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‘More suicide attacks by young Kashmiris as they will prefer to die than surrender’: Hizb chief Naikoo

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FILE PHOTO of HIZBUL MUJAHIDEEN CHIEF RIYAZ NAIKOO.

Srinagar: Militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen has warned of more attacks like the February 14 Pulwama attack on armed forces by young Kashmiris, saying “it has become a do-or-die situation for militants in Kashmir”, The Hindustan Times reported.

In a 17 minute purported audio message released on social media, Hizb chief Riyaz Naikoo warned of ‘fidayeen (suicide) attacks by young boys as they will prefer to die than to surrender’, the report said.

Consequently, this is the first time that this outfit has warned of suicide attacks in the region, with previous attacks having been carried out by either Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT) or Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfits.

Naikoo said whatever was happening in Kashmir was the result of atrocities committed on the people, according to the report.

“You will have to cry till the time you are here. The coffins of your soldiers will continue to fill till your army is here. We are ready to die but won’t allow you to live as well,’’ Naikoo was quoted as having said.

He said freedom was ‘a passion for Kashmiri youths’. “We will keep on sacrificing our lives. We prefer to die than surrender. The day is not far when our 15-year-old children will strap explosives on their bodies and barge into your army vehicles. We prefer death over slavery,” he said, as per the report.

Naikoo said that the government of India had not ‘fulfilled promises’ made to the people of Kashmir. “

The person responsible for the fidayeen attack on forces was a Kashmiri and the atrocities committed on him by the army forced him to carry out the attack. No power in the world can stop these types of attacks. The attacks will continue till Indian forces remain in Kashmir,” He said, as per the report.

The attack on a CRPF convoy Lethpora area along the Srinagar-Jammu highway in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district which killed 49 CRPF personnel has escalated fresh tensions between India and Pakistan.

ALSO READ: Pulwama attack: Have eliminated ‘top leadership’ of Jaish in Valley, says Indian Army

While Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan warned of a retaliation if India struck first, he asked the GoI to share actionable evidence.

United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Gueterres on Tuesday urged that India and Pakistan exercise ‘maximum restraint’ and offered to mediate.

Militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility of the February 14 attack.

Following the news of the attack, Kashmiris living in India have been facing xenophobia, hate, terminations and suspensions.

ALSO READ:  ‘We were attacked from all sides’: Darbar move employees in Jammu say neighbours were part of the mob too

A mob threatened to set a Dehradun college on fire if the institute didn’t terminate a Kashmiri dean. Abid Kuchay, college Dean of the Alpine Institute has been terminated.

“The college asked for it. I agreed for the betterment of the college,” he said. Abid’s resignation has been asked for his role of getting Kashmir students admitted in the college.

Moreover, four Kashmiri students were suspended on Saturday by the National Institute of Medical Science (NIMS), Rajasthan for sharing a WhatsApp status in which they were allegedly celebrating the Pulwama attack which left 49 CRPF personnel dead.

The second-year students — Talveen Manzoor, Iqra, Zohra Nazir and Uzma Nazir — were suspended soon after they shared as a WhatsApp status allegedly celebrating the killings of the CRPF personnel in the attack

Earlier, Shridev Suman Subharti University in Dehradun suspended a Kashmiri student after his alleged WhatsApp chat regarding the Pulwama attack went viral.

ALSO READ: #IndiaWantsRevenge: Kashmiris outside fear for their lives, face xenophobia, abuse, rustication after Pulwama attack

Meanwhile, Aligarh Muslim University also suspended a Kashmiri student over a ‘highly objectionable tweet’.

Omar Saleem Peerzada, AMU PRO said: “We have come to know of the highly objectionable tweet. Taking immediate cognizance the student has been suspended by the university administration,” he said.

Moreover, 15-20 Kashmiri female students had locked themselves in a hostel room in Dehradun after a mob surrounded the campus area, demanding the management to ‘throw them out of their rooms’.

Shazia Hamid, one of the students, told Free Press Kashmir that she and other Kashmiri female students, fearing the mob, have locked themselves in a room.

ALSO READ: ‘We’re alive today because of our Sikh brothers’: Kashmiri drivers back home from Jammu tell tales of agony and hope

Following Free Press Kashmir’s news story the women were provided safety by the Dehradun police who dispersed the crowd peacefully.

Earlier, former chief minister Omar Abdullah had appealed to the Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh to direct all state governments to take ‘special care of areas where Kashmiris as residing or studying.’

Following the reports of attacks on Kashmiris in various parts of India, Government of India on Saturday asked all the states to ensure safety and security of the students and people from Jammu and Kashmir.

ALSO READ: When Basant Rath ‘came to the rescue’ of Kashmiri students in Dehradun

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