Kashmiris facing starvation due to continuous curfew: Pro-Delhi Kashmiri parties

NEW DELHI, Aug 28 (APP): While Indian government is bent upon to use curfew restrictions to suppress voice of Kashmiris, the pro-Delhi Kashmiri parties have demanded immediate lifting of curfew to rescue people from starvation.

All the Kashmiri leaders including Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Yasin Malik have been kept behind the bars and two-week old curfew restrictions are continuing in the Kashmir valley without any break.

According to media reports from Srinagar, roads and streets are deserted and Kashmiris have been restricted to their homes where they have started facing starvation as their stock of essential goods have exhausted, especially their children are crying for food.

The leaders of three Kashmiri parties on Thursday while condemning the use of brute force by authorities against unarmed protestors demanded immediate lifting of curfew in the Kashmir Valley.

Secretary of CPI (M) in occupied Kashmir Y M Tarigami, Chairman of People’s Democratic Front Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen and President of Democratic Party Ghulam Hassan Mir in a joint statement in Srinagar said, “people are suffering due to stringent curfew. Acute shortage of essentials including medicines was felt in towns and villages. They are starving due to disruption of traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

“The administration should immediately lift curfew,” they said.

They expressed grief over killing of two innocent Kashmiris in firing by security forces in Kupwara and Budgam on Wednesday. “Unprovoked firing on unarmed protestors by law enforcing agencies is against the principles of democracy and law,” they said.

“The administration should not take any irresponsible step at this critical juncture, which will compound the problems,” they said and added economic activities of the Valley have come to a halt due to continuous curfew, which is also affecting education of lakh of children.

Meanwhile, two pro-Delhi People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference on Thursday criticised the Kashmir administration of misleading the people with regards to availability of essential items in the valley.

PDP General Secretary Nizamuddin Bhat and youth wing General Secretary Bashir Assad said in a statement in Srinagar “the administration is misleading the people. It is lying at a time when the people in the valley are crying for essentials”.

In a separate statement National Conference General Secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmad said people of the valley and Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Kishtwar and Mendhar were starving due to non-availability of essential commodities.

“The administration should lift curfew and ensure availability of essentials goods in the valley and elsewhere in the state as there is acute shortage of daily use items everywhere”, media reports quoting Sheikh Nazir said. Both the pro-Delhi parties said that hospitals in the valley are also facing shortage of medicines and medical equipment.

Meanwhile, for the fifth straight day on Thursday, the local newspagers in Kashmir valley failed to hit the stands due to restrictions on their distribution and dispatch. The local channels are already off the air.

Kashmir Press Association, an organisation of local newspapers has criticised the government of gagging media in the valley.

“It is for the first time in past two decades that local newspapers could not be published for such a long period,” spokesman of the Association Gulzar Ahmed said.

“It appears the administration was deliberately acting in an arbitrary way to muzzle the freedom of press and keep people of the valley in dark about the happenings,” he maintained.

“The only source of information at the moment is state-run Doordarshan and Radio, which obviously tows the government line,” media reports quoting him said in Srinagar.

Meanwhile, media reports citing official sources in the national capital said the Indian government is still indecisive as to how to resolve Amarnath land transfer issue. However, it has decided to use brute force to suppress voice of Kashmiris by enforcing curfew and kept putting Kashmiri leaders in jails. The government wants to break will of the people who are now crying for essential goods, the sources said.