Kashmir News Weekly Roundup: 8/13-8/20
Exclusive:
Occupation Police targeting Kashmiris who supported Pakistan Cricket Team in Dubai
After videos of Kashmiri supporters chanting slogans in support of the Pakistan Cricket team went viral on social media, the occupation police force have created a list of individuals identified from these videos for interrogation and harassment.
During the Men’s T20 Asia Cup match in Dubai in August 2022, many Kashmiri supporters donned Pakistan’s Cricket team jerseys and sang traditional Kashmiri songs. A Kashmiri woman, whose video on this had garnered millions of views on Instagram and Facebook, shared with us that she had come home for Eid after two years of living abroad. Soon after her arrival, she was summoned to the police station, where she was questioned for over three hours. The woman told us that she had been made to sign a bond stating that any involvement in “anti-national” activities, granted the local authorities the right to impound her passport and bar her from traveling outside India.
At least seven more people reported receiving phone calls or summons after the match, and the videos went viral. In one case, the home of a software engineer working in Dubai was raided, and his devices were seized. He expressed, “They claimed that I was meeting with Pakistanis in Dubai and working for them. That is untrue. I am a professional who does his job and nothing more. They are using every tactic to harass us.”
Exclusive:
Occupation Police arrest Journalist, book him for ‘fundraising’ for militant organizations
In connection with an alleged “militant funding” case, the police have detained a young journalist from northern Kashmir’s Pattan neighborhood last week. The family has rejected the allegations, asserting that their son is the target of a fabricated case due to his marriage to a cousin of a resistance commander.
A family member stated, “The police had previously arrested him, and according to their claims, our son shared a post on social media two years ago asking for financial support for the family of jailed resistance activist, Sarjan Barkati.”
Many of the accused journalist’s acquaintances and relatives have also been called in connection with the case thus far. According to his father, the Indian state is using various pretexts to punish their son.
“The Indian army raided our house the day he was getting married and questioned us for getting him married to the cousin of a resistance commander,” he shares.
Notably, hundreds of Kashmiris are being held under false accusations in various jails across India. The Indian state agents are punishing the Kashmiri people under the guise of investigations for their involvement in the resistance struggle.
News Updates
Indian Occupation dismisses top university spokesperson for alleged militant links
Invoking Article 311 of the Indian Constitution, the puppet Jammu and Kashmir administration fired three more government workers on Monday, including a police officer and the spokesman for Kashmir University. As per the occupation authorities, the fired employees engaged in separatist activities and had ties to militant groups.
According to a source, the JK administration has fired three individuals: Police Constable Arshid Ahmad Thoker, Revenue Department Officer Murawath Hussain Mir, and Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the University of Kashmir Faheem Aslam for “working with Pakistani militancy outfits, providing militants with logistics, propagating militant ideology, raising militant finances, and furthering militant agenda.”
In May 2022, chemistry professor Altaf Hussain Pandit along with two other government employees (a cop and a schoolteacher), was removed from services in line with recommendations of the STF.
In July 2021, the government dismissed 11 employees, including sons of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and two from the police department.
In November of that year, the government terminated the services of two senior officers — a deputy superintendent in the JK prisons department and a principal of government girls’ higher secondary school — for their alleged links with militant organizations.
Occupation Police arrest four more civilians
In the Budgam area of central Kashmir, police and the Indian army detained four civilians on Tuesday under the pretense that they were militant allies.
The arrested youth has been identified as Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, a resident of Gondipora Beerwah; Azhar Ahmad Mir, resident of Chewdara Beerwah; Irfan Ahmad Sofi, resident of Arwah Beerwah, and Abrar Ahmad Malik, resident of Arwah Beerwah allegedly linked with armed resistance groups in Kashmir.
India has been regularly carrying out civilian arrests in Kashmir. Hundreds of Kashmiris are imprisoned inhumanely in jails throughout India on fabricated charges.
Occupation Agencies continue reign of terror across Kashmir, raid multiple locations
Three districts in southern Kashmir were the target of searches by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) Kashmir. The SIA officials conducted the house searches on Tuesday, assisted by law enforcement and the paramilitary CRPF. The searches were conducted in the southern Kashmir towns of Anantnag, Chakoora, and Shirmal, as well as the Qaimoh neighborhood of Kulgam.
The National Investigation Agency of India conducted many searches around the valley on Thursday as part of its ongoing crackdown. In connection with cases involving militant conspiracy, the NIA investigators, J&K Police, and CRPF forces conducted searches in north Kashmir’s Baramulla and Sopore and south Kashmir’s Pulwama, Awantipora, and Shopian.
On Saturday, the NIA raided the Kishtwar area, confiscating a few cell phones and other papers. The organization carried out over 70 searches throughout JK the previous month. Regular raids targeting Kashmiri citizens are still being conducted. India is conducting these searches using its NIA, SIA, CBI, SIU, and armed forces to persecute Kashmiris based on false claims.
