In occupied Kashmir, the authorities placed the Chairman of Hurriyat forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under house arrest, today, just hours ahead of a seminar organized by the Joint Resistance Leadership in Aabi Guzar area of Srinagar.
The seminar was held by the JRL to mark the completion of one year of illegal detention of several Hurriyat leaders by Indian investigating agencies, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and National Investigation Agency (NIA). The ED had arrested senior APHC leader, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, from Srinagar while NIA had taken into custody Hurriyat leaders, Altaf Ahmed Shah, Merajuddin Kalwal, Peer Saifullah, Ayaz Muhammad Akbar, Shahid-ul-Islam and Nayeem Ahmed Khan from Srinagar and Farooq Ahmed Dar from New Delhi.
A forum spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said that Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was also scheduled to chair a meeting of his party, Awami Action Committee, at Mirwaiz Manzil in Rajouri Kadal, Srinagar. however, he said that a police party reached at the Nigeen residence of the Mirwaiz and put him under detention. He said that the Indian forces’ personnel had sealed the residence of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
The spokesman strongly denounced the Indian authorities for curbing the political activities of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq saying that the action exposed their tall claims about democracy. He said that such tactics could not prevent the Kashmiri people from carrying forward their ongoing freedom movement. He also condemned the arrest of forum leader, Mukhtar Ahmed Waza, by Indian police in Islamabad town to stop him from participating in the seminar.
