Hindu pilgrims, students flee IHK over security fears

By News DeskISLAMABAD: Indian troops have killed two more Kashmiri youths in violent cordon and search operations in held Kashmir as hundreds of Indian visitors and students fled the disputed territory after the occupation government ordered Hindu pilgrims and tourists “to curtail their stay”, citing security concerns.In the latest violence, the Indian troops killed one youth during an operation in the Warpora area of Sopore in north Kashmir’s district Baramulla on Saturday. An Indian soldier was injured in an attack in the same area earlier, the Kashmir Media Service reported. The other youth was killed during an operation in the Pandoshan area of Shopian district. A day before, another youth was brutally gunned down by Indian forces in the same area.Over security concerns, Indian authorities transported hundreds of Indian students from some colleges in Srinagar. The order cited the “prevailing security situation” and the “latest intelligence inputs of terror threats with specific targeting” of an annual Hindu pilgrimage.The order has intensified tensions following India’s announcement that it was sending thousands more troops to the disputed region, sparking fears in occupied Kashmir that New Delhi is planning to scrap an Indian constitutional provision that disallows Indians to buy land in the Muslim-majority region.In another development a notable Kashmiri journalist, Qazi Shibli, the editor of a news website in held Kashmir, has been arrested. Fellow journalists told reporters that Shibli was detained without citing any reason and was not being produced in court. Shibli is renowned for his fearless writings on the Kashmir dispute. Known for promoting the freedom of press, he was vocal against curbs on media in the occupied territory. He has been questioned in the past in connection with his news stories.Shibli is the brother of Hurriyat leader, Qazi Ahmed Yasir, who is being held under the notorious Public Safety Act (PSA). Meanwhile, Amina Malik, the sister of detained Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik, described the harrowing ordeal of her brother during custody. She said her brother was being “tortured and put on a slow death trail” by Indian government for having a different political belief and ideology.Speaking at a news conference in held Srinagar, Amina said her brother, who was arrested on February 22 under the draconian PSA, was taken into custody by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) on “baseless, concocted and fabricated charges” and was “arbitrarily shifted to New Delhi and tortured” at the NIA headquarters, she added.She said Yasin began a hunger strike over the NIA’s brutalities, after which he became seriously ill and was shifted to a Delhi hospital. From there he was sent to Tihar jail where he has been confined for the past four months. She said after he was moved to Tihar, he was kept in a high security ward for many days under solitary confinement and was not provided any medicine and other necessities. Amina added that while being tortured at the NIA headquarters, one of Yasin’s eyes was seriously injured and a clot still remains in his eye. Amina said her ailing brother suffers from heart and kidney ailments, and needs certain life-saving drugs which are being disallowed or delayed to him. “One if his ears that had been operated upon in the US a few years ago has developed an infection that is further aggravating his physical agony,” she lamented.She also said a high voltage bulb is being kept on 24/7 in his cell which is damaging his eyes. She said the situation was such that she during her last visit to him on July 26 , she asked the jail authorities to allow a bed sheet to him so he could put it on the hard cemented floor to overcome his back pain but that too was refused.“The apathy of rulers and jail authorities towards Yasin Malik is actually like killing him slowly and today I appeal to everyone with a conscience and humanity, to speak against this undemocratic, inhuman and tyrannical attitude of the Indian authorities,” she added.

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