Ceasefire violations: Women, youth march against Indian cross-border shelling

Present memorandum to officials to urge UN to intervene

MUZAFFARABAD: Women in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Saturday staged a protest against the rising ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC).

In what is a rare occurrence, hundreds of women took to the streets and staged a protest at Shaheed Maqbool Bhat Chowk in Athmuqam , the district headquarters of Neelum Valley, some 100 kilometers away from Muzaffarabad.

The women raised anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans. They chanted pro-freedom cries such as ‘go India, go back’, ‘we want freedom’ and ‘stop ceasefire violations and firing on civilian population’.

Some protest leaders said that the world community should come forward and exert pressure on India to stop shelling civilian areas in Neelum Valley. “The people in Neelum Valley are poor and they want peace along the LoC,” said Akhtar Bibi.

“By violating the ceasefire along the LoC, Indians want to divert attention from the worsening situation in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK). We appeal to both world powers, human rights organisations and United Nations to take the notice of the Indian naked aggression on the LoC,” she added. Indian has violated the ceasefire in AJK nearly 100 times this year leaving at least half a dozen people dead.

Another speaker, Gulshan Bibi, said that the people of Neelum Valley had suffered a lot since 1990 and that Indian forces wanted to turn the scenic 200 kilometers long stretch into hell.

“Indian forces want to push us back in 1990s era which we would never allow them to let it happen,” she cried.

She added that the people of AJK would never allow Indian troops to disturb the peaceful environment of the valley.

The protesting women marched towards Deputy Commissioner Office Athmuqam and presented a memorandum to the concerned officials to forward it to the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) for stopping the rising ceasefire violation on the LoC. Later the protesters dispersed peacefully.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2016.