Thousands of people in occupied valley of Kashmir staged protests on Wednesday, accusing government forces of
killing an elderly man in front of his minor grandson.
The family of Bashir Ahmed Khan alleged that he was dragged out of his car and shot dead by paramilitary troopers. His three-year-old grandson, who was travelling with him, was later pictured sitting on his chest. “Locals said that he [Khan] was brought out of his car and shot dead by
the forces,” Farooq Ahmed, a nephew of
the deceased man said. “They told us that someone in uniform then put
the child on his chest as he lay dead on
the road and took photographs,” Farooq Ahmed said.
The photo of
the child sat on the
body of his dead grandfather was widely shared on social media. Hundreds assembled at
the man’s funeral near
the main city of Srinagar shouting, “We want freedom”.
Reacting to
the incident, Amnesty India said that officials had violated
the law by disclosing
the identity of
the minor. “It is also a breach of
the ‘best interests of
the child’ principle as required to be
the basis of any action by authorities under
the Convention on
the Rights of
the Child, to which India is a state party.”
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that
the image of
the three-year-old sitting on his grandfather’s lifeless, bullet ridden
body exposes
the real face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fascist India.
Leader of
the Opposition in
the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif also condemned
the killing. In a tweet, he said, “Widespread human rights abuses by fascist Modi govt constitute an acid test for
the international community.”
Tweeting
the picture of
the deceased’s grandson sitting on his chest, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said she was “searching for words to describe […]
the grief & helplessness of
the Kashmiri people.”
In occupied Kashmir, India
n troops in their fresh acts of state terrorism martyred two more Kashmiris in Sopore town and Rajouri district on Wednesday. These
killings raised
the number of martyred youth to seven since Monday. The troops martyred another youth in a fake encounter during a military operation near Keri area of Rajouri district. The troops had killed five youth during violent military operations in Waghama and Runipora areas of Islamabad district in
the last two days.
A young boy was martyred when Indian forces shelled Lipa Sector along
the restive Line of Control (LoC) targeting
civilian population, according to
the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The military’s media wing in a tweet said, “India
n troops [resorted to] unprovoked CFV [ceasefire violation] targeting
civil population using Artillery, Mortars & heavy weapons in Lipa Sector along #LOC late last night.”
“A young boy resident of Talwari village martyred due to Indian indiscriminate firing,” it said, adding
the Pakistan Army responded effectively to Indian firing.
Indian Charge d’Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia on Monday was summoned to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to register Pakistan’s strong protest over
the ceasefire violations by
the Indian occupation forces along
the Line of Control (LoC) on June 29, 30, resulting in martyrdom of one and serious injuries to five innocent
civilians. “Condemning
the deplorable targeting of innocent
civilians by
the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored that such senseless acts are in clear violation of
the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and are also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct,”
the Foreign Office spokesperson in a press release said.