Journalists from all over Pakistan and Azad Kashmir have started a protest march towards the Line of Control to condemn the ban on freedom of expression by Indian authorities in occupied Kashmir and express solidarity with the stranded Kashmiri people in the Valley. Call for the march has been given by Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists. More than 400 journalists from different parts of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir had arrived in Muzaffarabad to take part in the march.
The march started from Central Press Club Muzaffarabad with the participants carrying two truckloads of medicines and dry ration to pass them on to the Indian forces for the aid of people in occupied Kashmir. Speaking to state-run Radio Pakistan Saturday, the journalists said India had usurped the fundamental rights of Kashmiris including the right to speak. They said their march was aimed drawing the attention of the international community and world human rights bodies to take note of Indian nefarious designs against the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Curfew and other restrictions imposed by the Indian authorities in occupied Kashmir has entered 20th consecutive day on Saturday. On August 5, the Indian government had announced the scrapping of the special status of occupied Kashmir by revoking Article 370 of the Indian constitution. According to the Kashmir Media Service (KMS), the entire occupied territory particularly the Kashmir has been turned into a military garrison as Indian troops and police personnel are deployed in every nook and corner.
Meanwhile, worldwide protests against Indian unilateral and illegal action to change the demography of Occupied Kashmir and to express solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiri people are continuing. In Turkey, members of Turkish non-governmental organizations gathered in front of the Indian Embassy in Ankara to express solidarity with the people of Occupied Kashmir.
They were holding placards inscribed with slogans "The People of Kashmir Want Freedom" and "Kashmiris should be given the right to choose their political future". Addressing the protestors, Chairman of the Anatolian Youth Association's Ankara branch, Ahmet Sanver, underlined that the major part of the Kashmir Valley is under Indian occupation. He said the future and status of Kashmir should be decided by the people of Kashmir, not by New Delhi.
He said the occupying Indian government should end its disproportionate violence against the Kashmir people. In France, Kashmir Council Europe, overseas Pakistanis, Sikh community and other organizations staged a protest demonstration in front of UNESCO headquarters in Paris on the arrival of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Indian Prime Minister accompanying his delegation was present in the building during the protest.