MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan and Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider have strongly condemned “unrelenting and unprovoked” ceasefire violations by the Indian army from across the Line of Control (LoC), as one more civilian was wounded in Indian shelling on Tuesday.

Naseer Ahmed, 45, sustained injuries at about 4am in Darra Sher Khan village of Battal sector in Poonch district after Indian troops resorted to small arms fire in the area, a local police official told Dawn.

On Monday, a woman was martyred and a young girl injured in Kotli district in Indian firing.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, President Khan said that India had been continuing unprovoked firing along the LoC for a long period in violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement.

The sole motive behind such cowardly acts, he maintained, was nothing but to hide the crimes against humanity being committed by the Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.

However, he said, such cowardly actions could not deter the valiant Kashmiri people from their just struggle for their right to self-determination.

“Instead of protecting the Kashmiri people from the novel coronavirus, Indian government is busy in ethnic cleansing of Kashmiris and the international community, including the United Nations, must take its notice,” he said.

“The coronavirus is rapidly spreading in occupied Kashmir and the doctors are unable to properly treat the people because of inadequate protective equipment… This state of affairs has posed yet another serious threat to the lives of the Kashmirs,” he added.

In his statement, Prime Minister Haider maintained that the Indian army had crossed all limits of brutalities and had become habitual of targeting the innocent and unarmed Kashmiris and their properties on a daily basis.

“Since this Indian coward army cannot face Pakistan Army, it overcomes its frustration by brazenly shelling the vulnerable population residing along the ceasefire line (LoC),” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2020