Phone Links Snapped, Anxious About Families, Ladakhi Ministers Unmoved
Srinagar (ONS) – Following violence and tension in the Zanskar area of Ladakh, Kargil residents living in Srinagar held protests in the city centre on Thursday to demand security and protection for the Muslim community in the region.
Anxious about the safety of their families back home, the protestors said that could not contact their relatives to inquire their welfare as communication links to Zanskar had broken down soon after the violence
Independent MLA from Langate, Engineer Abdul Rasheed, also accompanied the protestors, most of whom were Kargili students enrolled in various colleges and schools in Srinagar.
The protestors denounced what they termed as Buddhist terrorism in Zanskar and said that families were being targeted because some members of the Buddhist community had converted to Islam
Shouting Kashmir is not Gujarat a large number of Kargilis staged a dharna at the press enclave, saying that violence against Muslims in Zanskar was unacceptable.
The protestors demanded that the chief minister take urgent personal interest to ensure the safety of Muslims in the remote mountain town.
Communication links to Zanskar have snapped after the violence. We have no news of our families. The government must restore telecom services to the region at once, they said.
The Zanskar administration is totally helpless before rioters who target Muslims. Our community is deeply beset with insecurity, they said.
If secular India gives freedom to practise and change ones religion, why are the Muslims in Zanskar being persecuted by the majority community? the protestors asked.
We had brought the incidents to the notice of the two cabinet ministers hailing from Ladakh, but they paid no heed and showed no concern, they said.
Both ministers seem to be overwhelmed by the majority community, they said, demanding additional deployments of police to protect the Muslim community.
According to reports, curfew remained in force in the Paddam area of Zanskar for the third day today, and a senior officer said that no untoward incident had been witnessed on Thursday.
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