20000324

Killing of Sikhs

Strike paralysis

life in Kashmir

on 2nd consecutive day

ISLAMABAD: Crippling strike is being observed throughout occupied Kashmir on Thursday at the call of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference to express grief and anger on the inhuman murder of 35 Sikhs in Chatti Singhpora by the personnel of Indian armed forces and secret agencies.

According to KMS, Kashmir High Court Bar Association and State Employees Conference have also supported the strike. On the second consecutive day on Thursday markets, business centres, government and semi-govenrment offices, educational institutions, courts and banks remained closed and traffic was off the roads while highways and streets gave a deserted look.

Meanwhile, the house arrest of acting Chairman, Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, continues and his residence and office remain under siege while the Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Party Chief Shabbir Ahmed Shah is also in police custody.

The Hurriyat Conference spokesman has termed two day's unprecedented strike as a referendum in favour of the freedom movement and said that it should serve as an eye opener for the Indian rulers.

The spokesman further said that occupied Kashmir issue was spreading to the whole of South Asian region like a lacerating wound and there was still time to avoid its horrible consequences.

The spokesman said all tactics by the Indian government to suppress the freedom spirit of the Kashmiris had miserably failed. The bloodshed of Sikhs at Chattipura, he said, was one of such tactics to divert President Clinton's attention from the occupied Kashmir problem and focus it on the state-managed drama of terrorism.

The spokesman emphasised that the Sikh community and other discerning and sensible individuals were fully aware of Hurriyat Conference's determination to maintain the atmosphere of amity and brotherhood at all costs and that the strike was being observed solely to condole the tragic incident at Chatti Singhpora.ÑAPP