SRINAGAR: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders and organizations have strongly denounced the use of brute force by Indian police on Muharram mourners in Srinagar, terming it interference in the religious affairs of the Muslims.
Several mourners were injured when Indian police subjected the participants of a Muharram procession to teargas shelling, pellet firing and lathi-charge in Jahangir Chowk area of Srinagar on Tuesday.
The police also arrested dozens of mourners on the occasion. People raised slogans like, “We Want Freedom” and “Free Kashmir” during the 8th Muharram processions in IIOJK on Tuesday.
Jammu and Kashmir Anjuman Shari Shian leader, Agha Syed Mujtaba Al-Moosvi, in a statement strongly denounced the police action on the mourners. He said the Battle of Karbala teaches the lesson of resistance against oppression and occupation and sympathy with the oppressed.
The Chairman of Islamic Political Party, Mohammed Yousf Naqash, in a statement issued in Srinagar said the use of lethal force against the unarmed mourners speaks volumes about Islamophobia in India. He said, Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government is resorting to coercive tactics to impose Hindutva ideology in IIOJK.
Yousuf Naqash said the brutal violence on the Muharram procession is a reflection of India’s philosophy that no minority in general and Muslims in particular are allowed to act against the principles laid down by Hindutva. He appealed to the Kashmiri people to come out of their homes raise their voice against the Indian oppression and violence in the occupied territory.
Hurriyat leader, Javaid Ahmed Mir, in a statement in Srinagar said India has deprived the Kashmiris of all freedoms including religious freedom. He said that the world community must come forward to save the Kashmiri Muslims from Hindu fascism.
Tehreek-e-Wahdat-e-Islami spokesman in a statement in Srinagar said that the attack on mourners and imposition of strict curbs to disallow Muharram processions are not only interference in the religious affairs of the Kashmiri Muslims but also violation of international law. He said preventing people from performing their religious obligations in a peaceful way has become an everyday affair in IIOJK.
The TWI spokesman also condemned the thrashing of media persons by Indian police while they were covering the Muharram procession at Jehangir Chowk in Srinagar. He said media in Kashmir has been stripped of freedom and Kashmiri journalists are being repeatedly victimized by Indian authorities, adding all this is being done to stop the true situation of Kashmir from reaching the world.
He deplored that the Modi-led Indian regime has snatched every right including religious freedom and press freedom of the Kashmiri Muslims. He pointed out that Modi is the Yazid of the time for the Kashmiri Muslims, stressing that the flag bearers of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) will defy his evil designs to impose Hindu culture in IIOJK.
It is to mention here that fearing eruption of anti-India and pro-freedom sentiments, India continues to ban the main Muharram processions in IIOJK since 1989.
Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government is now allowing the Muslims of IIOJK to perform their religious obligations particularly since August 05, 2019 when it repealed the special status of the territory and put it under military siege.
It frequently restricts offering of Juma prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid and other major mosques of the territory. People are disallowed to hold Eid prayers and take out Eid Milad-un-Nabi (SAW) and Muharram processions.
