JKLF protest march in Srinagar against youth's killing

Pro-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir Front (JKLF) activists took out a protest march in summer capital Srinagar Monday against the killing of a youth in Bandipora district in police firing last week.

Dozens of JKLF activists led by senior leaders Noor Muhammad Kawal, zonal president of the party, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Showkat Ahmad Bakshi and Ashraf Bin Salaam, marched from the uptown Maisuma headquarters of the party shouting slogans against the alleged killings of Kashmiris by the Indian security forces.

Bhat told reporters during the protest: "India has been using police and army to scuttle our peaceful protests as the killings of Kashmiris at the hands of the Indian security forces continues."

"Today's protest march was scheduled to be led  by our chairman, Muhammad Yasin Malik, but after we made the announcement, Malik Sahib was arrested and we do not know where he is being detained.  "These tactics will not work and time will soon come when India will have to leave Kashmir," Bhatt added.

Police intercepted the JKLF marchers and dispersed them. Around two dozen JKLF leaders and activists were taken into preventive custody. The situation returned to normal immediately after the JKLF protest. No protester resorted to stone pelting or any form of violence during the march, which remained completely peaceful.

"Some of the JKLF activists were detained because they have defied section 144 of Cr.Pc. according to which an assembly of five or more persons is deemed unlawful under the law," a senior police officer said here.