Srinagar, Apr 29 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the relatives of missing persons staged a demonstration demanding the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Wearing headbands and holding photographs of their relatives, they had assembled under the banner of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), a group fighting for their cause since 1994. The protest was staged at Municipal Park in Srinagar.

APDP claims that 10,000 persons have been subjected to enforced disappearances by Indian troops during the last two decades in occupied Kashmir.

Shafeeqa, who participated in the protest, said that her father, Abdul Rashid, went missing in the custody of troops in 1992. “Since then I have never seen him. If he has been killed let the troops show me his grave,” she added with moist eyes.

Another participant, hailing from Uri in Baramulla, Akbar Bibi’s two sons, Muhammad Younis and Abdul Hamid were picked up by troops in 1998. “On the fateful day, the troops of 18 Madras Regiment barged into our house and ruthlessly thrashed my sons. They dragged my sons and bundled them into a vehicle,” she said, adding, “That was the last time I saw them.” For past 10 years, she went from pillar to post to locate whereabouts of her sons, but till date she could not find them.

Gulshan Bano of Batamaloo in Srinagar, whose son was picked up by the troops of 20 Grenadiers in 1997, could not control her emotions. “He was simply a mechanic. For last 10 years, I am searching for his whereabouts in different jails and interrogation centres. I don’t need any compensation or job. I want to see my son,” she said amid tears.