End the rule of curfews, bans, batons and bullets in Kashmir

New Delhi, July 10 : In New Delhi, hundreds of students of central universities including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi University (DU) and Jamia Millia Islamia staged a sit-in at Parliament Street to protest against the recent killings of unarmed civilians by Indian troops across the occupied Kashmir Valley.
The protestors carried placards and banners that read ‘Stop Killing and Insulting the protesting people of Kashmir’, ‘Withdraw Armed Forces’, ‘Scrap AFSPA’, ‘Prosecute all military and armed personnel guilty of extra-judicial killings’ and ‘End the rule of curfews, bans, batons and bullets in Kashmir’. They also burnt an effigy symbolizing the UPA government.
Addressing the protesters, National Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), Kavita Krishnan said, “In the past month, at least 16 civilians, including children, young men and women, have been killed in firing by CRPF on the streets of Kashmir. Their only crime has been that they protested against the killing of their children in fake encounters and in firing.”
General Secretary of All India Students Association (AISA) Ravi Rai in his address said that the government of India must stop branding protestors as terrorists. He maintained that India should recognize that the anger of Kashmiri youth could not end till the Indian armed forces responsible for raping young women and murdering youth in staged encounters were brought to book, army was withdrawn from the Valley and AFSPA was scrapped.
In his speech, Delhi President of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Santosh Rai, said, “All avenues for democratic protest are being suppressed. The Kashmir University Students’ Union has been banned, media has been banned, SMS services too are banned, and mass protests are being met with bullets.”
Demanding the lifting of the bans on media and SMS services, Secretary of the JNU Unit of AISA, Sucheta De said, the people of Kashmir do not need the newspapers or TV to know how many of their kids are killed, adding, “The muzzling of media and SMS is just a desperate attempt to prevent the rest of the world from getting to know what is happening inside Kashmir.”

Others who participated in the protests included filmmaker Sanjay Kak, AICCTU National Secretary Rajiv Dimri, All India Health Employees' Confederation leader, Ram Kishan and many intellectuals and prominent citizens.

(KMS)