Journalists from Kashmir and Pakistan march toward Line of Control

ISLAMABAD: A group of journalists from Pakistan and Azad Kashmir brought out a procession from Muzaffarabad’s press club on Saturday to express solidarity with the people of Indian-administered Kashmir who have been living in a security lockdown since August 5 when the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked special constitutional status of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region and merged it with the rest of the Indian union.
The march was led by the president of Kashmir’s Central Union of Journalists, Safeer Mir, and was also joined by journalists from Pakistani cities of Murree and Islamabad.
Initially, the 350-strong group of journalists went up to the Burhan Wani Square, named after a 21-year-old Kashmiri youth who was killed by Indian forces in July 2016. However, it then moved on to the Line of Control, the de facto border separating the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir, in Chakothi.
The district authorities negotiated with journalists, urging them to stay short of their destination and settle down in College Ground in Chinari instead.
People in different Pakistani cities have protested New Delhi’s recent decision to scrap Article 370 of the Indian constitution that promised political autonomy to the disputed region along with Article 35-A which prevented Indians from buying the property or competing for government jobs in the Muslim-majority state.
With a major communications blackout in the area where India has beefed up its forces and confined furious residents to their homes, the administration in Islamabad has tried to bring the attention of the world community to the smoldering issue and warned that the situation could lead to a genocide of Kashmiri Muslims.