Modi’s Kashmir visit: Joint Hurriyat calls for shutdown on Feb 3

Srinagar, Jan 31: Joint Hurriyat Leadership has called for a complete shutdown on February 3 to protest against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Jammu and Kashmir.
“Joint Hurriyat appeals Kashmiri masses to observe a complete shutdown on Sunday 3rd of February 2019, at Modi’s arrival in Jammu Kashmir,” said a statement.
Joint Hurriyat comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik urged the people to halt all their activities, transport and businesses on the day.
“…and give a message to the whole world that Kashmiris despite all tyranny and oppression by Indian state will not stop their peaceful struggle for right to self-determination and rather will continue this struggle at every cost.”
They said arrival of such a person who ordered all this cannot be “an occasion of joy for us as it only deserves our strong protest and resentment.”
“When Modi assumed the office of prime minister in 2014, he on priority basis adopted and implemented a vicious iron fist policy to crush Kashmiris. His government came out with policies like construction of Israeli type settlements for Kashmiri pundits, separate colonies for ex-Indian army personal and providing a permanent resident-ship to West Pakistan refugees living in Jammu Kashmir,” they said.
Joint Hurriyat said that when people of Kashmir resisted these anti-Kashmiri moves in an exemplary manner, Modi government started a spree of killings, maiming, destruction of residential houses, snatching eyesight of young and old by pellets, implementing tax regimes like GST to further damage Kashmiri economy and business, stopping foreign aid at the time of floods in 2014 to harm Kashmiris, stopping tourists from coming to Kashmir in a pursuit to damage tourism sector, using agencies like NIA and ED to put people in Indian jails, putting thousands of innocent Kashmiris in jails under black law PSA and shifting many of them to jails and other kinds of ‘oppressive acts’, which are still going on unabated.
“From last five years, hundreds of Kashmiri innocents including women have been killed brutally and world saw Indian soldiers desecrating, burning down and mutilating human corpses and even dancing on these like wildly,” they said.
Joint Hurriyat said “using chemical, petrol, explosives to destroy or burnt down residential houses has been and is being filmed and broadcasted in a boastful manner, south, north, central Kashmir is witnessing crackdowns and CASO’S during which young and old, men and women are tortured, humiliated and at times showered with pellets snatching eye sights of as young as 16 month old Hibba Jan and as old as 80 year old men.”
“It is Modi rule that left no stone unturned to damage Kashmiri economy by implementing tax regimes like GST, stopping tourists from coming to Kashmir and also looting our resources like water and forests,” they added.
Joint Hurriyat said that during his last visit, Modi was appealed by Kashmiri tourist operators to appeal tourists to come to Kashmir but instead he asked Kashmiris to opt between tourism and terrorism and thus gave a clear message to tourists to not come to Kashmir.