Joint Hurriyat protests against slapping of PSA on Malik, Jama’at ban

Srinagar, Mar 8: On the call of Joint Hurriyat, the leaders and activists of the leadership on Friday staged a protest demonstration demanding the release of JKLF chief Yasin Malik and revocation of ban on Jama’at-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir.
Family members of JKLF Chief Yasin Malik outside Kothibagh Police station when was being shifted to Kot Balwal Jail on March 7, from his Maisuma residence.
An eyewitness said that soon after the culmination of Friday prayers scores of the leaders and activists of Hurriyat and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) gathered at Maisuma and sought the release of Malik and revocation of ban on Jama’at.
On February 22, Malik was arrested and kept under detention at police station Kothibagh Srinagar. Fifteen days after his detention, Malik was booked under PSA and shifted to Kot Balwal jail.
Earlier, the central government banned Jama’at-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir for five years under “anti-terror law” on grounds that it was in “close touch” with militant outfits and was expected to “escalate secessionist movement” in the state.
Hurriyat (M) also strongly denounced the sealing of Kashmir’s grand masjid, Jamia Masjid, for the second consecutive week and not allowing the faithful to offer Friday prayers ,imposing curfew in Mary areas of Srinagar, and barring the chairman of the amalgam, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq from offering prayers and delivering the religious Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid.
Hurriyat said that on the call of Joint Hurriyat, a protest rally was staged at Lal Bazar, Srinagar that was led by Muhammad Shafi Khan against the illegal slapping of PSA on leaders. Speaking on the occasion Khan said that the leadership condemns the authoritarian approach of the government adding that the repressive ploys being adopted by New Delhi to force people and leadership into submission won’t succeed as Kashmir dispute is internationally acknowledged and will have to be resolved.
Meanwhile, on the eve of International Women’s Day, Hurriyat (M) said that while the entire world is observing this day acknowledging the rights and contribution of women across the globe, in Jammu and Kashmir women are bearing the maximum the brunt of repression due to non-resolution of the issue.