MUZAFFARABAD: Hun­d­­reds of people held a rally for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, urging the international community to take notice of unabated state-sponsored terrorism by Indian forces in held Kashmir.

“Listen India, neither Jammu and Kashmir was yours in the past nor will it ever be yours in future,” reads a banner.

On previous two days, women and children staged sit-ins from morning till late afternoon. On Wednesday, they paraded right up to the UN Military Observers office near Domel.

The protest was organised by Pasban-i-Hurriyat, an organisation of Kashmiri refugees, and International Forum for Justice and Human Rights (IFJHR), a rights group with its headquarters in Srinagar.

Protesters displayed placards carrying pictures of Indian troops thrashing and firing on unarmed Kashmiris.

Young girls were incensed at Facebook for either deactivating their accounts or taking off pictures posted by them to “highlight the acts of savagery by the occupation forces”.

“Facebook was a medium to keep ourselves aware of the happenings and stay in touch with our near and dear ones in India-held Kashmir. But its attitude in the wake of Burhan Wani’s killing is unfathomable,” said Shaheen Maqsood, a first year student.

Uzair Ghazali, leader of Pasban-i-Hurriyat, lamented the silence of the international community over the state-sponsored terrorism in held Kashmir and said that their silence was encouraging India to continue the killings.

“Since July 8, more than 50 people have lost their lives and thousands others have received critical wounds, including visual impairment, which is enough to warrant immediate international intervention in Kashmir,” he said.

IFJHR office-bearer Mushtaqul Islam called on the government of Pakistan to instantly launch a diplomatic offensive to bring India to terms.

“India does not seem to have an iota of remorse over the use of brute force, including the lethal pellet guns. Any further delay on the part of Pakistan and Ummah may lead to huge loss of lives in held territory,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2016