Authorities block Muzzafarabad-Srinagar highway with containers, barbed wires to stop marcher from reaching LoC
\nour correspondent
\nMUZAFFARABAD
\nThousands of Kashmiris on the call of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on Sunday marched towards the Line of Control (LoC) \u2014 the de facto border between Pakistan and India \u2014 but were stopped by the authorities by placing containers, barbed wires, electricity poles and mounds of earth on the road.
\nThe rally billed as \u201cFreedom March\u201d is being held to protest New Delhi\u2019s move to scrap the special status of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and the imposition of curfew in the territory since Aug 5.
\nThe march has been organised by JKLF, a group led by pro-independence leader Yasin Malik, who is currently in detention in occupied Kashmir.
\nThe marchers who gathered in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) planned to hold a sit-in near the LoC and were on their way to Chakothi.
\nHowever, when they reached Jiskool on Sunday, the local administration blocked the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar highway to stop them from moving ahead.
\nSpeaking on the matter, JKLF Spokesperson Muhammad Rafiq Dar said they were holding a peaceful demonstration to express solidarity with innocent Kashmiris who are suffering at the hands of barbaric Indian forces.
\n\u201cWe want to draw the attention of the international community towards the urgent need of an immediate and peaceful settlement to the longstanding Kashmir dispute,\u201d he said, adding that they did not intend to have any kind of confrontation with the authorities because any violent situation would only serve India\u2019s interests.
\n\u201cWe have to save our energies for confrontation with India,\u201d he added.
\nHe also urged the authorities to remove the blockades so that the marchers could reach their destination \u2014 Chakothi, a village 3 kilometres before LoC which is overlooked by Indian forces atop the mountains on the other side of the de-facto border.
\nHe said that by sunset, when the crowd would be thinned out, they would stage a sit-in half a kilometre before the containers. \u201cWe will hold consultations for our future course of action,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authorities block Muzzafarabad-Srinagar highway with containers, barbed wires to stop marcher from reaching LoC our correspondent MUZAFFARABAD Thousands of Kashmiris on the call of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on Sunday marched towards the Line of Control (LoC) \u2014 the de facto border between Pakistan and India \u2014 but were stopped by the authorities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n