Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Saturday said that India was punishing Kashmiri resistance leader Yasin Malik for demanding his due rights as a resident of an illegally occupied land. In a statement showing concern over the announcement of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik’s announcement of going on a hunger strike till death during his incarceration, the governor said that the treatment of Malik at the hands of Indian government has been deplorable. Chaudhry Sarwar urged the international community and the United Nations (UN) to take immediate notice of the situation in Kashmir which has been in shambles for more than 230 days after its illegal annexation. The governor said that the international world’s silence on Kashmir was nothing short of shameful. Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar added that the Indian government should immediately release all Kashmiri resistance leader and lift curfew-like situation in the occupied region as the world deals with a global pandemic in coronavirus. Earlier on March 19, Pakistan urged the Indian government to lift the blockade in occupied Jammu and Kashmir in view of the outbreak of coronavirus and the reported cases of infected people there. In her opening statement at the weekly news briefing in Islamabad, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui stressed that lifting of restrictions is important to obtain full information of the infected people and to ensure the provision of essential items and medical supplies to the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.