ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto on Thursday contacted All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Dr Umar Farooq who is in house custody after a brief arrest on Wednesday along with senior Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar.
The PPP chairman expressed his unconditional support for the Kashmiri people. Condemning the atrocities inflicted by the Indian forces on civilians, Bilawal said that he and his party stood by the Kashmiri people in their current time of trial.
The PPP chairman issued orders for his party workers to launch protest rallies in different parts of Pakistan to express solidarity with their Kashmiri brethren. The death toll from clashes between the Indian troops and Kashmiri people in the disputed state has risen to 34 as massive protests continued despite imposition of an indefinite curfew in most parts of the state after young Kashmiri Burhan Wani was killed.
Indian paramilitary troops and police in riot gear patrolled villages and towns in the region. Most shops were shuttered, businesses were closed and cellphone services were suspended. The Indian forces used live ammunition, pellet guns and tear gas for crowd control in the region as protesters defied the curfew. Pakistan already condemned extra-judicial killing of Wani by the Indian government forces.
