The incarcerated chairman of Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmad Shah on Monday appealed to people of south Kashmir to teach a befitting reply to New Delhi and its puppets by boycotting the sham polls like the people of central Kashmir did on Sunday.In a statement issued to KNS, Shah reiterated his appeal for complete shutdown on April 12 – the day so-called polls are scheduled to be held in south Kashmir.Terming the so-called elections as bloodbath, Shah said, “The wounds of the year 2016 are still afresh and thousands of families are waiting for their loved ones who are languishing in jails, but these pro-India politicians by conducting these polls want to give the world an impression that last year’s uprising was nothing but some ordinary protest.”Expressing deep grief over the martyrdom of 8 youth on Sunday, Shah said the boycott of sham elections has shown people’s pro-freedom sentiments and their rage against the pro-India parties and politicians. “We hope the people of south Kashmir will send a clear message to India that nothing less than FREEDOM is acceptable for us,” he said.
“Despite the use of brute force against people, and arrests of resistance leadership and youth, people boycotted the so-called polls. By making police personnel, PSOs, Anganwari workers participate in elections, the so-called puppets couldn’t gather more than 2 percent people to polling booth. The poll boycott in central Kashmir is victory and good omen for the freedom movement,” Shah added.Shah said the use of bullets and pellets on people on so-called poll day is a black spot on the face of “puppet” rulers. “We have to send a clear message to world that our struggle is not for developmental purposes but for the freedom from Indian forcible occupation,” he said.Meanwhile, on the directions of Shabir Ahmad Shah, a team was constituted which includes district president Budgam Abdul Gani, Ghulam Mohammad, and Bashir Ahmad would visit the families of those martyred on Sunday. Similarly, another team comprising of Er Farooq Ahmad Khan, Sheikh Zameer, and Mohammad Shafi will visit SMHS hospital to enquire about the well-being of the injured. (KNS)