Cities around Pakistan came to a standstill yesterday as tens of thousands of people poured onto the streets in a government-led demonstration of solidarity with the disputed region of Kashmir, after India revoked its autonomy this month.
The Pakistani national anthem and an anthem for Kashmir played across television and radio, while traffic came to a standstill, traffic lights were switched off and trains stopped, as part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s campaign to draw global attention to the plight of the divided Himalayan region.
“We are with them in their testing times. The message that goes out of here today is that as long as Kashmiris don’t get freedom, we will stand with them,” Khan told thousands of demonstrators in the capital, Islamabad.
The Muslim-majority region has long been a flashpoint between nuclear-armed Indian and Pakistan. Both countries rule parts of Kashmir while claiming it in full.
India has battled separatist militants in its part of Kashmir since the late 1980s, accusing Muslim Pakistan of supporting the insurgents.
Pakistan denies that, saying it only offers political support to the people of Kashmir, who Pakistan says are oppressed by the Indian government and its security forces, reported Reuters.
India stripped its part of Kashmir of a special status on August 5, blocking the right of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to frame its own laws and allowing non-residents to buy property there. The government said the reform would facilitate Kashmir’s development, to the benefit of all.
But the decision by the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi infuriated many residents of the region.
“I want to tell you, Narendra Modi, that we will give a befitting response. Our armed forces are ready,” Khan told the rally.
Pakistan has sought the support of the United States, former colonial power Britain and others to press India over Kashmir.
But India says it is an internal matter and that it would only hold talks with Pakistan if it stops supporting militants operating from its soil.
Meanwhile, fresh restrictions were imposed in the city and other parts of the Kashmir Valley as a preventive measure ahead of Friday congregational prayers, officials said yesterday. Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPc were announced on public address system. People have been asked not to venture outside and barricades have been placed.
Normal life remained disrupted across the Kashmir Valley for the 26th consecutive day, with markets closed and public transport off the roads.
Security forces in Kashmir have been accused of carrying out beatings and torture in the wake of the government’s decision to strip the region of its autonomy.
The BBC heard from several villagers who said they were beaten with sticks and cables, and given electric shocks.
The Indian army has called them “baseless and unsubstantiated”. Doctors and health officials are unwilling to speak to journalists about any patients regardless of ailments, but the villagers showed the BBC correspondent injuries alleged to have been inflicted by security forces.
Source: (DS)
