Tag: Srinagar

  • Modi leads yoga day event in Indian-occupied Kashmir

    Modi leads yoga day event in Indian-occupied Kashmir

    Stretching, arching his back and kneeling on a mat, India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi led hundreds of people performing yoga in India-held Kashmir on Friday.

    The exercises in Srinagar marked the 10th International Yoga Day, Modi’s own brainchild.

    But while yoga is not itself a religious practice, it has its origins in Hindu philosophy — the god Shiva is said to have been the first yogi — and many Kashmiris are indifferent to the discipline.

    Thousands of government employees, schoolteachers and students from all over the region were brought in for the event, although rain forced Modi’s performance indoors.

    Afterwards, he urged hundreds of people including many police and armed forces personnel on the shores of Dal Lake to make yoga “a part of their daily lives”.

    “Yoga fosters strength, good health and wellness,” he said.

    But one Srinagar resident saw the event as a cultural intrusion.

    “This yoga is being imposed on our children to culturally change the next generations and control their minds,” they told AFP, declining to be identified for fear of reprisal.

    “It’s an imposition on us.”

    Modi’s visit comes after a series of attacks, including one where nine people were killed and 33 injured when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims plunged into a deep gorge after a suspected attack.

    June 21 was declared International Yoga Day a decade ago and Modi has since led events at emblematic locations across India, and last year at the UN headquarters in New York.

  • UN investigation wanted for Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani’s death

    UN investigation wanted for Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani’s death

    Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Shehryar Khan Afridi wrote letters to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Michelle Jeria, calling for an impartial but immediate UN investigation into the custodial killing of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, reports Dawn.

    Talking to reporters, Afridi said, “Hurriyat leaders are being killed in custody by the illegal occupational regime of India in Jammu and Kashmir under the garb of the Covid-19 pandemic. Had the UN investigated the custodial murder of Ashraf Khan Sehrai, Geelani’s life could have been saved. Now we fear that other imprisoned Kashmiri leaders including the new All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chief Massarat Alam Bhat, Syed Shabbir Shah, Yasin Malik, Asiya Andrabi, Dr Qasim Faktu, and others may also be killed the same way.”

    “This loss may turn out to obstruct Kashmiri people’s voice and compromise their long struggle for freedom. I would also like to bring to attention here the matter in which Geelani’s death was handled by the occupational Indian government where they shut down the internet across the Kashmir valley and beefed-up security forces when word of his death spread,” he said.

    Veteran Kashmiri leader and freedom fighter Syed Ali Shah Geelani was laid to rest on September 2 amid high security at Hyderpora in Srinagar.

    Syed Ali Geelani’s son told AP that the family had planned the burial at the main Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar as per his will but were disallowed by the police.

    “They snatched his body and forcibly buried him. Nobody from the family was present for his burial. We tried to resist but they overpowered us and even scuffled with women,” said his son Naseem Geelani.

  • India snatched Syed Ali Geelani’s body early morning ahead of his funeral

    India snatched Syed Ali Geelani’s body early morning ahead of his funeral

     Pakistan on Thursday condemned India’s act of snatching Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani’s body ahead of his funeral.

    According to Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Asim Iftikhar, “The Indian government is fearful of Syed Ali Geelani even after his demise.”

    “It is reflective of the rage, tyranny, and barbarianism of the Indian occupation forces,” he remarked.

    Iftikhar in a statement said that as the family was preparing for the last rites of Syed Geelani, a group of the occupation forces raided his residence in Srinagar, harassed family members, and snatched Syed Geelani’s body.

    “When the family members told the raiding party that Syed Geelani’s will was to be buried in the ‘Cemetery of Martyrs’ in Srinagar, they were reportedly told that India would not allow Syed Geelani’s burial at the place of his choosing,” he said.

    “India has been violating all civil and human rights norms in the occupied valley,” maintained Iftikhar.

    Indian media subsequently reported the burial of the Hurriyat leader. A curfew has been imposed in the valley and all internet services have been suspended.

    Syed Ali Geelani’s son told AP that the family had planned the burial at the main Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar as per his will but were disallowed by the police.

    “They snatched his body and forcibly buried him. Nobody from the family was present for his burial. We tried to resist but they overpowered us and even scuffled with women,” said his son Naseem Geelani.

    Geelani was the former head of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) but quit politics last year in June. Geelani passed away at his home in Srinagar after a prolonged illness.