APHC leaders vow to defy rallies ban

Asked what would be Committee’s strategy if government imposes curfew on October 6, the JKLF Chairman asserted, “Come what may, we would defy all the restrictions to make the Lal Chowk Chalo Programme a grand success”.

The Committee also finalised the routes for the vehicles coming from various parts of the Valley. “No vehicle would be allowed to move beyond Iqbal Park, Batamaloo, Tankipora, Habba Kadal, Bar Shah and Karan Nagar. The Committee also formed media cell, medical aid cell, stage cell and special cell, which would take care of women crowd. All the women would assemble at Pratap Park and no male would be allowed to enter there”.

The Committee appealed the people of Srinagar not to use any kind of vehicles to reach Lal Chowk. “People from down town and Civil Lines should prefer to come on foot to avoid traffic congestion”.

The Committee also condemned the house arrest of senior Kashmiri Hurriyet leader Syed Ali Geelani and President Jamiat-e-Ahlihadees, Moulana Showkat Ahmad.

The Coordination Committee has urged all the pro-liberation leadership and people to reach Lal Chowk at any cost. “Lal Chowk march has historical importance and leadership has to bear it in mind. People should try to reach wherever they can in case of restrictions imposed by the government of India and authorities,” the Committee addedd.

Over the past few months the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley has been hit by some of the biggest pro-freedom demonstrations since the eruption of an insurgency against New Delhi’s rule in 1989.

The protests were triggered by a row over a government donation of Kashmiri land to a Hindu pilgrimage trust and spiralled into anti-India demonstrations that have left more than 40 Muslim protesters dead.

Meanwhile, 13 suspected freedom fighters and an Indian soldier have been killed in one of the fiercest gunbattles in recent years in Kashmir, military officials said Saturday.