Summary The occupied territory is on the boil since the extra-judicial murder of Burhan Wani.
SRINAGAR (Web Desk / AFP) - In occupied Kashmir, a teenage boy was killed after he was hit by a tear smoke shell fired by Indian troops in Srinagar, bringing the death toll to 83 during the ongoing Intifada in the territory.
The 17-year-old Irfan Ahmad from Fateh Kadal area of Srinagar was killed during a peaceful protest demonstration in Malarata area of the city, yesterday. Despite curfew and other restrictions, the killing led to forceful anti-India protest demonstrations in Srinagar and adjoining areas.
Meanwhile, the blockade of supplies from outside to the landlocked Valley is hitting ordinary Kashmiris hard as all the districts including Srinagar, Islamabad, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Badgam, Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal and Kupwara have been witnessing round-the-clock curfew for the past 46 days.
People defying curfew and other restrictions held anti-India protest rallies in almost all major towns and districts of the territory. Hundreds of protesters comprising Muslims and Sikhs held forceful protests against the desecration of a Gurdwara at Seer Saali area of Ashmuqam in Islamabad district. Leaders of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League and Democratic Freedom Party Manzoor Ahmad Ghazi and Engineer Farooq Ahmad Khan addressing the gatherings criticized the criminal silence of world community over the loss of civilian lives in Kashmir.
In Palhallan, Imams of mosques and pro-freedom activists addressing a rally reaffirmed their commitment to continue freedom struggle, come what may. Doctors and paramedics staged a protest demonstration in Pulwama against the use of pellets by Indian armed forces on unarmed civilians. The protesters were carrying placards, reading ‘Stop use of pellet guns’ and stop attacks on ambulance drivers’.
APHC General Secretary, Shabbir Ahmad Shah in a statement issued in Srinagar, today, rejected the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s assertions that a solution to the Kashmir dispute needed to be found out within the framework of the Indian constitution. Shabbir Ahmad Shah said that Kashmir was not a part of India and that the Kashmiris demanding its settlement as per UN resolutions.
On the other hand, the Kashmir Economic Alliance in a statement in Srinagar strongly condemned the assault on Kashmiri journalist Sumaiya Yusuf by the personnel of Indian armed forces. The statement said that Sumaiya Yusuf, who is associated with a Srinagar-based English daily Rising Kashmir, was targeted for revealing Indian brutalities in her reports.
The occupied territory is on the boil since the extra-judicial murder of the top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Burhan Wani, by Indian troops on July 8.
Atleast 83 people have been killed while over 80,00 injured so far in the firing of bullets, pallets, and teargas shells on peaceful protesters by Indian troops and police personnel
It is being termed as the worst violence to hit the Himalayan region since 2010.
Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan along a UN-monitored line of control, but both claim it in full and have fought two wars over its control.
Freedom fighters have fought Indian security forces in Kashmir since 1989 for the independence of the region or for it to be made part of Pakistan.
The conflict has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.
