Kashmiri students chant pro-Pakistan slogans in Srinagar

SRINAGAR: Clashes broke out in Indian Occupied Kashmir on Sunday when Kashmiri students chanted pro-Pakistan and pro-freedom slogans at the venue of a marathon in Srinagar, local media reported.

Footage showed university students at chanting "Pakistan! Pakistan!" and pro-freedom slogans at the venue of the 'Big Kashmir Marathon' in Hazratbal area of Srinagar as Indian forces fired tear-gas shells and baton charged the young demonstrators.

According to the local Kashmir Media Service, the twenty-one-kilometre marathon was to begin from Naseem Bagh at the Kashmir University and go along the scenic Dal Lake.

KMS reported that youth shouted slogans in favour of freedom and pelted rocks on the forces guarding the venue in the varsity. Police and paramilitary forces fired teargas shells on protesters at Habak crossing near the venue.

Speaking to Geo News, senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Gilani said that, under the influence of power, the Indian administration has been neglecting the reality on the ground in Kashmir

"If they had taken notice, then the armed occupation would have ended a long time ago," he told Geo News while speaking via telephone from Srinagar.

The youth marathon comes after two days of strikes in Indian Occupied Kashmir on the call of Hurriyat leaders.

Organizers said the aim of the 'Big Kashmir Marathon', in which professional runners from outside India also participated, was to promote healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about the need to protect dying water bodies.