India slams Pakistan for coveting J&K, demands it to vacate POK

The statement issued by the government comes after a series of measures taken by the Pakistan government over the past two weeks in an effort to “internationalise” the Kashmir issue.

But newspaper editors in Kashmir said they would resume publishing if the government assured freedom of operation.

Responding to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s appeal, Pakistanis held rallies around the country, including in its portion of Kashmir, to condemn alleged human rights violations in the portion of the region India controls.

The Prime Minister, Singh said, had remained in touch with him over the situation in Kashmir during his foreign tour and offered his suggestions.

Pakistan is a fully functional and thriving democracy with complete freedom of expression and a polity where all fundamental human rights are practised and cherished.

Rajnath said that security forces were instructed to exercise maximum restraint while dealing with protests in the Kashmir valley.

Referring to the demand of some members that an all-party delegation be sent to the Valley, he said he had spoken to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who said it could be discussed when she comes to Delhi in the next 2-3 days as the situation there was returning to normal.

“We seek guidance from you all as the parties here have worked in Kashmir for decades”, added.

“We once again ask Pakistan to stop inciting & supporting violence, terrorism in any part of our country & refrain from its deplorable meddling in our internal affairs in any manner”, the MEA said in a statement.

Pakistan marked July 20 as a “black day” in a show of solidarity with the victims of the ongoing unrest in Kashmir.

He said India terming Kashmir dispute as its internal affair was factually incorrect, legally untenable and indeed a violation of worldwide law and UN Security Council resolutions.

“Pakistan is trying to destabilise India”. It also described Indian action against the protestors in Indian-Kashmir as “a clear manifestation of State-terrorism to suppress Kashmiri’s voice for the right to self determination”. “Extensive use of social media by Burhan Wani, inviting Kashmiri youth to resist against Indian Occupation made him an icon of the resistance movement”, Aziz said.

Authorities tried to prevent protests by barring people from Friday prayers in most of the big mosques but they prayed in small neighborhood mosques instead, and the protests and clashes began afterward.

He said there were reports of Indian forces harassing hospital staff, doctors and paramedics and dissuading them from treating the injured. At least 48 civilians, mostly teens and young men, have been killed as government forces fired live ammunition and pellets.

The last bout of serious violence in the scenic valley was in the summer of 2010, when more than 100 people died in anti-India protests.