Members of Dal Khalsa and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Amritsar) were, on Monday, stopped from entering Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) at the Pathankot border in Punjab by Kathua police. Acting upon orders of the district magistrate (DM) of Kathua, citing law and order problems, the activists were barred from going to Srinagar to observe International Human Rights Day on Tuesday.
Nearly 200 Panthic activists of both parties were flagged off for the march from Amritsar by Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann.
In a statement, president Dal Khalsa Harpal Singh Cheema said that for the last eighteen weeks, the historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar, a centre of worship for thousands of Muslims has been locked. “Such a violation of religious rights of people to pray and worship is unprecedented and rulers of the Indian state are answerable for this to Kashmiris, human rights defenders, the international community, the United Nations and even to God,” said Cheema.
At the sit-in protest at the border, Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh said, ‘It is ironical that even on of Human Rights Day, we are not allowed to uphold human rights.”