MUZAFFARABAD/ISLAMABAD: Pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has condemned the killing of six people, including two children, in Dangri village of India-occupied Jammu over the past three days as “intolerable and highly condemnable acts of terrorism”.

“The Dangri-like massacres that have occurred in Jammu and Kashmir during the ongoing freedom struggle are acts of terrorism under a conspiracy hatched by the imperialist forces to destroy the centuries-old atmosphere of brotherhood in the state,” said the JKLF chief spokesperson Rafiq Dar in a statement on Tuesday.

“The killing of people from any sect or religion in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is regrettable and condemnable and the whole nation is mourning this [latest] tragedy,” he added.

Expressing sympathy with the bereaved families, the JKLF spokesperson said that his organisation had been struggling for the complete independence and sovereignty of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and such incidents were a blatant attempt to portray and malign this sacred freedom movement as a religious and communal movement.

“The multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-linguistic societies of the state of Jammu Kashmir have given it a unique position which should be maintained at every cost,” he said.

The JKLF spokesperson demanded of the international community, particularly the international human rights organisations, to investigate tragic incidents of killings of innocent civilians in the state in order to bring their perpetrators to justice.

“This [investigation] will also expose before the world in general and people of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in particular the elements behind suchlike incidents of bloodbath in their region,” he said.

‘Biggest humanitarian issue’

In a related development, AJK President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry on Tuesday told a delegation of Khubaib Foundation (KF) including lawmakers of British House of Lords and British Parliament that Kashmir was the biggest humanitarian issue and sought the delegation’s role in ending human rights violations in the India-occupied Kashmir.

A delegation of Khubaib Foundation of UK called on the AJK President in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Separately, AJK PM Sardar Tanveer Ilyas has announced that anniversaries of the Pakistan army personnel martyred in the line of duty in the liberated territory would be officially observed by the AJK government to pay homage to them on behalf of the Kashmiri people.

Published in Dawn, january 4th, 2023