Daily Times

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) in Indian-held Kashmir on Wednesday warned New Delhi against pursuing aggressive policies that promote ‘the worst kind of violence’ and cause youths to turn to armed resistance.

JRL leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik in a joint statement issued after a meeting in Srinagar said the aggressive policies of India and a ban on political dissent are pushing Kashmiris to the wall and promoting the worst kind of violence, the Kashmir Media Service reported. The JRL leadership said the oppression of Kashmiris was the main reason behind the region’s youth choosing a path of armed resistance against brutal Indian occupation forces.

Referring to Indian Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon’s recent comments, the JRL leaders said convincing Kashmiri youths to refrain from going down the path of armed resistance was not in the hands of their parents or the political leaders.

According to NDTV, Lt Gen Dhillon had asked ‘all the mothers of Kashmir to please request their sons who have joined terrorism to surrender and get back to the mainstream’.

The ball in fact lies in the court of the Indian political and military leadership who have choked every little space for political dissent in Kashmir, the JRL added.

The Kashmir Media Service reported that Hindutva groups in the occupied valley have ransacked and burned millions of rupees worth of properties owned by members of the Muslim community settled in Poonch. The Hindutva rioters also raised provocative anti-Muslim slogans in Poonch’s Mohalla Alapir area and destroyed dozens of cars and other properties. Although some locals managed to catch the rioters on camera, they claim that police has yet to act and no arrests have been made, KMS reported.

After Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi said he was giving Indian soldiers a ‘free hand’ in the wake of Pulwama attack, Kashmiris have reported increased harassment in various parts of India and the occupied valley. The harassment is particularly targeted towards Muslim Kashmiris. Times of India on Wednesday reported that a few hotel owners in Agra have put up pamphlets asking Kashmiri tourists to stay away.

Published in Daily Times, February 21^st 2019.