Demonstration held against Pak’s illegal occupation of Kashmir

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A Europe based Kashmiri activist group held a demonstration at the ‘Broken Chair’ monument in Geneva here on Tuesday against Pakistan’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.

The United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP) held the demonstration attended by about 40 people. The main agenda of the protest was to condemn Pakistan’s forcible occupation of Kashmir and denial of basic rights.

“We are here today to protest against serious human rights violations in Pakistan and its occupied Kashmir. We are here to ask the international community and the United Nations (UN) to intervene and to provide relief to the people who are victims of the (Pakistani) state policies,” a protestor said while addressing the gathering.

“Pakistan has no locus-standi on its occupied Kashmir. It has illegally occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan,” he added.

The group leaders also called for the exit of Pakistan from Kashmir, while highlighting human rights violations against ethnic minorities in the country.

“There are thousands of people who have been forcefully disappeared from different parts of Pakistan, especially from Sindh, Balochistan, (Khyber) Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan occupied Kashmir,” the protestor said.

The protests against Pakistan’s occupation comes at a time when the country faces heavy internal turmoil, while its sponsorship of terrorism in India’s Kashmir provides ever-diminishing returns.

Earlier this month, citizens in Srinagar held a sit-in protest against the continued terror attacks and disturbances in the state. The protests came following a grenade attack in the city that left two people including a 19-year-old student dead.

The protestors raised slogans holding placards reading “Akhar Kab Tak?” (For How Long We Must Suffer?) The echo of “Save Youth, Save Kashmir” reverberated in the capital. (ANI)