Locals gather for the funeral procession of the civilians killed during the encounter in Pulwama

Accusing the Union government of unleashing a war on Kashmir, they condemned the troops for killing seven unarmed civilians near the encounter site in Pulwama on Saturday

SRINAGAR: Separatists leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik on Saturday called for a three-day shutdown to protest against seven civilian killings by security personnel near encounter site in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district and announced a march to Army Headquarters in Srinagar on December 17, Monday. The trio issued a joint statement saying that south Kashmir has been turned into a graveyard with the killing of unarmed civilians.

Accusing the Union government of unleashing a war on Kashmir, they condemned the troops for killing seven unarmed civilians near the encounter site in Pulwama on Saturday.“People of Kashmir should observe three day-shutdown and protest against the killings from today,” read the joint statement. They further alleged that “state terror” and human rights abuse is worsening in the Valley in the garb of cordon and search operations.

“Indian army chief had already indicated to increase in civilian killings with impunity in his recently shocking statements. The shouldering of coffins of our youth each day is now unbearable as is the silence of the international community at the massacre in Kashmir,” the statement said. Political leaders were unequivocal in their condemnation of the killings, with National Conference leader Omar Abdullah describing it as a “massacre” and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti saying “…how long are we going to shoulder the coffins of our youngsters?”

BJP ally and Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Gani Lone urged the administration to abandon its “Rambo mindset” when it comes to dealing with militancy in the Valley. Reiterating his call for security forces to exercise restraint and avoid collateral damage in such circumstances, Omar said, “It seems lessons have not been learnt. When we start expecting the situation to ease out, incidents like these put us back from where we started.”

His father and three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah said Kashmir has been turned into a theatre of death and destruction. “Incidents like these put a big question mark on the functioning of the government and security agencies,” Abdullah senior said adding that the civilian deaths must be probed thoroughly and those found guilty must be brought to book.