Joint Hurriyat calls for shutdown today

Srinagar, Mar 19: Joint Hurriyat Leadership Tuesday called for a complete shutdown on Wednesday against the custodial killing of 28-year-old school teacher Rizwan Asad Pandith of Awantipora.
Joint Hurriyat, as per a statement, strongly condemned the killing of Rizwan, who was picked up by police a few days ago and was killed in custody at SOG camp Cargo.
Paying tributes to Rizwan and expressing deep grief and sorrow at his ‘killing’, Joint Hurriyat expressed sympathy with his bereaved family.
Terming this killing as ‘gruesome’, the leadership said that “this custodial killing is not only one of its kind but prior to this, hundreds and thousands of young and old Kashmiris have been killed in this manner.”
“This killing has actually increased the vulnerability of Kashmiri inmates languishing in different jails of India and jails of Jammu Kashmir, and jeopardized their lives,” they said.
Announcing a comprehensive protest program against this ‘state terrorism’, the leadership said “people will observe a complete and comprehensive protest strike on Wednesday, March 20, against the gruesome custodial killing of Rizwan Asad, policies of intimidation and harassment by police, SOG and other Indian investigative agencies, arbitrary arrests, slapping of draconian PSA, summoning political activists to SOG camps and thus creating atmosphere of fear in Jammu Kashmir.”
Joint Hurriyat appealed all segments of society including traders, lawyers, bar association, civil society, and others from different walks of life to peacefully protest against the custodial killing and assaults on Kashmiris.
On Friday, March 22, after Friday prayers, people at all Masajid, Khanqahs and Imam Baras will raise their voices peacefully against this custodial death and continuing policy of ‘oppression, Joint Hurriyat said.
Joint Hurriyat said that those who raise their voice against the killing of youth, their arrests and slapping with PSA are branded as “anti-national “and threatened with dire consequences and intimidation. “While crackdown and arrest spree against political and religious activists and youth continues unabated on the other hand SOG has been calling political activists and youth to SOG cargo camp to intimidate them and create an atmosphere of fear among people in general,” they said.
Joint Hurriyat said through their investigative agencies NIA and ED, the authorities have let loose a reign of terror to instill fear among people and harass them.
“People of Kashmir have borne tremendous hardships and suffering for the last three decades especially, all because they are asking for an end to the conflict through peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute as per the people’s wishes but instead people are being crushed,” Joint Hurriyat said.