Masarrat Aalam urges Kashmiri people to observe strike on Monday
· India converts IIOJK into military garrison ahead of G20 meeting
Srinagar, May 19 (KMS): Incarcerated Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Masarrat Aalam Butt, has urged the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to observe a complete strike on Monday, May 22, to register their protest against the holding of the G20 meeting in Srinagar by Narendra Modi-led Indian government.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Masarrat Aalam Butt in his message from New Delhi’s infamous Tihar Jail also appealed to the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Kashmiris living across the world to hold protest demonstrations on the day against the illegal move of the Modi regime. He said by holding the G20 meeting in an internationally recognized disputed territory, the Modi government is attempting to hoodwink the world about the real situation in IIOJK and legitimize its illegal actions of August 05, 2019. He urged the members of this august forum to skip the event to demonstrate their commitment to human rights and values.
Meanwhile, the Indian authorities have converted occupied Kashmir into a military garrison by deploying thousands of Indian Army, police and paramilitary personnel in strength ahead of the G20 meeting. Indian forces’ personnel are conducting house raids and search operations in all major cities and towns, subjecting the residents to severe harassment. The commandos of National Security Guard terrorized the locals during a search operation in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar. The Indian Navy commandos are constantly patrolling the Dal Lake in special boats. The G20 meeting will be held at a convention centre on the banks of Dal Lake from May 22-24.
A report by New York-based news agency Associated Press said that as India prepares to host a meeting of tourism officials from the G20 countries in the disputed territory of Kashmir, the authorities have deployed elite commandos and stepped up security in the region’s largest city of Srinagar. The report said through this meeting, the Indian authorities want to show that the actions they took on and after 05 August 2019 have brought “peace and prosperity” to the region. The report quoted Paul Staniland, a political scientist who studies South Asia at the University of Chicago, as having said the G20 meeting is “in line with Indian government policy to symbolically project normalcy and stability in Kashmir,” and is unlikely to herald a change in policy.
On the other hand, the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in a statement in Srinagar demanded that the killers of its founder Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq and the perpetrators of Hawal massacre should be brought to book. Mirwaiz Molvi Muhammad Farooq was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his residence in Srinagar on 21st May in 1990. On the same day, seventy mourners were killed when Indian troops opened indiscriminate fire on his funeral procession in Hawal area of Srinagar.