Srinagar, February 28, 2023 (PPI-OT):In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, shopkeepers from Khrew area of Pulwama district staged a protest in Srinagar, today, against the Indian Army for forcible closure of their shops. The shopkeepers including their children held a protest demonstration at the Press Enclave in Srinagar demanding handover of their shops which were closed by the Indian Army at Khrew. The protesting shopkeepers told media persons that they were running the shops for the past 25 years till 2019 before the Army issued a notice of vacating the site.

“When we asked for a reason, they (Army) said these shops would be provided to ex-service men of the Army,” a protesting shopkeeper said. The shopkeepers said that they also approached the concerned court and got a stay against the Army order. And after one year, the court granted an order to reopen the shops, but the Army did not allow, they said.

They appealed to the authorities to intervene in the matter to enable them to run their shops again. Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party President, Mehbooba Mufti, in a tweet said that by shutting these shops in Khrew despite clear court orders, the Indian Army was depriving these people of their sole means of livelihood.

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