Srinagar, June 17: Police on Thursday thwarted a protest march by Hurriyat Conference (M) towards the United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOG) office here and detaining its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and several other leaders.
The leaders were detained near Radio Kashmir office here when they were heading towards the UN office to submit a memorandum regarding alleged unabated human rights violations in Kashmir. The memorandum read that students and youth were being killed in fake encounters for rewards and medals.
The leaders of the amalgam, who were arrested with Mirwaiz included Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Gani Lone, Muhammad Abdullah Tari, Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Aga Syed Hassan Almoosvi Alsafvi, Zaffar Akbar Bhat and Hakeem Abdul Rashid.
Eyewitnesses said police informed Mirwaiz, his colleagues Prof Bhat and Bilal Lone that they couldn’t go ahead with the procession as the District Magistrate Srinagar has imposed section 144 prohibiting gathering of more than four people at one place.
However, the Hurriyat leaders refused to budge. This prompted police to take them into custody. The leaders were lodged in police station Kothibagh. However, a police official said that all the leaders were released later.
The Hurriyat Conference condemned the action against Mirwaiz and accused police of using force against Hurriyat workers.
Earlier, Mirwaiz, presided over a seminar at Hurriyat Headquarters, which ended with a resolution deploring the apathy of the international community towards the worsening situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Launching scathing attack on Northern Command Chief Lt General BS Jaiswal who had termed Armed Forces Special Powers Act as a holy book for the forces, Mirwaiz said, “black laws should be revoked.”
He asked for an independent international commission to enquire into, “fake encounter killings taking place in Kashmir.” Mirwaiz said the United Nations should break its silence over alleged human rights abuses in Kashmir.
The seminar passed seven resolutions which included the silence maintained by the international human rights organisation and the UN over the open and indiscriminate rights violations in Kashmir, troops involved in right violations be punished under war crimes in accordance with international law, an impartial and just investigative committee should be constituted at international level to probe fake encounters and enforced disappearances.
JKSM CONDEMNS POLICE ACTION

 Meanwhile, Jammu Kashmir Salvation Movement has strongly condemned the arrest of Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooq and JKSM chairman Zaffar Akbar Bhat while they were on their way to the office of UNMOGIP, Sonawar, here to present a memorandum addressed to the Secretary General, highlighting human rights violations in Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST