SRINAGAR (92 News) – Life continued to remain paralysed as the unprecedented lockdown entered 57th day, on Monday, in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) with schools, markets and other business centres closed and public transport off the roads.
Kashmiris defied all restrictions and staged demonstrations against India at several places. Indian troops fired to pellet guns to disperse the protesters, injuring several.
Though government offices and schools are open, they almost remain empty despite the efforts of the administration to make it look otherwise as employees are not turning up and parents are reluctant to send their wards to educational institutions because of apprehensions about their safety.
Even as few vendors have set up stalls at various places and majority of the landlines have been restored, but they couldn’t cater to the needs of the people due to the imposition of curfew.
Main markets and other business establishments continued to remain closed and public transport is off the road in the occupied territory due to curfew. Most of the interiors in Srinagar’s old city continue to remain sealed with iron barricades and concertina wire while deployment of police and paramilitary forces is intact in the city and all major towns and villages across the Kashmir valley.
Indian troops martyr seven youth in occupied Kashmir
In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh acts of state terrorism martyred seven Kashmiri youth in Ganderbal, Ramban and Shopian districts.
The troops during cordon and search operations martyred three youth in Naranag area of Ganderbal and three others in Batote area of Ramban district in Jammu region. Earlier, one Indian soldier was killed and another injured in an attack in Batote. The operations continued till last reports came in. Indian troops also arrested a youth, Sajad Ahmad Malik in Arwani area of Shopian district and martyred him during custody.
On the other hand, people erupted in jubilation, last night, after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech in the UNGA where he forcefully and effectively highlighted the sufferings of the Kashmiris due to continued lockdown and communication blackout in the territory. Despite heavy presence of Indian troops, people at many places came out of their homes and celebrated with firecrackers and dance as soon as Imran Khan’s speech ended. They raised high-pitched pro-Pakistan, pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. The occupation authorities tightened restrictions in Srinagar, today, to prevent people from staging further demonstrations.
An officer of Indo-Tibetan Border Police committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle in Jammu city because curfew. This incident of suicide raised the number of such deaths among Indian troops and police personnel to 442 since January 2007.
