Pakistan condemns NIA questioning Hurriyat leader's aide

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today condemned the questioning of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's aide by the NIA in connection with the funding of terror and separatist groups in Kashmir.

"Pakistan strongly condemns the coercive, pressure tactic by India as a concerted attempt to harass the Kashmiri leadership and subjugate the indigenous Kashmiri struggle to the oppressive Indian regime", Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Nafees Zakarai said in a statement.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been questioning Shahid-ul-Islam, a close aide of the Mirwaiz, and businessman Zahoor Watali for last three days about the alleged assets possessed by them, official sources said on Tuesday.

Zakarai said that earlier NIA had arrested Shahid-ul- Islam on "trumped up charges" of terror financing.

India needs to realise that the "legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris for their right to self-determination cannot be wished away or subjugated through such oppressive measures", Zakarai added.