On November 29 in occupied Kashmir, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) staged a silent sit-in at Partap Park in Srinagar. The protestors demanded of the occupation authorities to provide whereabouts of their missing kin.

The demonstrators were carrying placards, banners and snaps of their missing beloved ones. A large number of senior citizens, siblings of the missing persons besides ordinary people participated in the sit in.

They said that the puppet Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, had promised to conduct inquiry into the gross rights violations across the occupied territory and to bring the guilty troopers to justice, last December. “No inquiry has been conducted yet after one year has passed while the murderers of their kin are at large,” they added.

The family members of three innocent Kashmiris, martyred by Indian troops in a fake encounter at Michel, also took part in the sit-in. “The authorities are trying to hush up the case. We will continue our struggle for justice,” they maintained.

Aiyesha Begum, mother of Shahzad Ahmad, who was martyred by the troops in the fake encounter, said that she had moved from pillar to post but could not get justice against the murderers of her son. “Shahzad was the only bread earner of our family. His death has resulted in a great loss to us,” the sobbing mother said.

The participants of the sit-in urged India to ratify the International Convention International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or involuntary Disappearances. They asked India to revoke all draconian laws, which encouraged the occupation forces to commit rights violations with impunity in the territory.

Kashmir Media Service