India Kills Another Young Kashmiri,
World Take Notice: Ahmed Quraishi

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD—India’s occupation army in Kashmir has assassinated a youth, Khalid Ahmed, in cold blood and labeled it as an ‘encounter’, which is a local term for a gun battle. However, evidence suggests the Indians killed the young man during torture, says an urgent statement released in Islamabad by the international lobbying group Youth Forum for Kashmir.

Khalid Ahmed was killed in the Kampala forests of Tral sometime yesterday, Tuesday. His exact age is not clear but pictures of the dead body indicate he is around 20 years old.

Official spokesmen for the occupation army claim the young man is a brother of another young Kashmiri, named Burhan, who is part of the nation-wide resistance movement to the Indian occupation.

YFK’s own probe into the incident, using multiple sources on the ground in Srinagar, suggests that the young man had no bullet marks on his body, contrary to the claim made by the occupation army; instead, he had fractured facial bones and broken teeth.

Khalid’s assassination has sparked outrage in his native town and the Kashmir Valley. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the veteran Kashmiri freedom leader, has condemned the brutal killing. A complete shutdown was observed in Tral and adjacent areas to protest against the cold-blooded murder of the unarmed innocent youngster.

Ahmed Quraishi, Director YFK says he strongly condemns this brutal killing and demands that India’s occupation authorities in Kashmir hold an independent probe into the incident and punish the Indian soldiers involved.

India’s occupation army has a consistent record of killing young Kashmiris in staged battles. YFK reminds the world that, on Nov. 13, 2014, an Indian military court sentenced seven Indian soldiers, including two officers, to life in prison for the staged murder of three young Kashmiris. At the time, Kashmiri human rights activists said the rare verdict was an attempt by India to garner votes for Prime Minister Modi’s allies in the military-sponsored elections in the occupied territory.

These assassinations will continue as long as Indian soldiers remain in Kashmir, YFK insists. The international lobbying group demands the withdrawal of about 750,000 Indian army soldiers from Kashmir who have been indulged in grave human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, gang-rapes, and mass graves.

YFK reminds India of its international responsibility as an occupation force in Kashmir. The international law holds the occupation force responsible for the safety of life and property in the occupied territory. Rights activists in Kashmir, in India and worldwide see little evidence of concrete steps by New Delhi to address its disturbing human rights record in Kashmir. This is besides India’s position as a country in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions on Kashmir.

The YFK is a grassroots lobbying group led by young Kashmiris and Pakistanis working to ensure justice to Kashmiris living under Indian military occupation.