Modi government to release all Kashmiri political detainees and restore normalcy in occupied Kashmir at the earliest. The comments come less than a week ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to India.