MUZAFFARABAD: The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on Monday asked the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government to remove the containers placed on Muzaffar­abad-Srinagar High­way which had obstructed the movement of their march towards the Line of Control (LoC) since Sunday or else it would continue to stage a sit-in before the hurdles for “an indefinite period”.

“The AJK government should remove the hurdles and allow the marchers to cross the ceasefire line (LoC) or else the sit-in will continue at this place for an indefinite period,” said Mohammad Rafiq Dar, central spokesperson for the JKLF, at a press conference in Jiskool, located 2km ahead of Chinari and 8km before the LoC where the administration had placed containers, barbed wire, electricity poles and mounds of earth to block not just the movement of vehicles but also that of pedestrians.

“Otherwise, the government should bring here any Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General as well as representatives of the five permanent UN Security Council members so that we are able to give them our charter of demands,” said Mr Dar who was accompanied by JKLF’s ailing acting chairman Abdul Hameed Butt and other leaders.

He said every single participant in the march was filled with emotions, which flared as and when they talked about their brethren across the divide who were under a lockdown for more than two months.

JKLF demands deployment of UN peacekeepers in India-held Kashmir

“How can we lead a normal life here when our brothers and sisters across the ceasefire line are going through nightmarish conditions at the hands of the Indian army?” he asked.

The JKLF spokesman said the best option in the prevailing situation was deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in India-held Kashmir until a plebiscite was held to ascertain the opinion of Kashmiris about their future. He said other demands would be shared soon in shape of a memorandum.

The JKLF-led marchers had reached Jiskool on Sunday afternoon to be greeted by the road blockade.

The marchers, who were in thousands, kept on chanting slogans in front of the containers and while majority of them returned to Chinari and other nearby areas to spend the night, the leaders and many others took shelter under large tents which were erected on the main road late night.

On Sunday night, two AJK cabinet members had also tried to convince the JKLF leaders to call off their march, but to no avail.

On Monday, the participants in the march once again assembled at Jiskool, showing the same zeal and zest as had been their distinctive feature over the past three days.

Armed police personnel stood guard on top of the containers as well as on the roadside mountains, while a sizeable strength of theirs was standing alert behind the obstacles.

Among the participants was a 15-year-old boy Umar Jamil, from Khuiratta tehsil of Kotli district.

“I have been part of this march for the past four days... I have only one aim to break this dividing line and reach Srinagar,” said the teenager, who was wearing a green shawl to keep himself warm on a cold windy day.

Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a trader leader of Muzaffarabad who was with the marchers on Sunday and also on Monday, claimed that he had not seen such a huge amount of passion and energy among the participants of any Kashmir-related event in the recent past.

Many young participants would recite poetry or sing emotional songs highlighting the sufferings of the oppressed Kashmiris and their right to freedom, to lift the spirits of their colleagues, he said.

“I noticed tears in the eyes of people as they would hear the emotional recitations and renditions,” he added.

Mr Mir said he did not hear anyone complain about lack of warm clothes despite cold weather in the wake of last night showers, or lack of proper food.

“I am hungry since morning, but when I think of my fellow Kashmiris in occupied Kashmir who are without essential supplies for the past two months, I forget my hunger,” said 26-year-old Mohammad Qasim from Hajira.

By midday, police allowed a small procession from Chakothi to circumvent the obstacles and offer food and fresh fruit to the marchers, video clips shared on social media showed.

In Muzaffarabad, official sources said Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider presided over a meeting on the issue in his office, with Legislative Assembly speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir, Information Minister Mushtaq Minhas and other officials concerned among the participants.

However, it was not clear till the filing of this report what decisions had been taken at the meeting.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2019