JRL condemns Kulgam civilian killings

Srinagar, Jul 07 : Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Mohammad Yasin Malik has strongly condemned the government forces for the brute killing of three civilians including a teenage girl Andleeb Jan, Irshad Ahmed Lone and Shakir Ahmed Khanday in Redwani Kulgam today morning and injuring of dozens of people, most among them critically.
According to the statement issued here, JRL said that firing live bullets on civilians in order to kill them reflects the policy of Government of India to crush all dissent with use of absolute force and might.
“It becomes clear that a Green signal has been given to Indian armed forces to wipe off all Kashmiri’s without any distinction of being armed or unarmed. All those who raise their voice against occupation or protest it, will be dealt firmly by eliminating them with absolute impunity is the message that is being given to the people of Kashmir by such barbaric killings. The idea is to instill fear in the hearts of Kashmiri’s and show them the ruthlessness with which they will be dealt,” they said.
JRL said that killing Kashmiri’s will not stop them from demanding their basic right to self-determination, nor will incarceration torture and harassment.
They said government of India should stop treating Kashmir as a colony whose territory it wants to hold on to at all cost, doing with it as it wills irrespective of the consequences on the people of Kashmir who are being made to suffer.
JRL said that people of Kashmir have shown that they will never give in to fear and repression nor will they be cowed down by India’s militaristic might.
They reiterated that people of Kashmir are peaceful and want to peacefully resolve the dispute as per internationally accepted norms of conflict resolution.
They said that GoI in its arrogance has to understand that it cannot hold on to Kashmir or force Kashmiri’s into submission by use of absolute force for ever, without grave consequences for the region and itself.
The leadership while reiterating the call for complete shutdown on tomorrow July 8, said it will also be observed as a black day against the Kulgam killings.
It urged people to offer funeral prayers in absentia for those killed in Kulgam massacre and to observe a blackout after 8pm tomorrow against this continued bloodbath.
Terming the present political situation in Kashmir as ‘catastrophic’ it urged the international community to take note of the worst human rights violations and ultimate oppression being perpetrated here.
They also strongly denounced the fresh wave of CASO across south Kashmir including Pulwama, Pampore, Shopian, Kulgam, Tral and Awantipore and harassment, arresting and torture of youth and people of all ages, vandalizing property worth lakhs, stating that these measures are nothing but a political vendetta aimed at breaking the resolve of people.