Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference (G) has strongly condemned the “autocratic” order of the government to restrict the civilian movement on the Srinagar -Jammu highway during the Amarnath Yatra.

A Hurriyat (G) spokesperson in a statement said: “This is not only ridiculous, humiliating, undemocratic, immoral, but negates government’s own statements that Kashmiri Muslims are supportive and helpful in making the yatra a success.”

“How strange and illogical is it that those helping Yatris wholeheartedly instead of encouraging and rewarding them, are strangulated and made to suffer by blocking their vehicular movement,” he said.

He said that roads are means of connectivity and are not only used in normal life, but are of prime importance in some desperate and emergency situations. Curtailing and banning such a basic and fundamental lifeline amounts to gross and unforgivable crime against helpless population, he said.

The Hurriyat (G) spokesperson termed it unfortunate and ironic that the permanent residents of this state are forced not to use their own land connectivity and are made to wait for hours to allow yatra vehicles.

Kashmiri people never compromised on their tradition of hospitality, brotherhood, communal harmony and social bonding even in the toughest and provocative times, and always played a friendly host, whether to a tourist or a pilgrim, who visited Kashmir, he said.

Hurriyat (G) appealed human rights bodies, peace loving and conscious people to come forward and “rescue this caged and brutalized nation”.