SRINAGAR The joint resistance leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik has called for a complete strike on Thursday against the continued civilian killings in the valley.
(The civilian killings) have witnessed a spike since the eve of Eid as three young boys Vikas Ahmad, Shiraz Ahmad and Aijaz Ahmad have been brutally gunned down by the Indian forces while the fourth Abdul Majeed is struggling for life at SKIMS, Soura, JRL in a statement issued to GNS said. All these killings have taken place during civilian protests against forces excesses and harassment even on the eve of and during Eid and each one has been shot at to kill as the bullet and pellet wounds on their bodies show.
Scores of people have also been critically injured, many in their eyes, as bullets and pellets have been used unrestrained, it added.
The leadership said that CASO has returned with a vengeance in villages especially in south Kashmir where people are being beaten and harassed.
In Pampore, once again an incident of using four civilians as human shields during CASO has surfaced. While 14 young boys have been forcibly picked up by forces during nocturnal raids at their home yesterday night in Pulwama, many families including that of a senior journalist Syed Tajamul Imran at Shopian were raided and harassed by forces. This ugly phenomenon is continuing unabated, JRL said.
JRL reiterates that the policy of repression through use of force and military power being adopted in Kashmir in its various manifestations is no solution to the problem at hand but is bound to fail. In this regard, it calls for a protest strike against it on Thursday, June 21st 2018, JRL statement said
Geelani, Mirwaiz and Malik added that the strike will also be observed against the brutal killing of veteran journalist Shujaat Bukhari. The leaders demanded an international probe into the gruesome murder.
Recalling the contribution of the journalist fraternity in Kashmir, JRL said that journalists have faced tremendous hardships during the past many decades while carrying out their professional duties.
It is due to the contribution of the vibrant Kashmiri media that reports with sincerity and against all odds that the ground situation in Kashmir gets highlighted, JRL said adding that the contribution of journalists in Kashmir can never be ignored.
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