JKLF chief Yasin Malik detained while marching towards local UN office to protest killings in Kashmir

Srinagar: Police on Friday detained Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik after he tried to lead a march towards the local office of United Nations here to protest the killings in Kashmir. Malik was detained after he tried to lead a protest march to the office of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) at Sonwar in Srinagar after congregational prayers, a police official said. [caption id=“attachment_2270092” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Yasin Malik. AFP[/caption] He said Malik along with his supporters assembled in Dalgate area of the city on Friday afternoon and tried to take out a protest march to the UN office. Police swung into action and took him into custody, the official added. JKLF spokesman said Malik had gone into hiding as police had on Thursday raided the outfit’s office to arrest him. Police had imposed a stringent curfew, barricades and razor wire were placed on every road leading towards Lal chowk and the UN office, the spokesman said. But it failed to deter Malik and others to reach Buchwara Dalgate, he added. The spokesman said Malik addressed people at the Jamia Masjid in Buchwara and later at the Buchwara Chowk as well. The JKLF chairman had gone into hiding as state has “choked” every space for peaceful programmes in Kashmir, he said. Friday’s protest strike and sit-in outside the UN office are actually a mark of protest against the “spree of innocent killings in Kashmir”, Malik said before being detained by the police. He said it is obligatory on the international community, especially the UN, to take cognisance of these “gross human rights violations”. Earlier, the separatists had asked the people to march to Sonwar to participate in a sit-in outside the UN office. However, police foiled the proposed march by sealing the roads leading to the UNMOGIP office and imposing strict restrictions in eight police station areas of the summer capital of Srinagar.