Muzaffarabad(IANS) : Dozens of activists belonging to various Kashmiri nationalist organisations were prevented from entering Chakothi, a town near the Line of Control (LoC) where they had planned to stage a demonstration in support of free movement and trade between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar.
The demonstrators belonging to the All Parties National Alliance (APNA), a conglomerate of about a dozen pro-independence Kashmiri groups, shouted slogans in favour of an independent Kashmir as police stopped them near a military post outside Chakothi, reports Dawn.
A spokesman for APNA had announced that they would hold a “peaceful, symbolic demonstration” in Chakothi to “reflect the peoples’ desire for early launch of trade between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar”.
APNA activists, including Arif Shahid, Rauf Kashmiri, Shaukat Maqbool Butt, Zahoor Ahmed Butt, Mahmood Baig, M.A.R.K. Khalique, Farooq A. Niazi and Waqar Kazmi approached the military post outside the Chakothi bazaar but were stopped by police, reportedly under the orders of the army, from moving ahead.
The army had erected a temporary barrier some 200 metres beyond the military post, where they were stopping every vehicle and allowing only local residents to go ahead after checking their identity cards.
Angered by the authorities’ move, APNA activists shouted slogans against the government.