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| Saheed-e-Azemat Sheikh Abdul Aziz and relatives of missing and imprisoned people participate in a protest against Human Rights violations in Srinagar, summer capital of Kashmir . The people fear that their missing relatives might have been killed and buried in hundreds of recently discovered unmarked graves in Northern Kashmir. Amnesty International too has urged India to launch an urgent inquiry into nearly 1,000 unmarked graves found during the past two years by Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies. / Javed Dar |
Srinagar, Jully 29: The Killing of Shiekh Abdul Aziz and First Kashmir-Wide Curfew in 19 Years
On August 11, 2008, about 300,000 people from across Kashmir, along with trucks loaded with fruit, began marching toward several points on the 778-kilometer Line of Control to cross over into the Pakistani side of Kashmir, in their bid to reach Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir. Indian security forces opened fire at the marchers at several places to break up their protests, killing 10, including senior Pro-pakistani Kashmiri leader (commonly known as Baba-e-Jehad-i-Kashmir) Sheikh Abdul Aziz who was also a prominent member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and was also a member of the co-ordination committee of ethnic and religious nationalities struggling for right to self-determination under the chairmanship of Justice Ajit Singh Bains formed in Delhi on March 23, 2008. “Sheikh Aziz was a friend of Sikhs and supporter of Sikh cause for independence,” Over 1,000 people were arrested, and hundreds of wounded were hospitalized at different hospitals across the Kashmir valley. As the protests continued, over 3000 truckloads of fruit were destroyed, allegedly by Indian security forces.
Protests calling for freedom from India continued through August and September in different parts of Kashmir, with dozens killed and hundreds injured. However, a government-brokered agreement with the Hindu protesters of the Jammu region was reached, under which the land allotment to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which had been cancelled due to protests by Kashmiri Muslims, was revived in a different form.
The Jammu and Kashmir government, with the understanding of some Muslim and Hindu leaders, leased the land to the SASB for the limited pilgrimage season, giving them no proprietary or title rights. The Hindu leaders called off their stir after signing the lease agreement. The agreement said: "The Shrine Board may use the land for erecting temporary prefabricated accommodation and toilet facilities and for shopkeepers to set up shops." This second reversal by the government in its decision to allocate the land to the Hindu shrine has been rejected by the Kashmiri leaders, fuelling a continuation of anti-India protests. The demonstrations are the biggest since 11th august, 2008 when violent anti-India protests killed about 72 Kashmiri muslims. (Writer-South Asia)
On August 11, 2008, about 300,000 people from across Kashmir, along with trucks loaded with fruit, began marching toward several points on the 778-kilometer Line of Control to cross over into the Pakistani side of Kashmir, in their bid to reach Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir. Indian security forces opened fire at the marchers at several places to break up their protests, killing 10, including senior Pro-pakistani Kashmiri leader (commonly known as Baba-e-Jehad-i-Kashmir) Sheikh Abdul Aziz who was also a prominent member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and was also a member of the co-ordination committee of ethnic and religious nationalities struggling for right to self-determination under the chairmanship of Justice Ajit Singh Bains formed in Delhi on March 23, 2008. “Sheikh Aziz was a friend of Sikhs and supporter of Sikh cause for independence,” Over 1,000 people were arrested, and hundreds of wounded were hospitalized at different hospitals across the Kashmir valley. As the protests continued, over 3000 truckloads of fruit were destroyed, allegedly by Indian security forces.
Protests calling for freedom from India continued through August and September in different parts of Kashmir, with dozens killed and hundreds injured. However, a government-brokered agreement with the Hindu protesters of the Jammu region was reached, under which the land allotment to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which had been cancelled due to protests by Kashmiri Muslims, was revived in a different form.
The Jammu and Kashmir government, with the understanding of some Muslim and Hindu leaders, leased the land to the SASB for the limited pilgrimage season, giving them no proprietary or title rights. The Hindu leaders called off their stir after signing the lease agreement. The agreement said: "The Shrine Board may use the land for erecting temporary prefabricated accommodation and toilet facilities and for shopkeepers to set up shops." This second reversal by the government in its decision to allocate the land to the Hindu shrine has been rejected by the Kashmiri leaders, fuelling a continuation of anti-India protests. The demonstrations are the biggest since 11th august, 2008 when violent anti-India protests killed about 72 Kashmiri muslims. (Writer-South Asia)
