MUZAFFARABAD: Participants of a ‘long march’ staged under the aegis of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) to express solidarity with its incarcerated chairman Yasin Malik and condemn India’s ‘judicial terrorism’ reached Daraik village of Poonch district on Sunday evening after passing through different areas of Kotli earlier in the day, an organiser said.

The “detainee for integrity [of Kashmir] long march,” a reference to Mr Malik, had begun from Bhimber, the southernmost district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in the small hours of Sunday, according to Rafiq Dar, chief spokesperson for the JKLF that advocates complete reunification and independence of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Video clips and pictures shared showed participants of the march being greeted with flower petals as they reached the city of Kotli.

Many young JKLF activists, who were escorting the marchers, were wearing combat trousers and T-shirts bearing photos of Mr Malik behind bars.

Mr Dar said the march would resume from Rawalakot on Monday morning and reach Chattar neighbourhood of Muzaffarabad via Kohala at about 3pm.

The Chattar neighbourhood, which houses almost all important official buildings including the PM’s office and Legislative Assembly, is witnessing heavy police build-up these days due to the budget session and a protest by schoolteachers for increase in allowances.

In keeping with the situation, the participants would drive to the old part of the state capital via Western Bypass and after parking their vehicles in the Eidgah ground will march on foot via Bank Road towards the UN Military Observers Mission near Domel, the confluence of rivers Neelum and Jhelum, the JKLF chief spokesperson said.

He said JKLF leaders were in contact with the UN Observers for an appointment on Monday to deliver a memorandum for Secretary General António Guterres wherein his intervention for the safety of Mr Malik and thousands of others Kashmiri detainees in India as well as for the early settlement of the core issue of Kashmir according to the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiris has been sought.

A similar memorandum was delivered by the JKLF to the UN Observers in their Islamabad office on June 21, he said.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2022