Srinagar, March 22 (KNO) : Hurriyat Conference (M) expressing shock over the bone-chilling details of torture and assault inflicted upon the young school principal of Awantipora, Rizwan Pandit, resulting in his custodial death, stated ‘such inhuman killings are intolerable in Kashmir’.
According to a statement issued to KNO, Hurriyat (M) also expressed deep sorrow at the death of 11-year-old Atif and said loss of life due to the conflict is rising each day.
“Imams and Khateebs all across Kashmiri raised their voice against the brutal murder of young school principal Rizwan and the ongoing arrest spree in the Valley after congregational prayers while at many people came out of Masjids, Shrines, Imam Baras and registered their protest against the ongoing oppression,” the statement reads.
It strongly denounced barring of Friday congregational prayers at the historic Jamia Masjid for the third Friday in the ongoing month and caging its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at his residence since last night, ‘a move that has hurt the religious sentiments of thousands of people as Jamia Masjid has been the spiritual and religious epicenter of people of Kashmir for the past several decades’.
The statement said a large number of forces were deployed outside the grand Masjid since morning and all roads leading to sealed with rolls of concertina wires to ensure nobody reaches the Masjid.
It strongly denounced the ongoing crackdown and a fresh wave of crackdowns, mass arrests, slapping of PSAs, shifting resistance leaders to outside jails, stating that the repressive measures can’t break the resolve of people and leadership.
Hurriyat (M) reiterated that Kashmir was a political and humanitarian issue that needs to be resolved through sustained dialogue and not by resorting to military might and oppression. It also strongly condemned the use of live bullets and pellets against the protestors in Shopian.(KNO)