ISLAMABAD: Hurriyat leaders and organizations in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), have strongly denounced use of brutal force on Muharram mourners in Srinagar, terming it interference in the religious affairs of the Muslims.
According to Kashmir Media Service, several mourners were injured when the Indian police subjected the participants of a Muharram procession to teargas shelling, pellet firing and lathi-charge in Jahangir Chowk area of Srinagar on Tuesday.
The police also arrested dozens of mourners on the occasion. People raised slogans like, “We Want Freedom” and “Free Kashmir” during the 8th Muharram processions in IIOJK on Tuesday.
Jammu and Kashmir Anjuman Shari Shian leader, Agha Syed Mujtaba Al-Moosvi, in a statement, strongly denounced the police action on the mourners. He said the Battle of Karbala teaches us the lesson of resistance against oppression and occupation and sympathy with the oppressed.
The Chairman of Islamic Political Party, Mohammed Yousf Naqash, in a statement issued in Srinagar said use of lethal force against the unarmed mourners speaks volumes about Islamophobia in India.
He said, Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government is resorting to coercive tactics to impose Hindutva ideology in IIOJK.
Yousuf Naqash said the brutal violence on the Muharram procession is a reflection of India’s philosophy that no minority in general and Muslims in particular were allowed to act against the principles laid down by Hindutva.
He appealed the Kashmiri people to come out of their homes raise their voice against the Indian oppression and violence in the occupied territory.
Hurriyat leader, Javaid Ahmed Mir, in a statement in Srinagar said India has deprived the Kashmiris of all freedoms including religious freedom. He said the world community must come forward to save the Kashmiri Muslims from Hindu fascism.
It is to mention here that fearing eruption of anti-India and pro-freedom sentiments, India continues to ban the main Muharram processions in IIOJK since 1989.
Narendra Modi-led fascist Indian government is not allowing the Muslims of IIOJK to perform their religious obligations particularly since August 05, 2019 when it repealed the special status of the territory and put it under military siege.
It frequently restricted offering of Juma prayers at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid and other major mosques of the territory. People are disallowed to hold Eid prayers and take out Eid Milad-UN-Nabi (SAW) and Muharram processions.