IIOJ&K authorities impose restrictions in Poonch, Rajouri to stop anti-India demos

JAMMU: The authorities in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) on Thursday suspended internet services and imposed restrictions in Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu region to prevent people, especially members of Gujjar and Bakarwal community from holding anti-India demonstrations.

According to a Kashmir Media Service report, the actions were taken following the recent protests by the members of Gujjar and Bakarwal community denouncing the designation of additional communities as scheduled tribes.

The two districts have been simmering with anger for the last few days over the tabling of a controversial bill known as the Jammu and Kashmir Scheduled Tribes Order Amendment Bill 2023 in the Indian Parliament. The bill aims to give scheduled tribes status to Paharis Paddari tribe, Gadda Brahman and Koli community. Majority of the people of these communities are non-Muslims.

Legal and political experts say the move by the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government is intended to appease its Hindu supporters and incite communal tension to pave way for the persecution of Muslims. The occupation authorities have deployed Indian troops and police personnel in strength in the two districts to prevent the anti-India protest demonstrations.

Meanwhile, illegally detained senior leaders of All Parties Hurriyat Conference Shabbir Ahmed Shah and Nayeem Ahmed Khan in their separate messages from New Delhi’s Tihar Jail paid rich tributes to liberation leaders Muhammad Maqbool Butt and Muhammad Afzal Guru ahead of their martyrdom anniversaries.

They demanded India transfer the mortal remains of the martyred leaders to their families for proper burial in the IIOJ&K.

Other APHC leaders including Yasmeen Raja, Ghulam Nabi and Advocate Arshad Iqbal, in their separate statements, in Srinagar said the martyrdom of the two leaders infused a new spirit in the freedom movement of Kashmir.

“Posters with the pictures of Muhammad Maqbool Butt and Muhammad Afzal Guru appearing in different areas of the occupied territory said the Kashmiri people will not allow the sacrifices of their martyrs to go waste and will accomplish their mission at all costs,” they said.

India had sent to gallows Muhammad Afzal Guru in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013 and Muhammad Maqbool Butt in the same jail on February 11, 1984. Their bodies remain buried in the premises of the jail.

Meanwhile, World Forum for Peace and Justice Chairman Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, in a statement in Washington, said the unresolved Kashmir dispute which is the main cause of tension between Pakistan and India needs the immediate attention of the United Nations.