Malik, families of missing people from Kashmir to fast on Thursd

New Delhi, Feb 20 (UNI) Families of missing people from Jammu and Kashmir, led by JKLF chief Yaseen Malik, will launch day-long hunger strike here on February 22 as part of a campaign to mobilise public support against alleged human rights violations in the strife-torn state.

The hunger strike, to be held at Jantar Mantar, is part of the three-day campaign, being organised by the Kashmir Solidarity Committee (KSC).

Sit-in, public hearings and demonstrations are being organised in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University and other venues in the capital.

Sixty family members of the missing people, mostly women, arrived here on Monday from Srinagar in a bus to participate in the campaign.

''My friends in Delhi and I want the people of India to see for themselves what the Kashmiri people are going through. So I have brought these families here,'' Mr Malik said.

Thoug the campaign coincides with the official three-day India-visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri, who arrives here today, Mr Malik denied any link between them.

''There is no connection between the demonstrations and Mr Kasuri's visit.... We wanted the campaign to take off before the budget session of Parliament, which commences on February 23,'' he claimed.

Mr Malik is scheduled to meet the Pakistan Foreign Secretary on February 23 and discuss the Kashmir issue.

He said KSC was trying to mobilise public opinion against against disappearances, fake encounters, atrocities and human rights violation so that the victims get justice.

The pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chief said the KSC will also try to approach political parties in the capital to garner support for the campaign.

Demanding impartial investigation into the fake encounter and human rights violations cases, he said the guilty must be punished and the victims and their families must get justice.

On February 6, Mr Malik sat on a three-day hunger strike in Srinagar against alleged custodial killings.

After ending the fast, he had urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to fulfil his promise of "zero tolerance" for human rights violations in the state.

UNI