Indian atrocities can't deter indigenous struggle of Kashmiris for self determination: CM Punjab

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Saturday that Indian establishment cannot muzzle the spirit of freedom of the Kashmiri people through killings, ARY News reported.

In his message on Black Day against Indian atrocities in Kashmir, the chief minister said that Indian policy of brutal torture and cruelty has failed in occupied Kashmir.

“Depriving the Kashmiri people of their right of self-determination through illegal occupation is a blatant violation of human rights. Therefore, the international community should pressurize India to immediately stop the play of fire and blood in occupied Kashmir,”  said the CM.

He said that the Kashimiri people’s resolve for freedom cannot be weakened by India’s state terrorism.

It is pertinent to note here that earlier in June this year, a United Nations Human Rights Commission report said that Indian security forces used excessive force that led to unlawful killings and a very high number of injuries in Kashmir.

Citing civil society estimates, the report said that up to 145 civilians were killed by the security forces between mid-July 2016 and the end of March 2018.

One of the most dangerous weapons used against protesters in 2016 – and which is still being employed by India security forces – was the pellet-firing shotgun.

According to official figures, 17 people were killed by shotgun pellets between July 2016 and August 2017, and 6,221 people were injured by the metal pellets between 2016 and March 2017. Civil society organizations believe that many of them have been partially or completely blinded.