Daily Times

Jammu-based Hurriyat organizations have appealed to the international community to play its role for the immediate release of Kashmiri detainees languishing in different Indian jails. According to Kashmir Media Service, Abdul Majeed Malik, Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement, Qazi Imran, Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Pir Panjal Freedom Movement, Khalid Shabbir, Convener of Jammu and Kashmir People’s Association and Sajjad Ahmed, Vice Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir United Forum, in a joint statement issued in Islamabad said that thousands of Kashmiris have been lodged in different jails of Indian illegally occupied Kashmir and India on baseless charges. Over the past two months, they added, Indian forces arrested dozens of innocent civilians during cordon and search operations in Pir Panjal area. Hurriyat leaders said that five members of a family; Hakim Din Qureshi, Sakhi Muhammad Qureshi, Lal Din Qureshi, Feroz Din Qureshi and Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who were arrested in 1999, have gone missing while in custody. They pointed out that the people of Pir Panjal, Poonch and Rajouri have been facing severe hardships for the past two months due to the ongoing operations by Indian troops. The leaders appealed to the United Nations and international human rights organisations to send a joint team to occupied Kashmir to look into the plight of illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists.