Srinagar, May 15: Separatists today called for a protest march to Lal Chowk on Saturday against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
Prime Minister will address the sixth convocation ceremony of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) in Jammu this week.
The separatists — Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, in a joint statement today appealed the people to march towards Lal Chowk on May 19 (Saturday) to register their “peaceful protest” against the Prime Minister’s visit to the state.
The decision to call for a protest march was taken at a meeting of the separatist leaders at the residence of Geelani today, the statement said.
It said “in an extra ordinary meeting the leaders strongly condemned the atrocities committed against people throughout the Kashmir and the proposed visit of Indian premier is aimed at to hoodwink the opinion of international community.”
“Innocent people are detained on frivolous charges and are lodged in different jails while as youth are being pushed to the wall. Such undemocratic and inhuman situation can’t be tolerated for long,” the separatist trio said.
They said “the resistance leadership is denied political space and genuine voices are strangulated, while those detained are subjected to torture and inhuman behavior.”
“Though Indian state and its abettors in Jammu Kashmir have put almost all the leadership either in jails or under house-arrest, but despite these oppressive tactics and use of police and military might, people will stage a peaceful protest on May 19 at Lal Chowk Chalo to demonstrate before the whole world what people of Kashmir stand for,” the statement said, adding that Lal Chowk march will also highlight the “miseries and hardships faced by the people of Kashmir at the hands of oppressive forces”.
